Reference design puts PowerPC in set top boxes

A complete set-top box reference design platform for digital TV targets both terrestrial and satellite standards.

IBM Microelectronics and Sony Business Europe's Semiconductor and Devices Division have released a set-top box (STB) reference design platform for digital TV (DTV) that targets both terrestrial and satellite standards.

The "ready-to-go" design platform combines the two companies' core strengths in DTV, providing STB customers and software developers with a speedy, cost-competitive and lower risk route to product differentiation.

IBM and Sony believe that the solution can make it possible to reduce the time that a supplier needs to bring a product to the marketplace to under three months, with much reduced resource investment.

Current development times can be up to 12 months or more.

IBM and Sony are major players in their respective front and back-end digital STB technologies.

Sony delivers terrestrial and satellite tuner/demodulators, and interface elements including the AV SCART switch and common interface solutions, whereas IBM provides PowerPC integrated controllers and MPEG-2 subsystems.

Sony and IBM selected the new Wind River Platform for Consumer Devices (Platform CD) when designing the reference platform.

Customers will be able to boost their productivity, lower their risk and decrease time-to-market by leveraging Platform CD's leading Tornado crossdevelopment tools including the Diab compiler, the scalability and small footprint of its feature-rich runtime components and the proven and reliable technology based on the VxWorks RTOS.

In addition, Wind River's new cost-effective enterprise license model provides potential immediate financial benefits through volume aggregation across the enterprise and low production license fees for digital consumer applications.

There are two platform variants, DVB-Terrestrial and DVB-Satellite, enabling entry level to mid-range designs targeted at both free-to-air services, such as UK Freeview, and retail satellite, where external conditional access is realised via the DVB common interface standard.

The reference board is conveniently boxed with a separate power supply and is shipped ready to decode and output sound and video as soon as it is connected to a dish or aerial.

The core hardware is based around IBM's integrated STB controller that incorporates an IBM PowerPC 405 embedded processor, delivering 350DMIPS, a DVB compliant demultiplexer unit, and MPEG 2 audio and video decoders.

Sony's comprehensive range of DTV peripheral ICs completes the package.

Two key components are the CXD1973 and CXM3002, the industry leading COFDM demodulator and the first ever commercially available single package silicon QPSK tuner and demodulator.

Audio video switching for up to two SCART sockets is supported with minimal need for external components using the CXA7002.

Single and dual Common Interface slots are implemented using CXD2099 in conjunction with a complete DVB-CI software stack - CICAS.

Comprehensive supporting collateral is supplied on a CD-ROM that provides the engineer with the means rapidly to develop products based around the IBM PowerPC integrated controller and Sony chipsets.

It includes: full design schematics, bill of materials (BOM) and layout information together with IC driver source code and a hardware/software user guide.

Individual device documentation is readily available and maintained in the Sony and IBM technical e-libraries.

Both companies recognise the need for efficient applications support.

To this end, Sony and IBM field engineers have a high level of technical knowhow of each other's relevant products, allowing customers to benefit from a common support gateway.

The two companies' respective networks of field applications engineers are able to provide localised product specialists in any global region.

The two companies' complementary product strategies provide customers with full hardware and driver software interoperability.

Such synergy allows customers to combine devices effectively, enabling easier design-in, opportunities to lower development costs and reduce "time to market".

Customers will benefit from the IBM PowerPC-based design, which ensures software reuse and enables scalable performance from entry-level to high-end solutions.

The highly integrated reference design platform requires a minimum number of external components, giving customers the further advantage of potential significant savings on bills of materials.

The reference design platform is available now through Sony Business Europe's Semiconductor and Devices Division and IBM Microelectronics' sales channels.

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