Broadcom Corporation announced its entry into the applications processor market, with a monolithic high performance system-on-a-chip that combines the industry leading Broadcom VideoCore multimedia processor and an ARM11 applications processor. The BCM2820 fully supports Linux and is optimized for high volume markets including mobile phones, mobile TVs and portable audio/video/game devices, and delivers unprecedented level of integration, multimedia performance, and low power dissipation.

The increasing popularity of multimedia features in mobile phones and other portable devices is generating demand for high-end applications optimized to work with video and camera capabilities at price points affordable to mainstream consumers. The new BCM2820 applications processor offers an impressive array of multimedia features including support for an 8 mega-pixel digital camera, MPEG-4/H.264 VGA video decoding at 30 frames per second, video encoding at 30 frames per second, and NTSC/PAL TV output via composite, component and S-video connections.

"The market for mobile applications processors will exceed $5.5 Billion dollars in 2007," said Alan Varghese, Principal Analyst, ABI Research. "Broadcom's product portfolio of industry leading video processor engines, integration track record with other mobile technologies, and emphasis on software, can make it a strong player in this market."

The BCM2820 integrates industry standard interfaces with tightly coupled software drivers and stacks to support a wide range of wireless interfaces, including Broadcom's 3G EDGE, WEDGE and HEDGE cellular baseband processors, 802.11x wireless LAN processors and Bluetooth solutions. Wireless technology is driving the next evolution of advanced mobile multimedia devices and requires an increased sophistication of next generation mobile device software to ensure cutting-edge multimedia capabilities with optimal battery life and broad interoperability.

"The BCM2820 provides a significant breakthrough in technology integration for mobile handset and portable media player developers," said Mark Casey, Vice President and General Manager of Broadcom's Mobile Multimedia business unit. "By extending our VideoCore technology into the applications processor market, we're simplifying the development of next generation mobile wireless devices, while saving space and power, and optimizing performance."