Overview of Broadcom
  • Located in Irvine, California 
  • Founded: 1991 by Dr. Henry T. Nicholas 
   III and Dr. Henry Samueli 
  • IPO: April 1998 
  • Stock Symbol: BRCM (Nasdaq) 
  • Chairman and CTO: Dr. Henry Samueli 
  • Worldwide Employment: approx. 3,000
  • 2003 Revenue: $1.61 Billion
       Interesting Facts
  • Henrys left PairGain Technologies Inc. in 
   1991, leaving behind some lucrative stock 
   options. In 1998, Broadcom's $24-a-share 
   IPO jumped 123 percent in one day. The 
   current price is around $40.
  • Samueli is still a professor of electrical 
   engineering at UCLA; UCI has the Henry 
   Samueli School of Engineering  
            Overview
  • A leading provider of highly integrated 
    semiconductor solutions that enable broadband 
    communications and networking 
  • Technology expertise
    –  Proprietary communications system algorithms and 
     protocols 
    –  Advanced DSP hardware architectures  
    – System-on-a-chip design methodologies 
    – High-performance RF, analog and mixed-signal circuit 
     design using industry-standard CMOS processes
             Products
    –Cable: DSL modem chips
    –Cellular: Edge/GMS/GPRS
    –Data/Telecom networks: 10G Ethernet; VoIP
    –Wireless LAN: claim to ship industry's first 
     standards-based for 802.11g wireless LANs 
     with performance enhancements ; 78 percent 
     of market share in 2003; 
    –Many other products
        Technical Contribution
   • The largest share of market for 802.11g
   • The fasted 802.11g/e  (according to 
    http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1499139,00.asp)
     –achieve 125Mbps 
     –interoperable
     –Use “Xpress” technique, based on packet (or 
      frame) bursting techniques.
     –Key idea: puts more data into a single 
      transmission, thus reducing the overhead