ANADIGICS Announces Availability of a CATV NIM Reference Design

WARREN, NJ — ANADIGICS, Inc. (Nasdaq: ANAD) today announced a cable television NIM (Network Interface Module) reference design which incorporates its recently launched AIT1042 integrated RF tuner and the ST0297E QAM Demodulator with A/D Converter from STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM). The reference design offers customers a cost-effective turnkey tuner-demodulator subsystem that eliminates complicated RF front-end design issues.

Jointly developed by ANADIGICS and STMicroelectronics, the design enables OEMs to deploy the latest RF tuner and QAM demodulator technologies via a ready-to-implement solution that reduces the footprint, cost and development time typically required to bring new cable TV set-top boxes and home gateway products to market.

The full-NIM reference design is engineered to offer a complete and highly optimized hardware-and-software solution that allows cable products to be quickly field tested, qualified, and brought to mass production. The platform comes with full design support, including circuit schematics, printed circuit board layout, bill of materials and core software.

Set-top box manufacturers can build upon the design or customize it to meet their specific requirements, applying the reference design directly to their main PCB for a “tuner-on-board” solution. Manufacturers of canned tuners can use the higher levels of integration offered by this design to reduce the number of discrete components in a full-NIM tuner/demod solution. The reference design meets or exceeds the requirements of cable operators in Japan, China, Europe, and other regions employing ITU-T J.83 Annex A/C and DVB-C bit streams.

ANADIGICS’ AIT1042 is developed for use in CATV and HDTV tuners, set-top boxes and PC TV tuner cards. The highly integrated design minimizes board layout sensitivities, reduces the amount of external circuitry required for a complete receiver solution, and condenses board layout space. This new RF tuner device includes an upconverter with RF gain control, a downconverter, a digital IF amplifier with gain control, a dual PLL synthesizer, and a VCO with integrated tank circuits, all in a single 7mm x 7mm x 1mm surface mount package.

“As we usher in the digital age, China, Japan, and other markets require a small, competitive, high-performance solution for CATV set-top boxes. This reference design satisfies that need, and with ANADIGICS’ AIT1042 RF tuner at the heart of the solution, OEMs can be sure of providing consumers with a rich, crystal clear video experience,” reports Ray Aubert, Sr. Product Marketing Manager, ANADIGICS, Inc.