A recent patent approval for Broadcom Ltd. highlights the chipmaker’s ongoing push to become an influential supplier in the hot automotive sector.
U.S. Patent 9,258,173, which the company filed for about a year ago, specifically relates to managing wired and wireless data and multimedia communication inside a vehicle. The technology can communicate information from such functions as brake systems, engine monitoring, intelligent sensors, instrument panel and other displays, driver-assist digital video cameras, and electronic safety features.
The six inventors include Senior Technical Director John Walley, who’s based at the company’s chief technology office in Irvine; Yong Kim, senior technical director in San Francisco; chip executive Sherman (Xuemin) Chen in Rancho Santa Fe; and Nariman Yousefi, who left the company in 2011 to head Irvine-based networking chipmaker ClariPhy Inc.
Yousefi, a 17-year Broadcom veteran, helped establish the chipmaker’s networking group, which generated more than half of the company’s $8.4 billion in revenue in 2014, according to Broadcom’s annual report.
The latest development follows Broadcom’s $37 billion sale to Singapore-based Avago Technologies Inc. that closed this month. Avago used the Broadcom name for the combined company.
The Business Journal reported that Chief Executive Hock Tan eliminated nearly the entire management team at Broadcom Corp. within days of the transaction and implemented a nationwide cost-cutting plan that includes slashing nearly 700 jobs in Irvine and 180 in Silicon Valley.
Irvine also lost the headquarters title to San Jose, where most of the management team is based.
Broadcom co-founder Henry Samueli, who cashed out about $1 billion in stock after the sale, retained his role as chief technology officer and director.
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Broadcom has attracted several new automotive customers in the past few years in an effort to boost market share in one of technology’s hottest sectors. The global connected car market is projected to generate sales of $141 billion by 2020, with a compounded annual growth rate of nearly 33%, according to Portland, Ore.-based Allied Market Research.
Munich-based BMW AG was among the a first to tap Broadcom’s technology, offering the chipmaker’s Ethernet connection, which boosted Internet capabilities in its 2013 X5 sports utility vehicle. The connectivity was used in the “automated driver’s assist” application, allowing users to stitch together a surround view of the car, aided by a four-camera display system.
The automaker wanted a scalable next-generation network offering faster connections while meeting stringent cost, weight and size requirements. A typical vehicle includes 400 pounds to 600 pounds of wiring—the engine is the only component that weighs more.
Broadcom established the OPEN (one-pair Ethernet) Alliance in late 2011 with four members, all chipmakers. Today, the organization that promotes Ethernet in cars has a membership of more than 250 that includes Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Nissan and Honda.
The company last year used CES, the world’s largest technology trade show, to showcase a near-field communication chip that simplifies the setup process for mobile device connectivity in vehicles and what it billed as the industry’s most power-efficient automotive Ethernet chips and cabling.
“This is a real breakthrough,” Broadcom spokesperson Russ Castronovo said at the time. “It’s the first and the fastest.”
The chipmaker at last month’s CES previewed a potential application for automotive customers, outfitting a small prototype hatchback with its Ethernet connectivity that allowed the driver to view video around the entire vehicle exterior.
Broadcom Ltd. holds more than 41,000 patents. About half were generated by Broadcom Corp., and the other half through Avago’s recent roll-ups of LSI, PLX, CyOptics, Infineon and Costa Mesa-based networking gear maker Emulex Corp., which Avago acquired last year for $660 million.
