MaxLinear Delivers First Integrated Tuner and QAM Demodulator IC for Cable TV Designs
New MxL241SF Tuner+Demod Optimized for Set Top Boxes and DOCSIS 3 Transport Gateways
CARLSBAD, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 09/09/09 -- MaxLinear, Inc., a fabless semiconductor company developing all-CMOS broadband radio-frequency (RF) & mixed-signal IC solutions for consumer markets, today announced the MxL241SF -- the industry's first "MPEG Tuner" a single-die integrated tuner and QAM demodulator IC.
Developed in standard digital CMOS, the MxL241SF combines MaxLinear's cutting-edge front-end RF technology and Texas Instruments' proven QAM solution for the cable market. The device tunes to 256 and 64 QAM channels up to 1GHz and provides standard MPEG transport stream output for DOCSIS and video applications while meeting the high performance, low power and small form factor requirements for developing next-generation, multi-tuner cable video gateways and advanced set-top boxes (STBs).
The product will be first on display at the International Broadcasting Convention (Sept. 11-15 in Amsterdam). Additionally, Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) has integrated four MxL241SF tuners as part of its new Puma 5 DOCSIS® 3.0 eight downstream and four upstream channel bonding (8X4) hardware development kit (HDK) targeted at applications that require low-power and highly flexible front-end tuners such as video gateways and STBs.
The latest extension of TI's Puma 5 family of DOCSIS 3.0 products, the TNETC958, enables cable video gateway manufacturers to cost-effectively develop products that deliver on the promise of next-generation services such as IPTV and advanced home networking. The ultralow power consumption of the MxL241SF allows for easier compliance with the U.S. Energy Star program and means designers can save additional cost and board space by reducing heat dissipation systems.
The MxL241SF is packaged in a compact 6mm x 6mm 40-pin QFN package and consumes only 450mW of power -- only slightly higher than MaxLinear's MxL201RF cable tuner and a third of the power consumed by stand alone tuners commonly used in cable STBs and TVs.
"Today's residential gateway and STB manufacturers are faced with ever more challenging multi-channel designs where small size and low power devices become critical for meeting MSO requirements. The MxL241SF provides these manufacturers with a unique product to meet these challenges," said Kishore Seendripu, MaxLinear's CEO. "Working with Texas Instruments has allowed us to be first to market with designs based on this product that are disruptive innovations compared to today's state of the art systems."
"With its demonstrated RF experience in digital CMOS and enabling frequency agile solutions, MaxLinear provides significant value to TI's new HDK," said Ran Senderovitz, Texas Instruments' Digital Connected Home business manager. "TI's new cost-effective and low-power Puma 5 DOCSIS 3.0 HDK, which incorporates MaxLinear's MPEG tuners empowers cable manufacturers to develop a broad portfolio of differentiated video gateway products in volume."
The MxL241SF can also be an easy and cost-effective method for adding channels in more complex STBs such as PVRs/DVRs where backend SoCs with no more than 3 QAM demodulators are used or as the frontend solution in high definition STBs where backend SoCs do not have integrated QAM demodulators. The tuner is also more cost-effective for IPTV STBs that include one or more cable front ends.
The MxL241SF is sampling today and will be showcased in the MaxLinear and Texas Instruments suites at IBC and will be generally available in 4Q 2009.
About MaxLinear, Inc.
MaxLinear, Inc. is a rapidly growing fabless IC company focusing on highly integrated analog products that incorporate proprietary mixed-signal and radio frequency signal processing techniques in digital CMOS. The company's technology is ideally suited for a broad range of high-volume consumer electronics applications with the strictest requirements for both power and performance, including personal computers, laptop computers, set-top-boxes, televisions, and mobile devices. MaxLinear is the first to deliver on the promise of an easy-to-use silicon solution to enable TV on any device. The company is located in Carlsbad, California with sales offices world wide. More information is at www.maxlinear.com.
MaxLinear and the MaxLinear logo are trademarks of MaxLinear, Inc. Other trademarks appearing herein are the property of their respective owners.
MaxLinear, Inc. Press Contact: David Rodewald The David James Agency LLC Tel: 805-494-9508 Email Contact MaxLinear, Inc. Corporate Contact: John Graham Vice President of Marketing Tel: 760-692-0711 Email Contact
Released September 9, 2009