SONY ANNOUNCES LOW-COST, HIGH PERFORMANCE, SINGLE CHIP SOLUTION
DESIGNED FOR SATELLITE RECEIVERS AND SET-TOP
BOXES
CXD1961AQ Joins Virtuoso™ Family
LAS VEGAS, COMDEX Booth #L2225, Nov. 17, 1997 -- Sony Semiconductor Company of America (SSA), a division of
Sony Electronics Inc., today announced the CXD1961AQ, a single chip solution for
digital satellite broadcast receivers and set-top boxes.
The CXD1961AQ is a highly integrated forward error correction (FEC) decoder device as
well as a high performance, low cost digital video broadcast (DVB) compliant, front-end IC. It is also suited for PC
and TV applications.
"The era of full-fledged digital satellite broadcasting is fast approaching," said Jodie Hughes, vice president
and general manager of consumer a/v/d division, SSA. "North America and Europe are currently broadcasting DVB-based
programs and regional-based satellite delivery providers around the world will follow in the near future. By incorporating
the front-end functions of digital demodulation and error correction in a single chip we are making a significant
contribution to the growth of this emerging technology."
The chip incorporates two high-speed 6-bit A/D converter channels, a QPSK (quadrature phase-shift keying) demodulator
with roll-off digital filter for multi-symbol rate and automatic regeneration/recovery of the clock and carrier with
reduced external LC filter requirements. It also includes a frame synchronization circuit including MPEG-2 sync byte
recognition and supports both a parallel and a serial data output for added flexibility.
Additional functions include a Viterbi decoder, de-interleaver, Reed-Solomon decoder and energy dispersal descrambler
and channel error monitoring at both the QPSK demodulator output as well as the Viterbi decoder output. By incorporating
these constellation monitor functions, the CXD1961AQ enables OEMs to detect and monitor
vitalsystem S/N Ratios (SNR) and assists in antenna positioning for enhanced reception.
The maximum operating frequency of 60MHz allows a 20-30MSPS (Mega Symbols per Second) data rate to support most satellite
transponders used by DBS providers in North America.
The CXD1961AQ is the second chip in Sony's Virtuoso family leveraging the company's
digital and mixed signal design expertise. "A complete four-chip solution for satellite based set-top boxes is
planned and will incorporate the CXD1961AQ FEC, a two-chip tuner solution and the
recently announced CXD1930Q chip," said Vishwanath Nayak, director of
marketing, consumer a/v/d division, SSA. "The CXD1961AQ will offer a seamless
interface with the CXD1930Q and help major set top box OEMs meet the stringent
demands of a price sensitive consumer market by offering complete system-on-a-chip solutions."
With the CXD1961AQ, the only required external components are a crystal and a low
pass filter (for AGC and NCO/PLL). Sony's new chip uses a cutting-edge 0.4 micron, 3-layer metal wire CMOS process and
is mounted in a 100-pin plastic QFP package.
The CXD1961AQ complies with satellite broadcasting's use of QPSK as the modulation
system and a combination of Reed-Solomon decoding and convolutional decoding with depuncturing support for all DVB rates
from 1/2 to 7/8 for error correction.
Sample quantities are currently available for $12 each. Production quantities will be available by the end of the year.
Sony is also offering an evaluation board for the CXD1961AQ with a I2C interface to
assist consumer OEMs integrating this chip in their set top box designs.
SSA, based in San Jose, Calif., is a leading manufacturer and supplier of integrated circuits. Since 1983, Sony has
designed, engineered and manufactured products for the U.S. semiconductor market. The company is a technology leader
in the development of semiconductor solutions for newly emerging and cutting edge high-performance markets in multimedia,
communications and workstation cache memory. Currently it offers a diverse array of innovative products ranging from
memory to multimedia communications, networking and wireless ICs.
Vertically integrated for fast product development and production, Sony is positioned to respond quickly to customer needs.
The company has a state-of-the-art design center in San Jose and wafer fabrication facilities in San Antonio, Texas.
Customer contact:
Please contact your local
area sales representative
for customer support.
