EchoStar HD Satellite Set-Top Boxes Enabled by Entropic SoC and Demod

Bell Canada, Dish Mexico and Telus Now Offer Fully Functional HD Satellite Set-Top Boxes Which Can Support Over-the-Top Video and Interactive Applications

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — Entropic Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:ENTR), a world leader in semiconductor solutions for the connected home, announced today the deployment of its set-top box (STB) system-on-a-chip (SoC) and demodulator technology in three EchoStar models, which are currently being deployed at Bell Canada, Dish Mexico and Telus.

With the use of Entropic’s STB SoC and demodulator technology, EchoStar offers fully-functional high definition (HD) satellite STBs, which are personal video recorder (PVR)-ready via external hard drives. The devices also support over-the-top (OTT) and interactive applications via an Internet connection.

Entropic’s SoC uses an integrated ARM® application CPU to power advanced application processing, with a multi-stream transport processor to support PVR functionality. It also leverages flexible, multi-format video and audio decoders and a memory controller to provide ample memory capacity for both HD picture decoding and advanced system performance. The EchoStar STBs also use Entropic’s advanced, low-power turbo-coding demodulator, which provides increased satellite system throughput by up to 35 percent utilizing existing bandwidth.

When Entropic’s STB SoC is coupled with its demodulator technology, it provides the core components for EchoStar’s HD-PVR STB application. The very high level of integration enables a low system bill of materials (BoM) to support a variety of applications. Further, Entropic’s demodulator has been designed to support EchoStar’s proprietary turbo-coding demodulation standard.

“EchoStar has worked closely with Entropic on a range of models and technologies including SoCs, demodulators, and Connectivity switches,” said Mark Jackson, president of EchoStar Technologies. “The Entropic SoCs and demodulators used in the EchoStar HD set-top boxes deliver the next-gen features desired by our customers in Canada and Mexico; enabling their subscribers to optimize their home entertainment experiences.”

“The software in the EchoStar models take full advantage of Entropic’s set-top box SoC and demodulator technology; enabling the set-top box to support a wide range of consumer video services, such as transmitting additional channels and providing HDTV viewing preferences,” said Patrick Henry, president and CEO, Entropic Communications. “Being part of the EchoStar ecosystem, we have the opportunity to deploy even more innovative models globally, using the Entropic SoC platform with our connectivity bundled solutions.”

Availability

The Entropic STB SoC and demodulator technology are currently available in the following models: the EchoStar 6400FG (Bell Canada), the EchoStar M211HDR (Dish Mexico) and the EchoStar 6400T (Telus).

For more information on Entropic’s SoC or demodulator technologies, visit Entropic at IBC2012 in Meeting Suite G106/107 at the RAI Amsterdam.