NEC Electronics Introduces System LSI Chips for Set-Top Boxes

The new products are System-on-Chip (SoC) image processing devices featuring a cost effective MPEG-4 SD video decoder and a flexible yet powerful audio processor capable of decoding Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus. Dual Decode for Audio Descriptor, a powerful Bit BLTer for graphics applications, DVB-CI Plus an upgrade to existing DVB Common Interface, a MIPS32™ 4KEc™ CPU providing 440MIPS are also integrated.

The new products are dedicated to MPEG-4 SD broadcasts which enable over twice the compression ratio of the current MPEG2 standard. Enable reduction in bill of materials (BoM), thanks to high level integration of functions which would otherwise be fitted externally ultimately resulting in reduced system cost. Pay TV variants of the IC, namely EMMA3SL/LP, include the latest advanced security features required by the leading Conditional Access vendors.

By employing the new products, users can develop low-cost MPEG-4 SD STBs with low power consumption both in operational and standby modes exceeding European Low Power Directive. This enables implementation of low profile enclosures. NEC Electronics is actively promoting chips for digital audio/video (AV) appliances as a strategic business segment. Having released world’s first digital broadcasting STB SoC in 1998 under the brand name “EMMA”, the company has built a formidable range of successful AV SoC devices since then covering three main areas – STBs, digital TVs and DVD recorders.

NEC Electronics also introduced two other EMMA devices in May 2008, namely the EMMA3SL/HD and EMMA3SL/SD catering for the wider MPEG-4 STB market. Due to specific emerging demand for MPEG-4 SD cost optimized devices with advanced security features, EMMA3SL/LP and EMMA3SL/L were developed, using technology gained from previous products.