Inverto Debuts Eight-Channel SAT>IP Gateway Powered by MaxLinear and STMicroelectronics

Monday, January 7th, 2013
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New Inverto AirScreen Server distributes satellite TV signal to up to eight computers, smartphones, tablets, connected TVs or other IP devices; Gateway powered by MaxLinear MxL584 Full Spectrum Capture™ DVB-S2 receiver and SAT>IP SoC from STMicroelectronics

LAS VEGAS — 2013 CES International — MaxLinear Inc. (NYSE: MXL), a leading provider of integrated radio frequency (RF) and mixed-signal integrated circuits for broadband communications applications, today announced its MxL584 eight-channel single-chip satellite receiver will power the next-generation AirScreen™ satellite-to-IP (SAT>IP) gateway from Inverto Digital Labs, a Luxembourg-based leader in broadcast reception and streaming products.

The new AirScreen Server also includes a SAT>IP System-on-Chip (SoC) from STMicroelectronics that supports both the SAT>IP protocol and the networking and conditional access features required by satellite free-to-air and pay-TV providers. The MxL584 is a single-chip low-power receiver that incorporates MaxLinear’s Full-Spectrum Capture™ (FSC™) technology that captures the entire 4.8GHz satellite spectrum and demodulates up to eight DVB-S2 channels.

The combined MaxLinear MxL584 and STMicroelectronics SoC platform is best positioned for supporting the SAT>IP gateway market evolution toward delivering more satellite channels to IP-connected devices including connected TVs, tablets, laptops and smartphones. The SAT>IP standard is developed and maintained by SES S.A., a global leader in satellite communications.

Inverto is a developer and vendor of broadcast reception and streaming appliances. Inverto’s previous server, MultiBox, first launched in 2012, was the first four-channel SAT>IP gateway on the market. Its successor product, the AirScreen Server, receives up to eight satellite signals and streams selected TV/radio programs over a Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) link to up to eight users allowing them to watch live or recorded TV on their connected video devices via a home network. AirScreen can stream services selected by the client devices while also maintaining encryption for pay-TV channels.

“When we designed the MxL500 satellite receiver family taking advantage of our ultra-low power, high performance and Full-Spectrum Capture™ technology, it was to make advanced systems like the Inverto AirScreen a reality,” said Brian Sprague, MaxLinear’s Vice President and General Manager. “MaxLinear is pleased to be partnering with Inverto and with STMicroelectronics on this industry-leading next-generation satellite gateway.”

“With consumers now watching content more than ever on tablets, the AirScreen Server is an appliance that fulfills a mass-market need. The AirScreen Server not only brings the satellite experience seamlessly to tablets, smartphones and other ‘second’ screens, but it also lowers CPE costs for operators,” said Paul Clark, Vice President of Business Development for Inverto. “MaxLinear and STMicroelectronics have best-of-breed technology to enable lowest power eight-channel SAT>IP gateway solutions.”

“With its long experience in the satellite industry and wide range of system-on-chip technologies and dedicated turnkey platforms, ST has been instrumental in pioneering the SAT>IP standard and contributing to the first successful initial deployments in 2012,” said Hervé Mathieu, Unified Platform Division Business Director at STMicroelectronics. “Working with MaxLinear and Inverto on the SAT>IP gateway market evolution is further proof of ST’s commitment to the development of this new satellite multi-room/multi-screen standard.”

Technical Highlights

The MxL584 is part of the MxL500 family of 40-nm satellite Full-Spectrum Capture™ frontend ICs that MaxLinear introduced in 2012.

The MxL584 has four RF inputs and is directly compatible with single, dual and quad-feed low-noise block (LNB) converters, enabling cost effective and flexible IP gateway solutions in a very compact form factor. The device simultaneously receives any combination of eight DVB-S2 channels located arbitrarily in the satellite spectrum with power dissipation as low as 1.7W in a typical application. The MxL584 integrates all active front-end components, including the low-noise amplifiers (LNA).

The Inverto AirScreen 8-channel satellite server is based on an STMicroelectronics System-on-Chip, incorporating a powerful multi-transport stream demux engine processor, a UPnP/DLNA server, as well as other hardware engines that enable smooth operation of the SAT>IP protocol, including complex CAS (conditional access system) to DRM (digital rights management) operations.

The ST-based AirScreen Server can be connected to the home network over its Gigabit Ethernet port via an Ethernet cable, Wi-Fi, HomePlug AV or PLC (Ethernet-over-powerline) adaptors, or any other networking solutions benefiting from the multiple interface options provided by the SoC processor. Further details on ST’s SAT>IP solutions are available directly from ST.