Abilis Systems and MaxLinear Introduce a Reference Platform for Satellite Home Gateways That Distributes up to Eight Satellite TV Channels to IP-Connected Devices
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LUXEMBOURG – SES Industry Days Conference - Abilis Systems and MaxLinear, leaders in low-power IC design for digital TV applications, today announced the world's first eight-channel satellite headless gateway reference platform.
This "headless gateway" platform addresses the ever-increasing demand for viewing of high-quality content on multiple screens. This platform is not directly connected to a TV, like a set-top box, but is network connected and accessible by multiple screens in a home. Acting as a media server, these headless gateway platforms are optimized for SAT>IP and DLNA services.
The gateway reference platform converts satellite TV content into IP packets for streaming in home, thus enabling users to enjoy the benefit of watching today's DTH services on televisions as well as on IP-enabled devices such as tablets, laptops, smartphones, game consoles and other platforms.
The gateway platform has four RF inputs to be used with existing satellite dishes and low-noise block (LNB) downconverters. It combines the high throughput of the Abilis TB101 network processor with the MxL584 receiver to realize unprecedented low-power consumption and a very low bill-of-materials (BOM). This new platform offers satellite operators a cost, performance, and size-optimized solution to expand their TV offering to tablets and smartphones.
The reference platform is very small and can be designed with multiple applications in mind, for example with a single LNB (using DiSEqC) up to four LNBs. The small design is enabled by MaxLinear's highly integrated MxL584 Full-Spectrum Capture™ (FSC™) DVB-S/S2 receiver.
The four-input MxL584 receiver integrates tuners required for multi-inputs, eight demodulators, and all the active front-end components, including the low-noise amplifiers (LNA) into a compact and cost-effective 10x10 QFN package.
The TB101 integrates a high-throughput demux supporting up to 800Mbps in eight independent TV streams, a CAS to DRM crypto engine and a Gigabit Ethernet. The chip transforms eight HD TV channels into IP format consuming less than 500mW, using only few DMIPS per channel.
"We're very pleased to team up with MaxLinear to design the next generation of eight-channel satellite gateway platforms. With this unique co-developed cost effective platform, we're enabling operators to differentiate their offering with easy to deploy solutions for distribution of secured and FTA content to all screens in the home," says Yves Mathys, CEO of Abilis. Â
"The radical new form factor of this innovative gateway really demonstrates the small size and low power advantages built into devices from MaxLinear and Abilis," said Brian Sprague, MaxLinear's Vice President and General Manager for Broadband and Consumer Products. "With our FSC™ technology, the small form factor doesn’t require a sacrifice in performance, as the MxL584 delivers rapid channel changing and great video tuning performance."
Availability
The media gateway reference platform is being demonstrated at SES' Industry Days conference being held today and tomorrow in Luxembourg. The reference platform is available now and is provided by Abilis Systems.
Technical Highlights
The TB101 is the first device of the Abilis Broadcast to Broadband Bridge (B3 TM) product family – a family of secure network processors providing conditional access (CA) termination to digital rights management (DRM). TB101 comes with a very low memory footprint for a cost effective BOM and consumes less than 1W while distributing 8 HD channels.
The MxL584 is part of the MxL500 family of 40-nm satellite Full-Spectrum Capture™ receivers that enable cost effective and flexible multi-channel gateway solutions in a very compact form factor. The device can receive up to 4.8GHz of satellite spectrum. As a result, it can simultaneously receive any combination of eight DVB-S/S2 channels located arbitrarily in the satellite spectrum. The ultra-low power receiver is fully compliant with the requirements of Energy Star and the European Code of Conduct for Digital TV Services and Broadband Equipment.
About Abilis Systems
Abilis Systems, an ALi Group company, is a fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Abilis provides integrated circuits for the Digital TV market, including RF CMOS receivers and secure processor for conditional access systems. Abilis is developing a family of highly secure multi-stream media gateways to enable the reception of DTV streams from different sources and distribute them securely over wired and wireless IP networks to multiple end user devices.
For more information, visit www.abilis.com.
About MaxLinear
MaxLinear, Inc. is a leading provider of radio-frequency and mixed-signal semiconductor solutions for broadband communication applications. MaxLinear is located in Carlsbad, California, and its address on the Internet is www.maxlinear.com.
MxL, Full-Spectrum Capture and the MaxLinear logo are trademarks of MaxLinear, Inc. Other trademarks appearing herein are the property of their respective owners.
