- Si218x Demodulator,

Supporting DVB-S2X and ISDB-T Standards for TV and Set-Top Box Applications -

December 9, 2014 – Silicon Labs, a specialist in broadcast video solutions for the TV market, announced the launch of a next-generation digital TV modulator product family supporting satellite, terrestrial, and cable standards. The new Si218x product family includes the world's first demodulator supporting the recently announced DVB-S2X specification. The DVB-S2X specification adds new features and enhanced performance to the DVB-S2 standard. This product family supports the ISDB-T (Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting-Terrestrial) standard, which is widely used in Brazil and Latin America, and expands Silicon Labs' industry-leading terrestrial demodulator portfolio. The Si218x product family meets diverse TV reception requirements of TV and set-top box (STB) manufacturers, RF network interface module (NIM) suppliers, and DVD/Blu-ray recorder manufacturers worldwide.

Silicon Labs' single-chip Si218x demodulator is designed to enhance digital demodulation architecture performance to support both new and existing standards for terrestrial (DVB-T/T2, ISDB-T), satellite (DVB-S/S2/DSS/S2X), and cable (DVB-C/C2, ITU-T J83 Annex A/B/C) reception. Through the single-channel Si218x and dual-channel Si218x2 product families, TV and STB manufacturers can simplify complex video front-end designs and address various broadcast standard combinations with a single field-validated, low-power, cost-effective demodulator solution.

For terrestrial broadcast applications, Silicon Labs maintains the highest market share in the TV industry's DVB-T2 demodulator segment. Silicon Labs leverages extensive field experience accumulated in the terrestrial broadcast market, incorporating it into the third-generation Si218x DVB-T2 demodulator, and currently supports the entry-level ISDB-T standard. ISDB-T, developed to provide high-quality terrestrial digital video reception and led by Japan, is being deployed in 15 countries including Brazil, South America, Central America, Africa, and Asia.

Dr. Gunnar Bedicks, Chief Researcher at Mackenzie Digital TV Laboratory, stated, "Silicon Labs' ISDB-T demodulator and TV tuner chipset comply with all ABNT NBR 15604:2007Vc2008 specifications while providing substantial margins for all validated items. This demodulator performs exceptionally well, operating correctly even in demanding reception test cases, and particularly demonstrates robust performance against multipath propagation and Doppler effects in both pre-echo and post-echo scenarios."

The Digital TV Laboratory is a subsidiary institution of Mackenzie Presbyterian University, located in São Paulo, Brazil, and is a leading digital TV research institute conducting research on transmission and reception systems. Since 1997, this laboratory has managed ISDB-T compliance and certification testing in collaboration with ABERT (Brazilian Broadcasting Association), SET (Society for TV Engineer), the Brazilian Ministry of Communications, and ANATEL (Brazilian government regulatory agency).

The Si218x product family complies with the ISDB-T standard while supporting the new DVB-S2X extension to the DVB-S2 standard for satellite reception. Through demodulator products supporting DVB-S2X, developers can ensure future-ready TV and STB designs with enhanced channel recovery capabilities and 4K Ultra HD TV reception support technology based on HEVC (high-efficiency video coding) performance. HEVC decoding technology, already embedded in numerous TV SoC devices combined with DVB-S2X reception capability, has become a "must-have" feature in the TV market.

James Stansberry, Senior Vice President and General Manager of IoT and Broadcast Products at Silicon Labs, stated, "As a leading company in the state-of-the-art digital TV demodulator market, Silicon Labs is committed to enabling global customers to keep pace with continuously evolving digital video broadcast standards. Our new Si218x demodulator supports the latest DVB-S2X satellite standard and ISDB-T terrestrial standard tailored for the Latin American region, enabling TV and STB manufacturers to pre-validate their designs and easily enter new markets."

The single-channel Si218x demodulator uses the same 7 mm x 7 mm QFN-48 package as Silicon Labs' existing demodulator product family, offering pin-to-pin compatibility and simplifying board design while minimizing cost, research, and development. The dual-channel Si218x2 demodulator is also pin-compatible in an 8 mm x 8 mm QFN-68 package and features an innovative on-chip crossbar architecture. Through the on-chip crossbar architecture, system designers can address a wide range of multi-receiver applications with efficient and cost-effective solutions. The Si218x and Si218x2 demodulators share the same API software, allowing customers to extend their application software to the new demodulator and upgrade their TV and STB products with ISDB-T standard and the latest digital video broadcast standards.

Alongside the launch of the Si218x/8x2 product family, Silicon Labs has updated its industry-leading Si216x/6x2 DVB demodulator product family, offering enhanced new performance and supporting the DVB-S2X standard. When combined with Silicon Labs' market-leading TV tuner, the Si216x and Si218x demodulators provide the highest level of performance video front-end solutions spanning from RF to baseband, simplifying TV manufacturer designs.

Product Pricing and Purchase Information

The single-channel Si218x and dual-channel Si218x2 digital demodulators are available in sample and production quantities. The Si2183 universal ISDB-T and DVB-C2/C/T2/T/S2/S/S2X demodulator and Si21832 dual demodulator are key products within Silicon Labs' complete single and dual demodulator portfolio. Product pricing is available through Silicon Labs' regional sales offices or authorized distributors. The Si218x demodulator product family is supported by comprehensive evaluation board sets. Reference design schematics, layout Gerber files, and sample driver source code support faster time-to-market while reducing development time.

For information regarding Silicon Labs' new demodulator products and sample requests, please refer to www.silabs.com/tv-demodulator.