Product category:
Communications ICs (Wireless)
News Release from: Athena Semiconductors | Subject: ATS7000
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 09 June 2005
Dual-band tuner puts TV on the handset
A new high-performance ultra-low-power dual-band RF tuner chip enables cost-effective mobile TV applications in cellular phones and other devices such as PDAs and automobile entertainment systems.
Athena Semiconductors has developed a new high-performance ultra-low-power dual-band RF tuner chip, built using a CMOS process, to enable truly cost-effective mobile TV applications in cellular phones and other devices such as PDAs and automobile entertainment systems The ATS7000 is fully compliant with the Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld (DVB-H) standard that enables the reception of multichannel broadcast TV and audio channels on mobile consumer devices
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 4 Jun 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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The ATS7000 supports mobile broadcast TV services in both Europe and the US by operating in UHF and L-band, thus providing interoperability across networks and simplifying the design of mobile consumer devices capable of TV reception.
The ATS7000 offers breakthrough levels of performance and integration by using Athena's production proven OptimRF direct-conversion, zero-IF CMOS radio technology that has been deployed in a variety of Athena's CMOS RF chips over several years.
By using direct conversion, the ATS7000 avoids external SAW filters and tunable parts, which results in the lowest bill of materials (BOM) cost, yet maintaining a very high level of performance.
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A complete mobile-TV receiver can be built by combining the ATS7000 with a partner's digital demodulator chip.
ATS7000 has a flexible interface to work with a range of Demodulator chips from other vendors.
Contrasting with BiCMOS process based RF tuner chips, the use of standard CMOS process results not only in a low cost ATS7000 chip and low-cost BOM, but also lays a foundation for the evolution to a single die RF/demodulator solution.
This evolution will result in further reduction in cost, footprint and power to support the explosive growth expected in the mobile TV market.
As service providers continue to seek out ways to offer greater differentiated services, one lucrative application that has emerged is mobile TV on any networked device such as cellphones, PDAs, mobile PCs and even in automobiles.
Market research firm, Electronics.ca, predicted earlier this year that "if mobile TV is priced and packaged correctly, there could be up to 270 million subscribers worldwide with TV functionality on their mobile phones by 2009".
Athena's patented capabilities combined with the use of standard and widely deployed CMOS-based technologies provides OEM and ODM customers with the world's most cost-effective opportunity for vendors and providers to realise mobile TV service revenues.
"Athena is committed to being at the forefront of next generation wireless CMOS RF solutions that deliver a combination of value, unparalleled performance and small form factors that aids product differentiation in the marketplace", commented Pratap Reddy, President of Athena Semiconductors.
"The ATS7000 greatly contributes to these efforts and we see a lot of potential to help move mobile TV applications to the next level of form factor and affordability".
"We are developing mobile TV reference designs by working with demodulator chip partners and working with a tier one cellular phone OEM to deploy the ATS7000 chip".
The ATS7000 is currently sampling with production planned for the early part of the fourth quarter of 2005.
With the cost effectiveness of CMOS technology, ATS7000 is competitively priced to meet the requirements of targeted high volume markets.
Pricing will vary by configuration/count.
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