Product category:
Communications ICs (Wired)
News Release from: Cypress Semiconductor | Subject: HotLink Serdes transmitter
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 07 December 2006
Streaming system used on space station
Cypress Semiconductor has announced that DVEO, the broadcast division of CMI, has selected Cypress's Serdes for its DVB Master FD PCI Card.
Cypress's HotLink Serdes transmitter and receiver are used as part of NASA's Space Video Gateway system to deliver live high-definition television (HDTV) from the International Space Station to Earth The DVB Master FD met stringent requirements for radiation testing and interoperability with NASA systems
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 7 Feb 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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DVEO's DVB FD Master is a DVB ASI PCI 2.2 send and receive interface card, providing a one-slot, 270 Mbits/s solution for most DVB processing applications.
On the International Space Station, the DVB FD Master card is used to convert HD video to data for downlink by a process called "packetizing".
The packetized data is then downlinked via a NASA developed space communications Ethernet card.
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The DVB FD Master card is then used by NASA to "depacketize" the HD video signals on Earth.
The first live broadcasts from the International Space Station took place on 15 November 2006.
Cypress's HotLink and HotLink-On-Demand family is the largest and most flexible portfolio of Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers (SMPTE) standards-compliant physical layer devices (PHYs) on the market.
The CY7B9234 HotLink Transmitter and CY7B9334 HotLink Receiver support SMPTE-259M standard data rates at 270 and 360 Mbps, as well as DVB-ASI.
The devices feature a built-in self-test pattern generator and checker that allows testing of the transmitter, receiver, and the connecting link as a part of a system diagnostic check.
Cypress's new HotLink-On-Demand Video Serdes are able to support higher data rates of up to 1.485Gbps for the current HD SMPTE standards, as well as support SD SMPTE rates and DVB-ASI.
In addition HotLink-On-Demand offers independent internal re-clocking solutions for broadcasting equipment manufacturers.
"The DVB Master FD measured up to NASA's high standards, and Cypress' HotLink transmitter and receiver contribute to the reliability of our system," said Laszlo Zoltan, sales manager for DVEO.
"HDTV produces sharper, clearer images and more precise colours than standard video, making it especially beneficial for viewing objects in dark environments common in space exploration, as well as for enjoying entertainment video feeds".
"We are pleased a leader in advanced broadcasting such as DVEO is using our HotLink Serdes to meet the challenges posed by NASA's strict testing standards," said Gopal Garg, managing director of Video and Interconnect Products at Cypress.
"We take great pride in our high speed analog designs that contribute to the delivery of high definition streaming video footage from the International Space Station".
HotLink devices are ideal for a variety of video applications including video transmission equipment, video recorders, video editing equipment, and video routers.
All members of the HotLink and HotLink-On-Demand family of Serdes are currently in full production.
The HotLink-On-Demand family's 12 devices provide designers with scalability for professional video equipment designs, including production switchers, distribution amplifiers, D/A and A/D convertors, and camera control units.
The devices in the HotLink-On-Demand family are designed so that each channel can run at either SMPTE 259M or 292M speeds.
In addition, all devices feature an integrated voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) and phase-lock loop (PLL), as well as an innovative chip design that eliminates channel crosstalk and performs significantly better than the SMPTE jitter specification.
The portfolio also includes devices that allow one channel to be a transmitter and another to be an independent reclocking deserializer, which is particularly useful in up/down convertor applications.
CMI, founded in 1982, is a privately held company headquartered in San Diego, California.
DVEO, the recently formed Broadcast Division of Computer Modules , sells digital video and high definition television (HDTV) products to the top television broadcast companies throughout the world.
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