Broadcom Chip Integrates Wireless Voice, Video, Data

A single-chip broadband integrated access device (IAD) announced Tuesday by Broadcom Corp. will lead to the development of a consumer product that will consolidate DSL modems, wireless routers, and digital enhanced cordless telecommunications (DECT) and voice devices in a single device, the company said.

The chip, the BCM6362, integrates ADSL2+ and 802.11n wireless LAN with Gigabit Ethernet switching, DECT, and VoIP for use in residential gateway applications.

The triple play chip -- for voice, video and data -- is most likely to be offered by carriers as they seek ways to simplify applications and reduce cost for their subscribers. "Our customers can rapidly develop cost effective, low power system-level solutions for the ADSL+ Wi-Fi market," said Greg Fisher, vice president and general manager, Broadcom Carrier Access unit, in a statement.

Broadcom said the BCM6362 combines its ADSL2+ and Wi-Fi technologies, eliminating more than 200 discrete components and reducing costs by 50%.

According to Broadcom, the end consumer product will provide an "always-on" wireless home environment in which users can surf the Internet, transfer files ,and stream media content between PCs and other electronic devices. A six-port Ethernet switch features four 10/100 Fast Ethernet and two gigabit ports that can link set-top boxes, printers, storage drives and other devices on the network.

The 802.11n radio supports 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz operations, which enables manufactures to build dual-band gateways. This approach enables Wi-Fi users to dedicate the 5 GHz space for video streaming and VoIP calls and the 2.4 GHz band for more traditional data applications.

The BCM6362 also includes integrated software so carriers can easily add their own applications on top of devices based on the chip. Broadcom said the chip is currently sampling to early access customers.

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