Broadcom expands Taiwan design center, adds engineers
By Colleen Taylor, Contributing Editor and Suzanne Deffree, News Editor -- EDN, May 31, 2007
In a move to push its 3G technology, Irvine, Calif.-based communications chipmaker Broadcom Corp. today announced an expansion of its cellular design center in the Xin-Yi district of Taiwan and the addition of around 20 Broadcom engineers there focused on Microsoft technology.
Broadcom is doing so to help drive development of a new generation of Microsoft Windows Mobile smart phones based on its 3G cellular chipsets. The design center will have a particular focus on integrating the chip into Windows Mobile devices, Broadcom said. According to the company, the Taiwan design center expansion will support the development of advanced applications enabled by its BCM2153 HSPA processor, which integrates voice and sound applications, multimedia and 3G modem processing on a single monolithic chip made at the 65-nm process node.
"We expect smart phones to capture increasing market share as optimized silicon solutions drive handset costs lower," Jim Tran, VP and general manager of Broadcom's mobile communications line of business, said in a statement. "By expanding our Windows Mobile engineering team with local Microsoft development expertise in Taiwan, we have created a true Microsoft-based design center of excellence that will help our customers bring to market innovative new smart phone products based on Windows Mobile."
Broadcom did not disclose the financial details of the expansion, nor did it state what it would increase the facility’s square footage by.
The company similarly expanded its Taiwan operations nearly four years ago, when it announced in November 2003 plans to expand its SOC research and development center in Hsinchu, and to more than triple the number of engineers at the facility.
The expansion news comes on the heels of a courtroom victory for the company. On Monday, a unanimous federal jury found Monday that certain Qualcomm Inc. cellular baseband chips and software infringe claims of three Broadcom patents, and awarded Broadcom $19.64 million in damages for Qualcomm's past infringement.
