New Solutions Enable Service Providers to Deploy Multi-Room DVR Throughout the Connected Home while Reducing Cost and Power Requirements
The new energy efficient MoCA-based solutions enable service providers to deploy a whole-home connected entertainment environment featuring multi-room DVR while providing a consistent look across an entire range of STBs in the home. With support for the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA(R)) Interoperability Guidelines, the new satellite STB SoCs facilitate the easy sharing of digital content between DLNA-enabled devices, allowing a seamless experience for sharing and enjoying digital media and content services throughout the home. Other features include a 3D graphics engine for an advanced user interface along with support for the Multimedia Home Platform (MHP) to deliver interactive TV applications, the Adobe(R) Flash(R) Platform for the Digital Home enabling a rich web-based TV video experience and the RVU Alliance's pixel accurate Remote User Interface (RUI) technology that allows an identical user experience on multiple devices.
Announced today are the Broadcom(R) BCM7340 and BCM7342 single-chip satellite receivers that enable unmatched functionality for direct broadcast satellite (DBS) set-top boxes and support multiple worldwide formats including the DVB-S2, DVB-S and 8PSK standards, with backwards compatibility to the DVB-S standard. Building upon Broadcom's field proven and successful family of STB solutions, these new chips offer extremely high levels of integration and performance that enable worldwide service providers to offer the latest in connectivity and advanced applications to their subscribers while significantly reducing power requirements, complexity and overall bill of materials cost. Both chips feature high performance and cost effective DDR3-based memory that provides significant cost and energy savings over DDR2-based memory.
The BCM7340 and BCM7342 satellite receivers each feature dynamic power management controllers that provide a very power efficient ecosystem, capable of shutting down unused system components in real-time. Even in these low power modes, the SoCs continue to remain aware of network events both in the home and from multiple service provider access points, enabling them to quickly respond to network and user inputs. Both chips offer support for Energy Star(R) and are European Code of Conduct compliant.
The BCM7340 and BCM7342 are similar in their respective feature sets; however, the BCM7342 MoCA-integrated satellite solution acts as the media center to enable service providers to offer multi-room DVR capabilities while the BCM7340 acts as a thin media client, allowing multiple users to store, time shift or access content from media servers or residential gateways for playback on STBs anywhere in the home.
"With integrated MoCA and DLNA support, our latest generation of high definition satellite set-top box SoCs are ideally positioned to drive the connected home entertainment experience," said Nicholas Dunn, Senior Director of Marketing for Broadcom's Satellite Set-Top Box line of business. "As consumers continue to expect more advanced features, such as multi-room DVR, Broadcom is enabling the transition to a more connected and interactive home network environment that also reduces the power, complexity and overall cost for the solution provider."
Technical Information
The BCM7340 is Broadcom's next generation satellite set-top box SoC with integrated MoCA 1.1 technology designed in a 65 nanometer CMOS process. It integrates a single tuner/demodulator from Broadcom's BCM4505 front-end technology and uses the latest generation of AVC decoder that supports multiple video formats and dynamic power management capabilities. It supports several TV output interfaces on-chip including HDMI, baseband composite, component or S-Video, and utilizes a high definition video encoder (with copy protection) that supports NTSC, PAL and SECAM, with simultaneous standard definition output integrated on-chip. It also incorporates Broadcom's advanced 2D/3D graphics engine offering true studio-quality text and graphics with extremely efficient use of memory and bandwidth. Broadcom's flexible architecture also allows MoCA tuning from 500 to 1500 MHz (to be compatible with satellite signals on the same coax).
The BCM7342 is identical to the BCM7340 with the addition of DVR watch and record capabilities. It also integrates a dual tuner/demodulator from Broadcom's BCM4506 front-end technology (versus the single tuner/demodulator of the BCM7340 that uses Broadcom's BCM4505 front-end technology).
Availability and Pricing
The Broadcom BCM7340 and BCM7342 high definition satellite set-top box SoC solutions with integrated MoCA are now sampling to early access customers. Pricing is available upon request.
MoCA Background
MoCA technology enables the distribution of high quality digital multimedia content throughout the home using existing coaxial cable simultaneously with content provider services. With a content service provider's media center managing the digital rights, MoCA streams and distributes the content to multiple thin media clients in the home. MoCA has emerged as a popular method for in-home multimedia distribution among cable, satellite and telecommunication service providers in the U.S. and is gaining recognition as a reliable and cost effective solution for international adoption.
About Broadcom
Broadcom Corporation is a major technology innovator and global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications. Broadcom products enable the delivery of voice, video, data and multimedia to and throughout the home, the office and the mobile environment. We provide the industry's broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art system-on-a-chip and software solutions to manufacturers of computing and networking equipment, digital entertainment and broadband access products, and mobile devices. These solutions support our core mission: Connecting everything((R)).
Broadcom is one of the world's largest fabless semiconductor companies, with 2008 revenue of $4.66 billion, and holds over 3,450 U.S. and over 1,350 foreign patents, more than 7,350 additional pending patent applications, and one of the broadest intellectual property portfolios addressing both wired and wireless transmission of voice, video, data and multimedia.
A FORTUNE 500(R) company, Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., and has offices and research facilities in North America, Asia and Europe. Broadcom may be contacted at +1.949.926.5000 or at www.broadcom.com.
Cautions regarding Forward Looking Statements:
All statements included or incorporated by reference in this release, other than statements or characterizations of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry and business, management's beliefs, and certain assumptions made by us, all of which are subject to change. Forward-looking statements can often be identified by words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "predicts," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "may," "will," "should," "would," "could," "potential," "continue," "ongoing," similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words. Examples of such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the growth in number of global households with in-home provider network nodes that use protocols over coax and the growing demand for whole-home DVR services. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statement.
Important factors that may cause such a difference for Broadcom in connection with BCM7340 and BCM7342 high definition satellite set-top box SoC solutions include, but are not limited to
-- the rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt
Broadcom's technologies and products in the markets for next generation
set-top box applications;
-- delays in the adoption and acceptance of industry standards in those
markets;
-- general economic and political conditions and specific conditions in the
markets we address, including the volatility in the technology sector
and semiconductor industry, trends in the broadband communications
markets in various geographic regions, including seasonality in sales of
consumer products into which our products are incorporated, and possible
disruption in commercial activities related to terrorist activity or
armed conflict in the United States and other locations;
-- the timing of customer-industry qualification and certification of our
products and the risks of non-qualification or non-certification; and
-- the timing, rescheduling or cancellation of significant customer orders
and our ability, as well as the ability of our customers, to manage
inventory.
