Broadcom's Propane Wins Fans

NEW ORLEANS -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), the leading provider of integrated circuits enabling broadband communications, today announced the adoption of its Propane(TM) technology by several cable equipment providers. ADC and Arris are implementing the product in their Cable Modem Termination Systems (CMTS), while Scientific-Atlanta, Tellabs and Thomson Multimedia plan to use Propane in their new cable modems. These companies join Com21, which previously announced support for the technology in its new products. Propane uses sophisticated algorithms to boost capacity in Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS(TM))-based broadband networks, providing as much as three times greater upstream capacity for interactive services. Cable operators who utilize Propane-based equipment will now be able to offer more bandwidth to subscribers of their interactive services such as high-speed Internet access and cable telephony applications. Propane is 100% compatible with DOCSIS and is available with Broadcom's line of CMTS chipsets, found in every DOCSIS 1.1 CMTS qualified to date. Propane-enabled cable modems and CMTS equipment comprise an end-to-end solution that increases capacity, improves efficiency, and lowers latency throughout the cable plant. "Increasing industry adoption of innovations such as Propane is great news for cable service providers who can begin to roll out advanced services requiring increasing bandwidth and robustness without the need for additional physical upgrades to installed infrastructure," said Steve Craddock, Senior Vice President of New Media Development at Comcast. "We look forward to the benefits we can provide to our customers as these types of products achieve deployment throughout cable networks." Broadcom Corp.