Broadcom Announces HD Satellite Set-Top Box SoC with Integrated MoCA®

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
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New Solutions Enable Service Providers to Deploy Multi-Room DVR Throughout the Connected Home while Reducing Cost and Power Requirements

AMSTERDAM — IBC 2009 — Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced new single-chip, multi-format high definition (HD) satellite set-top box (STB) solutions featuring an integrated Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA®) 1.1 core. With these new system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions, service providers worldwide can now offer whole-home digital media distribution and connected TV services that enable subscribers to securely access, store and share multiple types of digital media content including HDTV programs, video-on-demand, multi-room digital video recorder (DVR) programming, Internet content, user-generated video, music, photos and voice over Internet protocol.

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®) 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® Flash® 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® 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® 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.