As consumer demand for high-definition interactive television opens new revenue opportunities for cable companies, a new cable set-top-box (STB) IC has been introduced by STMicroelectronics.
The STi7141 is said to be the first device on the market to combine support for high-definition TV, up to 120Mbit/s broadband, and sophisticated DVR (Digital Video Recorder) functions in a single component, allowing providers to reduce deployment costs while also driving subscriber take-up of innovative and exciting new services such as next-generation interactivity.
The STi7141, which is manufactured in state-of-the-art 55nm process technology, supports the latest high-definition broadcast standards with three embedded cable receivers and multi-standard MPEG4/H.264/VC1 decoding. By also including a cable modem meeting the DOCSIS/EuroDOCSIS 2.0 standard, which enables an always-on Internet connection alongside cable TV, the IC supports IP-based interactive TV, and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) in addition to broadband ISP services. The STi7141 also supports DOCSIS 3.0 downstream channel bonding, which enables download speeds up to 120Mbit/s.
Unlike any other STB ICs currently available, the STi7141 supports HD and interactive capabilities, and also adds comprehensive DVR functions including trick-play modes such as fast-forward, rewind, pause, skip, and slow motion. The latest consumer media interconnects are also supported, including USB, HDMI, eSATA, and Ethernet ports for Internet connectivity.
STMicroelectronics, www.st.com.
