Mitel Semiconductor Introduces Industry's Leading Satellite Set-Top Chipset

Mitel's 30 years of RF experience supports highly integrated front-end implementation with highest functionality at the lowest cost.

Mitel Semiconductor, a division of Mitel, introduced a solution for the front end of DSS- and DVB-compliant digital satellite set-top boxes (STBs). SNIM3 (Satellite Network Interface Module 3) enables complete front-end functionality to be implemented directly onto the STB motherboard. Backed by over 30 years experience and leadership in RF ICs, and supported by a reference design that eliminates the need for production alignment and RF screening, SNIM3 dramatically reduces system development cost, enhances performance for equipment manufacturers, and enables low-cost STBs for the consumer.

According to the Dataquest report, "Digital Set-Top Semiconductor Market: Chip Makers Try to Gain a Foothold as Prices Erode," June 15, 1998, the market for DVB and DSS set-top boxes is $3.2 billion, and is expected to achieve a 18.6% CAGR through 2002. In this competitive consumer market, OEMs require production efficiencies and cost savings that meet the demand for lower equipment costs. Mitel reduces the cost of the front end by supplying a reference design that can be implemented directly onto the set-top box motherboard to maximize reliability and repeatability.

"Key to achieving success in this high-growth market is effective front-end design, since the RF portion of the set-top box has, until now, been a problem area," said Paul Fellows, media marketing manager at Mitel Semiconductor. "As the industry's most cost-effective solution, SNIM3 represents a major step forward in STB home gateway markets."

Industry's Most Cost-Effective Front-End Solution.
Mitel has combined expertise in RF, DSP and data converter design to develop SNIM3, which includes four ICs:

• The SL1925 direct conversion IC provides a simple and efficient tuner. The integrated device minimizes the number of discrete components required to implement the front end, and no tracking filters are required for most applications.

• The SP5769 is a single-chip PLL frequency synthesizer that offers low phase noise performance to facilitate front-end performance at rates as low as 1 Mbaud.m

• The VP310 QPSK/FEC channel decoder IC integrates dual ADCs and an FEC for a compact design. Also included is a hardware state machine, which facilitates user-friendly, high-speed operation of all key functions. The hardware controller increases performance by providing scan routines that identify unknown signals at several times the speed of existing solutions - within 30 seconds for all currently available signals from the Astra satellite suite.

• The SL1914 low noise amplifier (LNA) is an optional IC that enhances the front-end design. It replaces approximately 20 RF passive components to eliminate the need for external components including the RF oscillator, IF mixer and SAW filter. The chip provides the front-end LNA function with 30 dB of automatic gain control (AGC).

The weakest part in this chipset is the SL1914 LNA in which the noise figure could be bettered with other parts available already in the market. Presumably Mitel recognize this fact, and the different antenna solutions that are out there, by making it the optional part in the set. The other three, together, represent a complete DSS-/DVB-compliant solution with some interesting features and a lot of performance.

The SL1925, for example, has learned a lot from earlier (i.e. within the last year!) competitive direct conversion parts and it is simple to implement with few external components. The SP5769 is well up there in PLL specifications such as phase noise and jitter, while the VP310 is an interesting integrated combination; the addition of scan routines for real time signal listing will be a boon in this world of multiple hundreds of channels.