NDS and IBM kick-off spate of set-top dealsRichard
Wilson
Digital set-top box announcements at last week's Cable &
Satellite Mediacast show in London included the plans of NDS to
integrate its security system into IBM's set-top box designs.
"The collaboration between NDS and IBM will help drive the secure
introduction of new applications such as digital video broadcast
and recording," said Dr. Abe Peled, chief executive of NDS.
The system is aimed at allowing broadcasters to deliver multiple
digital channels with conditional access to specific
channels.
Also at Mediacast, Infineon Technologies unveiled a single-chip
three band tuner IC for set-top-boxes, integrated digital TVs,
cable-modems and cable-tuners. The TUA6030 is the RF front end for
both analogue and digital terrestrial and cable transmissions. It
covers the VHF-low, VHF-high and UHF bands.
At Mediacast Infineon demonstrated a two band chip, along with
demodulator and mixer IC, receiving a live DVB-T signal.
Meanwhile, two tuner ICs and a demodulator chip for set-top box
designs were announced by Mitel Semiconductor. The tuners, SL1935
and SL2100, are for satellite and cable applications, while the
MT350 is for terrestrial COFDM demodulation.
The SL1935 is a direct conversion tuner with very low phase noise.
The SL2100 cable device includes both up and down conversion.