Broadcom Chips its BluetoothBroadcom Chips its Bluetooth

IRVINE, Calif. -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), the leading provider of silicon solutions enabling broadband communications, today announced the production availability of the first single-chip wireless keyboard and mouse solution based on Bluetooth(TM) technology. The Broadcom(R) Blutonium(TM) BCM2040 integrates the entire system solution for the mouse and keyboard as well as the complete Bluetooth wireless sub-system onto a single chip. The innovative single chip design enables price points approaching those of legacy wired mice and keyboards. Broadcom has also partnered with several industry leaders to drive the rapid adoption of Bluetooth mice and keyboards.

The BCM2040 was designed and optimized specifically for Bluetooth mouse and keyboard applications. It incorporates a number of power saving techniques that result in substantially longer battery life for the mouse and keyboard. The BCM2040 provides a complete, standalone Bluetooth "Human Interface Device" (HID) solution that combines all keyboard and mouse functionality as well as Bluetooth functionality into a single chip. The HID profile is an open industry standard that was defined by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) to allow the deployment of standardized, interoperable input devices such as keyboards, mice, presentation tools and game controllers based upon the Bluetooth wireless standard.

"After several years in the making, we are pleased to ramp the BCM2040 to high volume production, and ignite the industry transition to a true wire-free workplace. Consumer preference for a wireless mouse and keyboard is clear, but the cost and power of competitive solutions made it unsuitable or unaffordable for mass markets," said Scott Bibaud, Director of Bluetooth Marketing for Broadcom. "The BCM2040, with its integrated superior radio performance, very low system cost, small form factor, and long battery life, is not only a remarkable technological achievement but a true market enabler."

Desktop and mobile PCs with integrated Bluetooth are already emerging, driven by the growing number of Bluetooth enabled mobile phones and PDAs, as well as the availability of low-cost single-chip Bluetooth solutions. By lowering system cost and increasing performance and reliability, the BCM2040 enables the introduction of a whole new generation of Bluetooth-based input devices to communicate with these PCs. In particular, the BCM2040 features advanced power management capabilities, addressing the need for long battery life, which has been the biggest barrier to mainstream market adoption of Bluetooth input devices.

"Microsoft is a strong believer in the advantages Bluetooth can bring to the PC market, enhancing user experience and creating new opportunities for mobility around the desktop work environment," said Sheri Brassell, Development Program Manager of Microsoft's PC Hardware Division. "As a market leader in the mouse and keyboard markets, we believe the Broadcom BCM2040 offers the kind of features, cost, power and reliability necessary to stimulate the broader adoption of Bluetooth within the industry."

"Wireless input devices could be a pivotal application for Bluetooth, providing an impetus to OEMs for inclusion of Bluetooth in their standard desktop and notebook PCs and PDAs," said Joyce Putscher, Director and Principal Analyst at In-Stat/MDR. "While Bluetooth is already gaining traction within personal computing devices, wide scale adoption of the technology for wireless mice and keyboards provides a real opportunity for a substantial increase in attach rates in the PC and PDA worlds."

The BCM2040 solution fully integrates both a standalone baseband processor and a high performance 2.4 GHz radio into a single chip. Built-in firmware is compliant with the Bluetooth HID profile, providing overall Bluetooth system performance that far exceeds industry requirements. Broadcom's software is compatible with the forthcoming Bluetooth 1.2 optional features, such as adaptive frequency hopping to reduce interference and "fast connect" for extended battery life. These features protect the investment of equipment manufacturers, who need not to worry that their products will become obsolete as new features are added to the Bluetooth specification.

Broadcom Corp.