Crossing over

Integrating broadband technologies such as cable, DSL and broadband wireless into a single chipset for a multi-access wonder-box isn't likely to happen anytime soon. But shrinking broadband chipsets, sharing components and adding functionality to each individual broadband access technology is something chipset makers are already doing.

According to The Yankee Group, 30.8 million broadband subscribers will jump on the high-speed bandwagon by 2005. With this influx of new consumers tapping the broadband pipe, chipset makers want to develop multi-functional chipsets at a lower cost and with a faster time to market.

Texas Instruments is stepping forward to look at what pieces are common and where the same technology can be used for cable, DSL and voice-over IP gateways.

“At the heart of TI's cable and DSL CPE offerings is a common family of broadband communications processors,” said Mohsin Imtiaz, CPE product marketing manager of TI's cable broadband communications group. “We have taken a unique approach by partitioning the system so a common platform can interface with DSL and cable front-ends as well as all the home and office networking protocols.”

Using the same chip across either DSL, cable or other applications provides economies of scale and a faster time-to-market, especially for vendors that want to develop products that can target multiple broadband segments. Such a solution allows vendors to have a unified platform with a single development environment and a common engineering effort, said Imtiaz.

“When it goes retail, maybe it is nice to have one modem that could do anything, but retail really isn't the dominant distrbution method right now.”
—Chris Adams, C-Cube

C-Cube Microsystems' MultiLynx chip supports multiple cable modem standards in a single chip and has all the features needed for video environments such as set-top boxes, said Chris Adams, C-Cube's vice president of broadband marketing and corporate development. The chip can run in any cable mode with software changes instead of hardware changes.

Adams does not see a single chip that will simultaneously support both DSL and cable, though. “When it goes retail, maybe it is nice to have one modem that could do anything, but retail really isn't the dominant distribution method right now,” he said.

Imtiaz agrees that a truly integrated chipset for multiple broadband technologies is not where development is heading.

“It doesn't make sense to integrate all the cable, DSL, home networking MACs/PHYs and the communications processor onto the same chip,” he said. “Because of the prohibitive cost, the design and testing complexity and the loss of flexibility, such a chip would not be suitable for mass deployment.”

Industry analyst Michael Harris, president of Kinetic Strategies, said there is virtually no economic incentive to develop a single integrated silicon chip for multiple broadband access technologies.

“They are far better off cost-reducing an access-specific solution to lower the cost of entry for the end-user, which would ultimately drive demand and spur greater sales of the product,” Harris said.

Broadcom also uses common elements in its broadband chipsets. Currently, the company uses the same microprocessor across its DSL, broadband wireless and cable modem chipsets. “The [vendors] can reuse a lot of that software to get quickly to market for all three of those products,” said Rich Nelson, director of marketing for the Broadband Communications Products at Broadcom.

Nelson sees no advantage in combining cable, fixed broadband wireless and DSL chipsets into a single chipset that accesses all broadband technologies.

There are three different chipsets… with different certification and software needs, environments and physical interfaces. These different physical interfaces would make a single end product which supported all three not cost-effective,” Nelson said.