Renesas Electronics Introduces Two New DTV and Set-Top Box SoCs

Thursday, July 15th, 2010
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Aims to Expand Sales in the South American Market to 10 Billion Yen by 2013

TOKYO — Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced the availability of two new system-on-chips (SoCs) for digital televisions (DTVs) and set-top boxes (STBs), the EMMA™3TJ and EMMA3TS, specifically targeting the terrestrial digital broadcasting market in Japan and South American countries such as Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela.

The EMMA3TJ SoC is intended for use in DTVs, and the EMMA3TS SoC is targeted for STBs. Both devices integrate on a single chip the functions needed to receive digital broadcasts, including (1) demodulator circuits for the ISDB-T terrestrial digital broadcast format used in Japan and South America, and circuits for the ISDB-S satellite broadcast format used in Japan, (2) decoder circuits for the MPEG2 and H.264 video compression standards, and (3) peripheral interface circuits, such as USB 2.0 and Ethernet. These key features make it easy for system manufacturers to build TVs and STBs with support for digital broadcasts. The EMMA3TJ SoC also includes functions needed to implement three-dimensional (3D) TVs, making it possible to display 3D video from digital broadcasts or Blu-ray™ discs.

Several terrestrial digital broadcast formats are currently in use, including ATSC in North America and DVB-T in Europe. The ISDB-T format used in Japan has recently been adopted by several South American countries, including Brazil, Argentina, and Venezuela. The present scale of this market is estimated to exceed 100 million TV receivers. The new SoCs were designed specifically for Japan and South America, utilizing Renesas Electronics’ accumulated technology expertise, to enable reception and display of content broadcast in the ISDB-T and ISDB-S formats.

Main features of the new products:

  • On-chip demodulator circuits for ISDB-T and ISDB-S
    The new SoC devices both integrate an on-chip demodulator circuit for the ISDB-T terrestrial digital broadcast format used in South American countries such as Brazil and Argentina in addition to Japan. They also have an on-chip demodulator circuit for the ISDB-S format used for BS/CS broadcasts in Japan. This makes it easy for system manufacturers to build TVs and STBs with support for the ISDB-T and ISDB-S formats.
  • Support for MPEG2 and H.264
    Renesas Electronics’ new SoC devices also integrate a single-chip decoder circuit supporting the MPEG2 video compression standard, used for terrestrial digital broadcasts in Japan, as well as the H.264 standard, that provides twice the compression and is expected to be widely adopted worldwide, including in Europe and South America. This feature provides the capability to decompress and display compressed video data using either of the above standards.
  • On-chip external interface functions for USB 2.0 and Ethernet
    The new SoC devices include the built-in USB2.0 interface and Ethernet MAC (media access controller), which enable display of video content delivered via the Internet, including video on demand and streaming broadcasts.
  • Software compatibility
    The same architecture is used for the EMMA3TJ and EMMA3TS SoCs, assuring software compatibility, which provides flexibility and easing development of software applications.
  • Ability to display 3D video data (EMMA3TJ SoC only)
    The EMMA3TJ SoC integrates essential functions for developing 3D TVs including a decoding circuit for input signals in the 3D format specified by the HDMI1.4a standard. This makes it possible to build TVs capable of displaying 3D video from digital broadcasts or Blue-ray™ discs.

Renesas Electronics’ new EMMA 3TJ and EMMA3TS SoCs facilitate the development of TVs, STBs and digital broadcast receiver modules for markets including Japan and South America, where adoption of the ISDB-T terrestrial digital broadcast format has been spreading in recent years.

The company intends to market the new SoCs aggressively and aims to expand its sales in the South American market to approximately 10 billion yen in 2013 by increasing its accompanying lineup of high-performance digital AV product offerings.

Pricing and Availability

Samples of Renesas Electronics’ new EMMA3TJ and EMMA 3TS SoCs are scheduled to be available in the fourth quarter 2010 with each pricing starting at $39 per unit. Mass production is scheduled to begin by December 2010 and is expected to reach a combined volume of 300,000 units per month.