BRCM: Broadcom's New Family of Gigabit Ethernet Switches Delivers Increased Intelligence and Ease of Use for Small-to-Medium Business Networks

Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced a new family of Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) switches, which enable intelligent, reliable networks for small-to-medium- sized businesses through a combination of unprecedented hardware integration and easy to use software. Members of the new family of Broadcom® ROBOSwitch™ devices range from 16 to 50 GbE ports and are the first in the industry to integrate a high performance MIPS® processor. The family utilizes WebSuperSmart™ network configuration software, which enables easy set up and management of the switch.

Small businesses typically do not have an IT staff and demand network equipment with a simple configuration process that requires little or no regular maintenance. Furthermore, equipment must be cost effective, but not at the expense of network quality and security.

The new Broadcom ROBOSwitch GbE family (BCM53700 Series) features an integrated MIPS processor, which reduces overall system cost, and WebSuperSmart software, an easy to use, web-based network configuration tool. The integrated MIPS processor reduces the system chip count and overall power consumption by eliminating the need for an external CPU to run software and manage compute-intensive tasks. WebSuperSmart software enables automatic security, quality of service (QoS), and Voice-over-IP (VoIP) services. Most importantly, the BCM53700 family with WebSuperSmart software simplifies network management so that a person without any prior networking experience can configure and make changes to the network.

"Broadcom's new ROBOSwitch family will enable our customers to develop powerful switches for the SMB market with more advanced features that are easier to use than ever before," said Hanh Nguyen, Director of Marketing for Broadcom's SMB network switching line of business. "The high level of hardware integration that includes up to 50 GbE ports and on-chip MIPS processing, enables Broadcom to deliver a feature-rich solution that is effortless to set up, but keeps system costs at an affordable level."

BCM53700 Series Features and Benefits
The key features of the new ROBOSwitch family include:

• Integrated 32-bit high performance MIPS processor that operates
  WebSuperSmart software and manages compute-intensive instructions,
  eliminating the need for an external CPU
  
  
• Built-in Gigabit serializer/deserializer (SerDes) and media access
  controllers (MACs) ranging from 16 to 50 ports
  
  
• Support for Jumbo frames maximizes packet throughput
  
  
• Enhanced security management provided by embedded security filter
  processor
  
  
• Network performance and advanced QoS ensures priority treatment for
  applications such as voice, streaming media or video conferencing
  
  
• Enhanced feature set including additional security rules, increased
  number of trunk groups, double tagging and multiple spanning tree
  protocol available in BCM53714S and BCM53718S devices
  
  
• Common hardware/software architecture for 16-, 24-, and 48-port GbE
  designs and two Gigabit uplinks enable faster time-to-market

Availability

The new Broadcom ROBOSwitch BCM53700 family is now available in sample quantities and production is expected by the end of the fourth quarter of 2006. Each member of the family is available with integrated MIPS CPU and optional WebSuperSmart software. The family includes the following device configurations:


BCM53716: 16 GbE ports
BCM53714: 24 GbE portsBCM53714S: 24 GbE ports 2 Gigabit uplinks and enhanced feature set
BCM53718: 48 GbE portsBCM53718S: 48 GbE ports with 2 Gigabit uplinks and enhanced feature set

Product pricing is available upon request.