Broadcom Announces New Digital Television Solution Supporting Global Connectivity

Next Generation DTV System-on-a-Chip Solution Combines DVB Standards with Advanced Functionality for Premium Picture Quality and Worldwide Compatibility

BERLIN (IFA 2008) — Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced its next generation of digital television (DTV) system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions designed for digital video broadcast (DVB)-based platforms to address European and Asian markets. By supporting global connectivity standards such as a digital video broadcast-terrestrial (DVB-T) demodulator, phase alternating line (PAL), sequential color with memory (SECAM) video support, and near instantaneous compounded audio multiplex (NICAM) audio support, Broadcom’s latest single-chip SoC allows TV manufacturers to create products that offer distinguishing features and aid in the evolution of the DTV from a commodity display device to a highly differentiated entertainment system.

According to In-Stat research, the DTV market is being driven by the increased availability of digital programming and video content, especially high definition (HD), and by the migration from analog broadcasts to digital. In-Stat predicts the digital TV market will grow at a forecasted rate of 16.6% from 2007 to 2011, and the devices that connect to the TV, including Blu-ray Disc® DVD players, set-top boxes (STBs) and portable media players, will also continue to grow.

To enable TV manufacturers to take advantage of this growing digital TV market, Broadcom announces its BCM3556 single-chip DTV solution at the IFA Show in Berlin that now supports multiple compatibility standards in Europe and Asia. The Broadcom® BCM3556 DTV SoC also includes an advanced feature set including multi-format picture decoding in support of high definition AVC, H.264, VC-1, AVS and MPEG-2 streams. By supporting H.264, the latest video compression standard, the BCM3556 enables users to view multimedia and HD content with improved picture quality at lower bandwidth when accessing content from other consumer devices in the home network. The BCM3556’s support of H.264 also provides access to H.264 broadcast content without the need of an additional decoder within the digital television.

The BCM3556 also integrates a host of features that allow TV manufacturers to create differentiated products, and when combined with improved picture quality, will enrich the consumers’ DTV experience. One such feature is a 3D graphics core that provides consumers with a graphical user interface for flipping, rotating, moving or manipulating images, and enables OEMs to create specialized user interfaces that differentiates the TV from traditional flat, two dimension user interfaces.

“With the BCM3556, our DTV design partners can expand the use of Broadcom SoCs to address European and Asian markets,” said Dan Marotta, Senior Vice President & General Manager of Broadcom’s Broadband Communications Group. “By providing additional worldwide standards in our DTV product line, along with differentiated features to TV manufacturers, our design partners, in turn, can offer viewers greater connectivity and enhanced interactivity.”

The advanced home network connectivity of the BCM3556 includes an integrated Ethernet media access controller (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) device that enables the SoC to connect with multiple home networking devices such as media servers, PCs, MP3 and portable media players. As a result, users can share and stream music, photo and movie content to and from connected TVs. A high-powered CPU, featuring a MIPS® dual core processor, rounds out the BCM3556’s capabilities by providing consumers with a fast and responsive seamless user interface to content from either traditional broadcast sources as well as from personal or internet content.

The BCM3556 is available in package configurations that support WXGA (wide screen) display resolutions and a full 1080p high definition resolution. The new DTV SoC also incorporates a unique 3D color management system, as well as digital, analog and mosquito noise reduction. Also integrated is an advanced picture enhancement processor (PEP) to improve picture sharpness and perform picture post-processing functions. The PEP engine is fully programmable and can be optimized by each TV manufacturer to meet their respective quality requirements. As a result, the BCM3556 SoC enables TV manufacturers with better video quality, sharper images and more accurate color reproduction.

Technical Information

The BCM3556 is Broadcom’s next generation DTV SoC that features an advanced video decoder, 3D graphics core, Ethernet MAC and PHY, and support for either WXGA or 1080p HD resolutions. These features, combined with a high level of integration and picture quality, will greatly enhance the DTV experience and enable TV manufacturers to reduce overall system cost and improve picture quality, all with a single SoC. Additional features are as follows:

    -- Advanced multi-format decoder supports the following:
        - H.264/AVC Main and High Profile to Level 4.1 (HD), Level 3.1 (SD)
        - HD/SD AVS Jizhun Profile Levels 2.0, 4.0, and 6.0
        - VC-1 Advanced Profile @ Level 3, Simple and Main Profiles
        - HD/SD MPEG-2 Main Profile at Main and High levels
        - MPEG still image decode
        - HD DivX® 3.11/4.11/5.x/6x/Home Theater
    -- 3D/2D OpenGL® ES 1.0-compliant graphics core
    -- Ethernet MAC and PHY
    -- Integrated video processing:
        - 3D color management
        - Digital, analog and mosquito noise reduction
        - 1080i motion adaptive de-interlacing with 3:2/2:2 pull-down
        - True 10-bit video
    -- Extensive audio support:
        - AAC LC, AAC LC+SBR Level 2, AAC+ Level 2, AAC-HE
        - Dolby Digital®, Dolby Digital Plus, TruSurround XT®
        - MPEG 1 Layers 1, 2, and 3 (MP3)
        - Windows Media® and Windows Media Pro audio
        - Audio DACs, input switch and equalizer
        - Dolby Digital, TruSurround XT, MPEG Audio Decoder
    -- Integrated DVB-T COFDM terrestrial demodulator:
        - Standards compliance: ETSI EN 300 744, Nordig Unified v1.0.3, DTG
          D-Book 5 compliant
        - Excellent Doppler performance
        - Active impulse noise suppression
    -- PAL/SECAM demodulator
    -- PAL decoder with a 3D/2D comb
    -- 400-MHz Dual Core CMT MIPS32®/MIPS16e™ class processor
    -- NICAM audio decoder
    -- Single/dual-link LVDS transmitters
    -- Dual HDMI 1.3a receivers
    -- Dual USB 2.0

Availability and Pricing

The BCM3556 digital TV SoC solution is now sampling to early access customers. Pricing is available upon request.