ST set-top box and home gateway chips receive DOCSIS 3.0 certification

GENEVA — STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications and a leading producer of ICs for cable set-top boxes and home gateways, has reached DOCSIS® 3.0 certification for its System-on-Chip (SoC) products addressing the cable-data gateway and interactive set-top box markets.

DOCSIS® 3.0 is a cable modem specification that provides the framework for home and mobile entertainment to evolve from legacy MPEG to IP video distribution. It defines and standardizes the extremely high data rates that enable set-top boxes and home gateways to deliver video and Internet data converged services over a single network and support simultaneous use of multiple connected devices, such as smart televisions, digital video recorders (DVRs), tablets, smartphones and game consoles in the home.

STMicroelectronics’ DOCSIS 3.0 solution with channels bounding up to 16 downstream and 4 upstream enables data speeds of up to 800Mbps downstream and 108Mbps upstream. A 4000 Dhrystone MIPS processor, together with hardware accelerators, execute high-performance gateway functions including line-rate data switching / routing, PacketCableTM telephony, LAN / WLAN networking management and home automation.

STMicroelectronics delivers a complete certified DOCSIS 3.0 solution including full-band tuner front-end, gateway SoC, and software integrated in an optimized reference design, which combines high performance and low power consumption, and is ready for immediate market deployment. ST’s DOCSIS 3.0 devices include the STiD128 for 16*4 data gateway, the STiD127 for 16-channel interactive set-top box, and the STiD125 for 12-channel applications, and all these are available to customers for sampling and volume production. Data-gateway and interactive set-top box solutions based on the STiD12x family will be demonstrated by ST at IBC in Amsterdam, September 13-17, 2013.

“A leading supplier of set-top-box and home-gateway SoCs, ST has already shipped tens of millions of first- and second-generation DOCSIS chips, and is now deploying high-data-bandwidth DOCSIS 3.0 solutions,” said Youssef Kamel, Connected Client and Gateways Business Development Director, Unified Platform Division, STMicroelectronics. “The certification demonstrates our ongoing commitment to meet the market needs, enabling operators to deliver more advanced services to multiple connected users throughout the home.”

DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications) are the dominant cable modem specifications adopted by cable service providers and equipment suppliers in North America. The equivalent EuroDOCSIS specification is widely used throughout Europe. By supporting leading-edge data rates, successive DOCSIS specifications have enabled cable TV operators to become full-service video, voice and data telecommunications providers.

Other advances include support for channel bonding, which is a flexible technique for increasing the maximum data bandwidth of cable modems.