NXP Ships Dual Silicon Tuner for Cable

NXP announced the TDA18260, a dual silicon tuner for cable, is in volume production and available immediately. The TDA18260 simplifies the design of high-definition multi-tuner cable set-top boxes, enabling up to 6 channels with high performance on each stream. The dual cable silicon tuner IC from NXP eliminates tuner-to-tuner interference as well as the need to add complex, costly RF components such as low-noise amplifiers, splitters, Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) filters and incremental crystal oscillators.

The introduction of the TDA18260 benefits cable operators by reducing the overall cost, size, and power consumption of feature-rich set-top boxes or gateways, even as the number of tuners per STB increases due to growing demand for services such as watch and record, video on demand, and high-speed Internet. The TDA18260 will also allow handling of multiple streams of HD 3DTV. NXP will be showcasing its latest silicon tuners including the TDA18260 and the TDA18273 in the NXP 2011 CES demo suite at the Wynn Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Facts / Highlights:

* The TDA18260 dual silicon tuner IC for cable is specifically designed for gateways and STBs, and can easily handle applications needing up to six individual streams.
* An integrated splitter eases and simplifies the design of dual tuner PVRs.
* The TDA18260 directly interfaces to a System on Chip (SoC) that includes cable demodulators.
* Where a set-top box design calls for external demodulators, NXP provides a very small, cost-effective system solution in a companion dual demodulator, the TDA10025.
* With 500 million silicon tuners shipped to date for terrestrial, satellite and cable TV, NXP is the global market leader in silicon tuners, according to In-Stat.
* NXP is the only silicon tuner manufacturer offering high-performance dual silicon tuners for both cable and satellite STB applications.

Supporting Quote:

* “Cable operators and MSOs are now delivering an impressive array of broadcast, data and voice services through their existing infrastructure, putting significant demands on the set-top box. The TDA18260 vastly simplifies cable STB design, reducing costs without compromising on performance. We’ve specifically designed the TDA18260 to meet the highest level of performance required for cable MSOs in North America, China, Europe and Latin America, to ensure full performance on every channel even in challenging reception conditions,” said Luca Lo Coco, director, cable product line, NXP Semiconductors.