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system-on-a-chip posts

STMicroelectronics and Arkados join up on HomePlug AV SoC

by Darren Murph posted Nov 1st 2008 at 4:09PM

HomePlug AV has been around for what seems like eons, but regardless of how hard it tries, it never seems to really take hold in the market place. That being said, two big names in the industry are teaming up to give it yet another push, as STMicroelectronics and Arkados join hands to "develop and manufacture a 200Mbit-per-second HomePlug AV wideband powerline modem System-on-Chip (SoC)." If all goes to plan, it'll become the world's first HomePlug AV SoC, and it's being designed to "power applications ranging from simple Ethernet-to-powerline bridges to full-featured products as wide ranging as HDTV distribution, digital set-top boxes, IPTV, whole-house audio, networked digital picture frames, surveillance systems, etc." We'll see if anyone notices when it ships in mid-2009.

DivX HD Certification given to Broadcom chips

by Darren Murph posted Oct 30th 2008 at 10:58AM


As of now, it's still rare to find an HDTV with media streaming / playback capabilities built right in, but in preparation for the possible explosion of media-friendly sets, Broadcom has went and got a trio of its digital television (DTV) system-on-a-chip solutions certified for DivX. Yep, the BCM3548, BCM3549 and BCM3556 are all stamped with a DivX seal of approval, giving whatever HDTVs they land in the ability to natively play back streamed or local DivX / DivX HD files. Now, if only we knew which sets these chips were headed to (and when)...

Microsoft partners with major players on IPTV Edition-powered SoC STBs

by Evan Blass posted Oct 10th 2006 at 10:50AM

With Zune and Vista hogging all the headlines these days, you may have forgotten that Microsoft is also hard at work pushing its IPTV Edition software platform into living rooms around the world, so the software giant decided to take the Broadband World Forum Europe in Paris as occasion to remind us just how committed it is to TV over the internet. The major announcement to come out of the conference was the immediate availability of system-on-a-chip set-top boxes powered by Redmond from several of the major STB hardware manufacturers, including Cisco, Motorola, Philips, and Tatung. All of these boxes will provide the end-user with HD and DVR support and on-demand viewing as well as more advanced capabilities like multiroom streaming and home media networking. Most of the new offerings -- such as Tatung's STB2000 series, Philips' BT-bound hybrid IPTV-DTT STB, and Cisco's unnamed models -- use an SoC based on Sigma Designs' 8634 chipset, with Cisco also hitting up STMicroelectronics for its silicon. Moto, meanwhile, announced that AT&T would be be the first customer to take delivery on its new devices, which -- as we already knew -- will be heading into the homes of the few, the proud, the U-verse subscribers. So congrats, Microsoft, on another product category successfully infused with your special brand of software, but now that you've become a major player in this realm, remember to watch your back -- FairUse4IPTV could be right around the corner.




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