MaxLinear Launches Industry-First Integrated ATSC Tuner-Demodulator ICs for Cost-Effective Cord-Cutter Products

Download as PDF
  • Multi-channel over-the-air reception capability complements a wide range of over-the-top streaming products

AMSTERDAM--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- MaxLinear, Inc. (NYSE: MXL), a leading provider of radio frequency (RF), analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits for the connected home, wired and wireless infrastructure, and industrial and multimarket applications, today announced the MxL69x family, the industry’s first family of single-channel integrated ATSC tuner-demodulator ICs.

The new device family provides a cost-effective solution for adding over-the-air (OTA) television reception to over-the-top (OTT) “cord-cutter” set-top boxes (STB) and streaming media devices.

New research from the Kagan unit of S&P Global Market Intelligence confirms that the cord-cutting trend is continuing - the company forecasts homes with “nontraditional” television packages will grow to 45 million by 2021. A key part of this trend are the homes that will install antennas to obtain OTA broadcast television, which are expected to total 15 million in the same timeframe. MaxLinear believes both market segments can benefit from the MxL69x.

“Cord cutting and skinny bundling are important trends in this industry, but what we’ve seen is that these consumers still really want to receive local channels for their favorite shows and sports. The MxL69x provides a cost-effective way to add over-the-air programming to an OTT system,” said Will Torgerson, Vice President & General Manager of the Broadband Group at MaxLinear. “These STBs are getting smaller with much more creative and thinner designs, so our tiny packaging, high level of integration and low power consumption makes multi-channel over-the-air products a reality."

“Customers and the press give our HDHomeRun line of cord-cutter STBs high marks for functionality and innovation,” said Theodore Head, President and CEO of SiliconDust. “The low power and high level of integration of MaxLinear’s MxL69x family have enabled us to offer multi-channel OTA streaming receivers in a much smaller form factor without sacrificing any functionality.”

“The cord-cutter movement is restarting growth in terrestrial antennas with some analysts expecting the market to reach 10 million units this year,” said Vahid Manian, Chief Operating Officer of Ethertronics. “As a leader in smart antenna ICs, we’re seeing demand for smart antennas that get great coverage in ever smaller footprints. Working with MaxLinear’s cord-cutting products means we can create next-generation reference designs that meet the evolving customer requirements.”

Technical Highlights

The MxL69x is a single-chip, single-channel ATSC tuner-demodulator product line that leverages MaxLinear’s “super radio” tuner technology and digital CMOS process technology for a low-power device that delivers superior over-the-air reception performance.

The first device in the family is the MxL692, which targets digital TV, single/multi-channel STBs, USB/Wi-Fi adapters, and Wi-Fi/wired/RF smart antenna system applications. The IC supports the ATSC standard and global digital cable standards ITU-T J.83 Annexes (A, B, and C).

The MxL692 takes an RF input signal from 44MHz to 1006MHz, and outputs an MPEG transport stream in serial or parallel format. With its high-level of integration, the chip includes a broadband input filter, a channel filter, AGC, LO, PLL, and demodulators, simplifying board-level design. The device comes in a 5 x 5mm QFN package, enabling very compact system designs, reduced BOM costs and lower power consumption.

The MxL692 is controlled through an I2C interface. The IC supports either single supply operation using 3.3V, or dual-supply operation using 3.3V and 1.8V.

The MxL692 is sampling now and will be on display at IBC 2017, September 15-19, in MaxLinear’s meeting suite - RAI Hall 15 MS23. For reservations, please contact sales@maxlinear.com.

About MaxLinear, Inc.

MaxLinear, Inc. (NYSE:MXL), a leading provider of radio frequency (RF), analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits for the connected home, wired and wireless infrastructure, and industrial and multimarket applications. MaxLinear is headquartered in Carlsbad, California. For more information, please visit www.maxlinear.com.

MxL and the MaxLinear logo are trademarks of MaxLinear, Inc. Other trademarks appearing herein are the property of their respective owners.

Cautionary Note About Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, among others, statements concerning or implying future financial performance or trends and growth opportunities affecting MaxLinear, including statements related to the performance of MaxLinear’s MxL69x. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s current, preliminary expectations and are subject to various risks and uncertainties. The closing of recent acquisitions of wireless infrastructure assets from Microsemi and Broadcom present particular risks associated with our ability to integrate the acquired businesses, and maintain relationships with employees, customers, and vendors. In addition, our current expectations with respect to the size of the available market and growth opportunities in future years are subject to substantial management assumptions that are themselves subject to material risks and uncertainties. Additional risks and uncertainties that could affect our assumptions and expectations with respect to the completed acquisitions that also generally affect our business, operating results, financial condition, and stock price, include, intense competition in our industry; our dependence on a limited number of customers for a substantial portion of our revenues; uncertainties concerning how end user markets for our products will develop; potential uncertainties arising from continued consolidation among cable television and satellite operators in our target markets and continued consolidation among competitors within the semiconductor industry generally; our ability to develop and introduce new and enhanced products on a timely basis and achieve market acceptance of those products, particularly as we seek to expand outside of our historic markets; potential decreases in average selling prices for our products; risks relating to intellectual property protection and the prevalence of intellectual property litigation in our industry, including pending litigation against us by a third parties in the United States District Court in Delaware and Superior Court of California; our reliance on a limited number of third party manufacturers; and our lack of long-term supply contracts and dependence on limited sources of supply. In addition to these risks and uncertainties, investors should review the risks and uncertainties contained in MaxLinear’s filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2017 and June 30, 2017, and our Current Reports on Form 8-K. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. MaxLinear is providing this information as of the date of this release and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

MaxLinear Inc. Press Contact:
The David James Agency LLC
David Rodewald
+1-805-494-9508
david@davidjamesagency.com
or
MaxLinear Inc. Corporate Contact:
Will Torgerson
Vice President & General Manager of the Broadband Group
+1-760-692-0711
wtorgerson@maxlinear.com

Source: MaxLinear, Inc.

Released September 15, 2017