Geneva - STMicroelectronics has announced its first single-chip solution to allow TV viewers to watch digital cable TV channels on their analog TV. The QAMi5516 performs the functions of the QAM cable-signal demodulator and the MPEG video-stream decoder, which decompresses the digital signal. The IC is suited for today's digital cable set-top boxes (STBs), and its high-performance CPU and enhanced graphics capabilities make it a choice for low-cost STBs.

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The fast growing Asian cable market today has an estimated 150 million analog cable customers. Suppliers of digital services require cost -effective solutions to drive the digital rollout. In China, where there are more than 90 million cable-connected households, the digital rollout in 41 provinces selected by State Administration of Radio, Film and Television is targeting 30 million subscribers by the end of 2005. STMicroelectronics is positioned to respond to this bold roll-out plan where more than 70 percent of the deployed boxes in this market are based on ST chips. The QAMi5516 meets the requirements of the cable broadcast STB, is already supported by a large number of software developers, and supports all major conditional access and middleware products.

For many service providers defining a digital set-top box to launch digital services, price is an important factor. By combining the QAM cable-signal demodulator and the MPEG video-stream decoder functions into a single chip, ST will help reduce production costs by lowering the cost of the chipset and enabling the use of a simpler and smaller printed circuit board (PCB) design. Additionally, the pin-out of the new device ensures that a two-layer printed circuit layout is possible despite the functional complexity of the STB.

To minimize design costs and to speed up development for digital cable set-top box producers, ST has developed a building-block concept known as the "cable brick," a complete reference design that is offered with full design support, including circuit schematics, PCB layout, and core software. STB manufacturers can use it unchanged as their design or can adapt it to meet their particular requirements.

The new CBR1300 incorporating the QAMi5516 extends the concept of the cable brick by providing increased integration. The IC's software is compatible with the popular STi5516 and STV0297 devices from ST, and minimal software porting is required from existing designs.