Sagem F@ST 2504 ADSL22+ 802.11bg Router Teardown

Overview / Main Features

The Sagem F@ST 2504 is a wireless router provided by Sky Broadband for their ADSL subscribers. This is one of two wireless routers currently provided by Sky Broadband to their ADSL subscribers, while the other being the Netgear DG934G. These two routers are aesthetically identical with the exception of the name inscribed on the enclosure and the label affixed to the bottom. The Sagem F@ST 2504 features ADSL2/2+ with the help of the Broadcom BCM6348 chip and supporting chipset. User's login information was preprogrammed onto the firmware, prior to customer delivery, for ease of installation but also limits the router to be used on Sky Broadband network.

Sagem F@ST 2504 ADSL22+ 802.11bg Router Main Image

The target market for this specific product is obviously the captive market of BT subscribers, specifically ADSL subscribers.

Released

2007 assumed. Exact date unknown. BSkyB rollout in UK - Q4 200. Cannot find any other announced rollouts for this box.

Sagem F@ST 2504 ADSL22+ 802.11bg Router - Main PCB Top

Pricing for this kind of product (at the consumer level) is meaningless as it is typically a completely subsidized part of a service package, and since it cannot function without being properly set-up by a service provider, after market product and prices have no validity.

The product should be available in the UK (via BSkyB). It may be available more broadly - but evidence of this was not found in Sagem literature and press releases.

Volume Estimations

For the purposes of this teardown analysis, we have assumed a lifetime production volume of 1 Million units. This figure was provided by BSkyB, the sole customer of this device, and no other service providers were found to be purchasing this unit.

As a reminder, teardown volume production assumptions are primarily used for our cost analysis in terms of amortized NRE and tooling costs, especially for custom components specific to the model being analyzed (mechanical components especially). Unless assumed volumes are different by an order of magnitude, minor changes in volume (say 1 million vs. 2) rarely have a large net effect on our final analysis because of this.

Market / Sector Performance

In the broadband market, ADSL represents, as of Q3 2007, 56.5% of new subscribers worldwide. Furthermore, 42% of new subscribers in the same timeframe were from Europe, representing the largest share of new subscriber base worldwide. We estimate a total of 17.4 million new broadband subscribers were added during Q3 2007. While the mix of ADSL and VDSL is growing in favor of VDSL, iSuppli does not expect it to replace ADSL for some time.

Sagem F@ST 2504 ADSL22+ 802.11bg Router Cost Analysis

Main Cost Drivers Representing Approximately 60% of Total Materials Costs

Broadcom - BCM6348SKFBG - ADSL2 + CPE Device - Single-Chip, w/ Integrated CPU, Transceiver and AFE - Qty(1)

Broadcom - BCM4318KFBG - WLAN Baseband - Single-Chip, IEEE802.1b/g - Qty(1)

Broadcom - BCM5325EKQMG - Ethernet Switch - 5-Port, 10/100 Base-T/TX - Qty(1)

Tsuding Global Electronics - Main PCB - 4 Layer - FR4 - Qty(1)

AMIC Technology - A43L2616V-7F - SDRAM - 64Mb (1M x 16Bit x 4Banks), 3.3V, 143MHz @ CL = 3 - Qty(2)

YDS (YUAN DEAN SCIENTIFIC) - Jack - RJ-45, Quad, Right Angle, w/ Metal Housing & LEDs - Qty(1)

SiGe Semiconductor - SE2521A60 - WLAN RF Front-End - IEEE802.1b/g, w/ Integrated PAM, TX Filter, DPDT T/R amd Diversity Switches & Power Detector - Qty(1)

SST - SST39VF3201-70-4C-EKE - Flash - NOR, 32Mb (2M x 16), Multi-Purpose, 90ns - Qty(1)

KSAC1200075W1UK - AC Power Adaptor - Input 200-240V ~50/60Hz 0.4A, Output 12V 0.75A - Qty(1)

Total with Manufacturing $35.17

Sagem F@ST 2504 ADSL22+ 802.11bg Router - Enclosure Disassembly

The total materials and manufacturing costs reported in this analysis reflect ONLY the direct materials cost (from component vendors and assorted EMS providers), AND manufacturing with basic test. Not included in this analysis are costs above and beyond the material manufacture of the core device itself - cost of intellectual property, royalties and licensing fees (those not already included into the per component price), software, software loading and test, shipping, logistics marketing and other channel costs including not only EMS provider and the OEM's margin, but that of other resellers. Our cost analysis is meant to focus on those costs incurred in the manufacture of the core device and exceptionally in some circumstances the packaging and literature as well.

Manufacturing Notes

Country of Origin / Volume Assumptions

Based on manufacturer's location, the unit was assembled in China with PCBAs also manufactured in low labor cost China. Furthermore, we have assumed that custom mechanicals (plastics, metals, etc. were sourced in China.

Country of origin assumptions relate directly to the associated cost of manufacturing, where calculated by iSuppli. In the cases of 'finished' sub-assemblies (such as the Power Supply), we do not calculate internal manufacturing costs, but rather assess the market price of the finished product in which case country of origin assumptions may or may not have a direct effect on pricing.

Remember also that labor rates are applied directly only to hand inserted components and systems in our bill of materials, and although regional assumptions do, these new rates do not have a direct effect on our modeled calculations of placement costs for automated SMD assembly lines. "Auto inserted components (such as SMT components) placement costs are calculated by an iSuppli algorithm which allocates a cost per component based on the size and pincount of the device. This calculation is affected by country or region of origin as well.

Design for Manufacturing / Device Complexity

We use component counts as the one measurable and clearly defined 'metric' by which we can compare and judge the relative complexity of devices and comment as to where a given device fits in the spectrum of overall manufacturing cost and complexity between devices.

With both devices, most of the complexity, component count, and cost are all part of the main PCBA. The packaging / enclosure plastics and mechanicals are not especially complex on either device and did not seem unnecessarily overdesigned or costly to assemble. The bulk of complexity and manufacturing cost is therefore with whichever EMS provider produces the PCBA. These are simple devices which should be inexpensive to manufacture.

Overall the component count is not especially elevated because this device represents the most basic functionality available. The total component count was 526 components in the device itself. However, only 18 components are mechanical in nature. The most direct comparative analysis is against the comparably featured Netgear DG934G ADSL Router, a 'drop-in' replacement or second source for BSkyB and their clientele which features a total of only 474 components of which 24 are mechanical in nature.

Component counts have a direct bearing on the overall manufacturing cycle times and costs, and also can increase or decrease overall yields and re-work. Our calculations of manufacturing costs factor counts and more qualitative complexities in the design. The cost of manufacturing is also, to some extent, decreased in this case because of assumed labor rate applied for China.

Note that manual labor has a much smaller effect on auto-insertion assembly lines (for the Main PCB, for example), where manufacturing costs are much more capital equipment intensive and driven by these investment costs.

Design Notes

This design is much more sparse than the recently analyzed 2Wire 2700HGV, but it's a function of the difference in functionality between the two devices. The Main PCBA has noticeably less components than the 2Wire 2700HGV thus looking much simpler. This design, by comparison at least, seems straightforward and simple. The design revolves around a core Broadcom BCM6348 chip performing the ADSL2+ core processing with a Flash and a SDRAM memory for data storage. We have seen this chip in two previously analyzed devices; Netgear DG834GT and the BT Home Hub. The WLAN function is coordinated by a Broadcom BCM4318 WLAN Baseband chip capable of 802.11b/g. This chip was also present on the BT Home Hub we previously analyzed. The radio functions are performed by a SiGe Semiconductor SE2521A60 WLAN RF Front-End chip which includes Filters, PAM, Switches, etc, which we have previously seen in BT 1055 and iMac MA199LL. The power management of the board is distributed by a Intersil ISL6445IAZ PWM Controller.

Here is a summary of the major components used in the Sagem F@ST 2504 design:

Main PCB

MPU

• Core - Broadcom - BCM6348SKFBG - ADSL2 + CPE Device - Single-Chip, w/ Integrated CPU, Transceiver and AFE

Host Interface

• Switch - Broadcom - BCM5325EKQMG - Ethernet Switch - 5-Port, 10/100 Base-T/TX

Memory

• Flash - SST - SST39VF3201-70-4C-EKE - NOR, 32Mb (2M x 16), Multi-Purpose, 90ns
• SDRAM - AMIC Technology - A43L2616V-7F - 64Mb (1M x 16Bit x 4Banks), 3.3V, 143MHz @ CL = 3

WLAN

• Baseband - Broadcom - BCM4318KFBG - WLAN Baseband - Single-Chip, IEEE802.1b/g
• Front-End - SiGe Semiconductor - SE2521A60 - WLAN RF Front-End - IEEE802.1b/g, w/ Integrated PAM, TX Filter, DPDT T/R amd Diversity Switches & Power Detector

Power Supply

• PWM Controller - Intersil - ISL6445IAZ - PWM Controller - Dual, Step-Down, 1.4MHz

Power Supply (Wall Plug-In Accessory)

• External AC Power Adapter - KSAC1200075W1UK - 200-240 VAC ~50/60Hz 0.4A, 12 Vdc, 0.75A, 9 Watts

Sagem F@ST 2504 ADSL22+ 802.11bg Router - Box Contents