Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Latest News
    • Mobile
    • Networking

    Broadcom to Push Security Improvements

    By
    Mark Hachman
    -
    November 11, 2004
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Broadcom Corp.s 2005 to-do list includes integrating security features into its enterprise products, backing AMDs microprocessors and boosting its presence in handsets, executives said Thursday.

      The communications giant held its semiannual analyst meeting at its Irvine, Calif., headquarters, touting its 2004 success as well as its plans to expand its business during 2004. Executives said the companys watchword would be “convergence,” a word that describes the intersection of voice, data, video and communications as well as the resources that Broadcom will share among its 11 lines of business.

      In some sense, Broadcom is to communications what Intel Corp. is to the PC. Broadcom utterly dominates the Ethernet space, and is trying to extend that leadership into storage and other enterprise markets.

      But the company faces a much more competitive wireless market, and it has essentially ceded the enterprise chip-set market to Intel for now, choosing to develop platforms for AMDs Opteron processor.

      One key communications technology that Broadcom apparently will forgo is WiMax, the high-profile broadband wireless standard that Intel and its partners are developing.

      Instead, the company will support HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access), a cellular standard being promoted by handset maker Nokia, among others.

      HSDPA proponents say the technology is the next step in the evolution of wideband CDMA technology, offering downstream data rates up to 10-Mbits/s. Lanny Ross, Broadcoms president and chief executive officer, said a two-chip converged WCDMA/HSDPA solution is due in 2006, about the same time that the mobile version of WiMax, 802.16e, is expected.

      Ross, who will yield his position to Philips Semiconductor chief Scott McGregor after Jan. 1, said the company is well-positioned. “Scott is absolutely the right person with the right combination of managerial experience at the right time” to take over a “very healthy” company, Ross said. “No aspect of this company is broken, dented or weak,” he said.

      Broadcom reported net income of $49.0 million on revenue of $646.5 million for the third quarter ended Oct. 21.

      Next Page: Enhancing enterprise products.

      Enhancing Enterprise Products


      Broadcom plans to enhance its enterprise products with enhanced security beginning next year, said Tom Lagatta, head of Broadcoms Enterprise Computing Group. The company plans to combine Trusted Platform Modules, the security chip at the heart of the industrywide “trusted computing” initiative, with Broadoms PCI Express-based Gigabit Ethernet switches, he said. Over time, all of Broadcoms NIC chips also will gain ROC (RAID-on-chip) functionality, he said.

      The company also has 10-Gigabit-Ethernet-over-copper projects under way, Lagatta said.

      In addition, Broadcom intends to boost the use of iSCSI, an IP-based storage networking standard for linking data storage facilities.

      iSCSI initiator cards using Broadcom chips should begin shipping in the first quarter of 2005, Lagatta said; by 2006, the technology will be integrated on Broadcoms NIC chips. The company recently began shipping a hybrid Layer-2 Ethernet controller, 4-layer TCP/IP and iSCSI initiator, all integrated on the same chip.

      Broadcoms switch chips, meanwhile, also will gain packet-sniffing capabilities designed to block the spread of Internet worms, said Ford Tamer, vice president of Broadcoms Networking Infrastructure Group. “What many dont realize is if you can somehow get inside a corporations hardened perimeter, security inside can be very soft,” he said.

      IP phone OEMs also have begun to demand integrated security solutions, to prevent outsiders from snooping on corporate VOIP (voice over IP) calls, Tamer said. Security will need to be applied to both wired and wireless VOIP phones. Broadcom also intends to integrate the wired and wireless gateway into a single box, eliminating the additional management headaches an additional box requires, Tamer added.

      /zimages/5/28571.gifBroadcoms SecureEZSetup guards consumer WLANs. Click here to read more.

      Those wireless products eventually will include Broadcoms first next-generation 802.11n chips in 2006, said Robert Rango, vice president of Broadcoms Mobile & Wireless Group. In the consumer space, Broadcom plans to push its AlphaMosaic mobile graphics silicon into 3-G (third-generation) cell phones and other devices, Rango said.

      Although Broadcoms ServerWorks chip-set business originally was one of the companys strengths, the company played on a series of missteps by Intels own chip-set group to win business. After Intel solved the problems and began shipping its own chip sets supporting multiple processors, Broadcoms division lost business.

      In August 2003, Broadcom said it would develop chip sets for the AMD 64-bit Opteron platform. The company has completed so-called “A0” silicon and expects first revenue shipments to begin in either March or April, Lagatta said.

      /zimages/5/28571.gifCheck out eWEEK.coms for the latest news, views and analysis on servers, switches and networking protocols for the enterprise and small businesses.

      Mark Hachman
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×