Customer Solution Case Study
/ / Broadcom Readies Product Line for
64-Bit Market with Rich Driver Development Tools
Overview
Country:United States
Industry:High Technology
Customer Profile
Broadcom Corporation, based in Irvine, California, is a worldwide leader in semiconductors for both wired and wireless communications.
Business Situation
The company needed to adjust its product strategy to meet anticipated demand for new 64-bit computing products.
Solution
Broadcom became an early adopter of the Windows 64-bit platform, using Microsoft tools and resources to ensure that its products would "just work" with solutions that will be shipped with the launch of the Windows Vista operating system.
Benefits
Tools expedite development.
Guidelines offer clear advice.
Products "just work". / "Broadcom is very satisfied with the quality of the tools and resources Microsoft [has] for building x64 Windows products. They help Broadcom to continue delivering high-end software that just works."
Robert Lusinsky, Product Marketing Manager, High-Speed Controller Line of Business Broadcom
Broadcom Corporation is a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications and offers a broad range of solutions for home computing, business environments, and mobile communications. Responding to the computer industry’s shift to 64-bit computing, Broadcom made a strategic decision to become an early adopter of the Microsoft® Windows® 64-bit computing platform and begin the engineering process using the rich Microsoft driver-development tools and resources. Broadcom has been able to successfully port its products and software solutions and is prepared to fully support the wave of products demanded by the market with the launch of the Microsoft Windows VistaTM operating system.
Situation
Broadcom is a leading manufacturer of semiconductors used in both wired and wireless communications. Its products enable delivery of voice, video, data, and multimedia to and throughout homes, offices, and in mobile scenarios. Broadcom’s range of semiconductor and software solutions can be found in cable and DSL modems, digital set-top boxes, digital televisions, high-definition DVD players, networking equipment, wireless-enabled laptop and desktop PCs, and advanced PDAs and cellular phones.
As one of the world’s largest fabless semiconductor companies, Broadcom is also a major supplier to leading computer manufacturers such as IBM, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Fujitsu Siemens. Several years ago the company began seeing the industry shifting away from the limits of 32-bit computing, and realized that it would need to act accordingly to modify the underlying architecture of its products.
"About seven years ago we anticipated the industry shift to 64-bit computing, and began using 64-bit addressing in all of our Ethernet controller product lines," says Robert Lusinsky, Product Marketing Manager for Broadcom’s High-Speed Controller Line of Business. "We would have been left out if we had not anticipated the move to 64-bit."
Solution
As part of the strategy to be responsive to the needs of its customers, as well as the industry shift to 64-bit computing, Broadcom became an early adopter of the 64-bit Windows platform.
"With the introduction of the AMD and Intel 64-bit processors, and the Microsoft adoption of 64-bit extensions, it reaffirmed our belief that the 64-bit Windows platform was going to play a very large role in the expansion of 64-bit computing," Lusinsky says.
"Customers running 32-bit Windows solutions were hitting the 4-gigabyte memory limit, which is a particular problem on servers and high-end workstations," he says. "Early on, some customers expressed concerns about compatibility issues between 64-bit and existing 32-bit solutions, but Microsoft, AMD, and Intel worked hard to resolve those issues. So creating 64-bit Windows solutions is critical for us in terms of being part of the next generation of computing solutions, which is why Broadcom was proactive in supporting 64-bit computing."
Benefits
By adopting the 64-bit Windows platform, Broadcom has access to tools and resources that expedite development of new 64-bit products. For example, the company’s development teams use tools such as the Kernel-Mode Driver Framework (KMDF)—a component of the Windows Driver Foundation—and can benefit from such support as the AMD64 Driver Porting Guidelines, which help reduce or eliminate possible errors before they turn into costly post-production fixes. For Broadcom, these tools and resources help ensure that the company can supply original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with the components necessary to meet demand following the launch of the Windows Vista and Microsoft Windows Server® code name "Longhorn" operating systems.
Tools Expedite Development
Mr. Nima, Senior Software Engineer within Broadcom’s High-Speed Controller team, says KMDF is one of the most important tools that the company uses. KMDF implements the fundamental features required for kernel-mode drivers, including Plug and Play and power management, I/O queues, direct memory access, Windows Management Instrumentation, and synchronization.
"Microsoft is very good about providing the right WDK help files and automating many of the development steps, such as debugging a driver, with very little effort required from the developer."Mr. Nima, Senior Software Engineer, Broadcom
"KMDF has really helped expedite our x64 deliverables by making the development process easier," Nima says. "It simplifies the process of building a driver and getting a binary file that the machine can execute for device driver support."
He says that after installing the Windows Driver Kit (WDK) and starting a build environment, the build process proceeds "almost in turnkey fashion."
"It automatically sets all the appropriate flags and settings," Nima says. "This is typical of the Windows development environment that I have grown accustomed to over the years. Microsoft is very good about providing the right WDK help files and automating many of the development steps, such as debugging a driver, with very little effort required from the developer."
Guidelines Offer Clear Advice
Nima says the AMD64 Driver Porting Guidelines have been very helpful in the development process.
"The guidelines provide the necessary steps that a programmer has to go through whenever you expand code to 64-bit," says Nima. "There are parameters and integers that need to be doubled up to support the additional width of the data bus. So the driver has to go through a complete code review and all integers, parameters, and values have to be checked for the proper width so they don’t lose information.
"The guidelines are valuable in walking us through what needs to be done," he adds, "because if you don’t do that transition correctly, and don’t have good driver code that can smoothly support both 32-bit and 64-bit, you may produce a driver that causes problems in the field. That can lead to redevelopment after the product is in the field, which costs time and money."
Products Just Work
Lusinsky says that by using the Microsoft 64-bit tools for developing its new products, Broadcom is able to keep pace with the demand for 64-bit Windows products and solutions.
"The tools that Microsoft provides allow us to get to market quicker and have products set up right the first time, increasing the quality of Broadcom’s software," he says.
"Broadcom is very satisfied with the quality of the tools and resources Microsoft makes available for building x64 Windows products. They help Broadcom to continue delivering high-end software to market that just works."
For More Information
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