MANHASSET, N.Y. — Conexant Systems Inc. has integrated its internally-developed asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) router and Intersil Corp.'s 802.11b wireless LAN baseband/media-access controller on a single chip, the CX82340. The announcement preempts efforts by Broadcom Corp. and other competitors seeking to integrate .11 WLAN and cable-modem router capabilities on a single chip.
The CX82340 features an ADSL router based on an ARM940 processor, an ADSL data pump, an analog front end and drivers. "All that needs to be added is the Intersil radio and you have a full solution," said Nick Burd, director of DSL products at Conexant (Newport Beach, Calif.). The chip also includes an Ethernet and USB connection.
Under a licensing agreement announced last September, Conexant can integrate Intersil's Prism Wi-Fi (802.11b) WLAN technology into its next-generation DSL modems, cable modems and home-networking chip sets. "The CX82340 is the first product to come of this deal," said Burd. "We also have plans afoot to integrate Prism with our network processors."
Broadcom's senior director of marketing, Jeff Abramowitz, said the CX82340's integration affirms Broadcom's approach to single-chip integration. "We're very big on all-CMOS solutions for wireless LANs for this exact reason," he said. "We'll also be integrating everything — that's the whole point of it being CMOS. We see our network processor with the .11b baseband and MAC all integrated, with Bluetooth rolled in as well."
Conexant's CX82340 is sampling now; volume production is scheduled for the first quarter of 2003. The device is packaged in a 456-pin PBGA and is priced at $40 each per 10,000, including the Intersil radio front-end components.
