Broadcom ups engineering presence in India

Broadcom Corporation, the $2 billion US-based global player in semiconductors, is expanding scope of its engineering operations in India.

The Indian centre, after this expansion, will work on development of next generation wireless LAN solutions for the low power embedded segment as well as a Multiple Input Multiple Output technology, a technique for boosting wireless bandwidth and range.

This will be in addition to the centre's current development focus on set-top boxes, networking infrastructure and wireless products.

Announcing this expansion in Bangalore on Thursday, Scott A McGregor, president & CEO, Broadcom said: "India is an exciting destination for mobile communications. As an active player in the communication convergence revolution, Broadcom will continue to invest in R&D facilities in the country. India will definitely play a vital role in supporting the growing demand from key broadband markets across the world."

Presently, Broadcom has nearly 200 employees in Bangalore, up from 30 when the company started operations in 1999 through its acquisition of Armedia. Broadcom is expected to continue growing in India as the company expands its design teams to provide additional R&D support to new and existing business opportunities globally.

The most recent addition to Broadcom's Indian engineering talent came via the acquisition of Athena Semiconductors in October 2005. With this acquisition, Broadcom gets expertise in the area of design and development of the mobile digital television tuner and low-power Wi-Fi technology.

"The addition of this to Broadcom's workforce represents a key step in achieving the company's continuing goal of expanding its presence in India," added McGregor.

Said Henry Samueli, Broadcom's Co-founder and CTO: "The R&D centre in India has developed some mission critical system-on-chip (SoC) designs. The knowledge and domain expertise demonstrated by the team in India has definitely surpassed our expectations and we expect this will continue in key growth areas in the future."