Broadcom introduces AVC/VC-1 high definition (HD) system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions for set-top boxes and gateway/client architectures

August 15, 2005

2 Min Read

IRVINE, Calif. -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in wired and wireless broadband communications semiconductors, today announced a family of AVC/VC-1 high definition (HD) system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions for cable, satellite and Internet Protocol (IP) set-top boxes and gateway/client architectures. Broadcom has implemented advanced video coding (AVC) (the ITU and ISO joint standard) and VC-1 (the Society for Motion Picture and Television Engineers or SMPTE standard), which employ the latest generation in video compression technology, in the new family of single-chip solutions.

As a result, the Broadcom(R) AVC/VC-1 chip solutions can reduce the required bandwidth for delivering digital video content over service operator networks by a factor of 2 to 3 when compared to the previous MPEG-2 standard. Broadcom is demonstrating its impressive AVC/VC-1 SoCs this week at the CableLabs(R) Summer Conference in Keystone, Colorado.

Announced today is Broadcom's new BCM740x family of single-chip solutions. The new family is built upon the company's field-proven two-chip HD AVC/VC-1 solution featuring the BCM7038 dual-channel HDTV and digital video recorder (DVR) chip and the BCM7411 AVC video decoder/audio processor chip. This BCM7038/BCM7411 two-chip solution is currently shipping in volume production to leading set-top box manufacturers including EchoStar, LG Electronics, Pace, Thomson and Samsung.

France Telecom recently used Broadcom's two-chip solution to deploy a live high definition TV broadcast with MPEG-4 AVC over an ADSL2+ network from the French Open Tennis Tournament at Roland Garros stadium. By integrating this field-proven, two-chip solution into a new single-chip solution, Broadcom is enabling its customers to more quickly and efficiently migrate to more cost- effective and feature-rich technology. At the same time, the new family of SoCs offers Broadcom's customers new features such as enhanced security, copy protection and digital rights management.

The first single-chip AVC/VC-1 HD SoC products available include the BCM7401 and BCM7402. The BCM7401 is targeted at embedded hard disk drive DVR and home gateway applications while the BCM7402 addresses non-DVR or networked DVR client applications. Both chips support the widely adopted H.264 video compression standard (also known as MPEG-4 part 10/AVC) and are also the world's first AVC/VC-1 HD chips to employ integrated secure video processor (SVP) technology. SVP technology provides an open platform for content protection, which enables secure, digital content related interconnectivity between consumer electronic devices over a home network.

"Our new family of single-chip AVC solutions offers our customers significantly new enhanced video compression capabilities," said Brian Sprague, Senior Director of Marketing for Broadcom's Set-Top Box Products. "Content providers need assurances that their products can be delivered securely and will be used as intended, while equipment manufacturers need powerful, cost-effective solutions, and consumers want the final product to look and sound great in their homes. With built-in AVC/VC-1 technology, the BCM7401 and BCM7402 deliver on all of these requirements."

Broadcom Corp.

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