Broadcom and RaisingSun developed Next Generation All-in-One Digital TV Platform

  • Posted on: 20 March 2009
  • By: chw staff

Broadcom Corporation, a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced that its continued collaboration with RaisingSun Digital Video Technology Company of Shanghai, China, has produced a next generation 'all-in-one' digital television (DTV) turnkey solution that supports all Chinese broadcasting standards, including AVS, as well as Internet connectivity. This is the first complete DTV solution for television manufacturers in China that supports high definition (HD) AVS and it will be demonstrated at this week's China Content Broadcasting Network (CCBN) Conference in Broadcom's booth #3501 and RaisingSun's booth #7003.

Through the combination of the Broadcom(R) BCM3549 DTV system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution and RaisingSun's iTVware middleware, TV manufacturers are able to develop complete lines of affordable digital televisions for the Chinese market that support all of China's broadcast standards (e.g., PAL analog TV, DVB-C digital cable TV, DTMB digital terrestrial TV, and the new HD format AVS), while delivering superior picture, sound and graphics quality. By supporting all of these standards, consumers will have the reassurance that their digital TV will properly function when using any of the broadcasting standards in China, as well as connecting to the Internet.

China's television market currently uses different broadcast standards, including its own terrestrial modulation and cable card specifications in support of the country's initiative to convert analog TV services to digital by 2015. According to In-Stat market research, China is expected to have over 135 million TV subscribers by 2013. Additionally, support will be needed for pay-TV operators in China as they transition to two-way interactive networks paving the way for the deployment of advanced services such as video-on-demand (VoD).

To take advantage of this projected growth while meeting the requirements of DTV manufacturers in China to develop 'all-in-one' next generation connected TVs, Broadcom and RaisingSun continue to deliver RaisingSun DTV middleware ported onto field proven Broadcom DTV SoC platforms for compliance with all of China's DTV standards. For DTV manufacturers, the result of this collaboration enables them to provide advanced capabilities, dynamic user interfaces and Internet connectivity, including support for popular widget applications. The DTV solution also integrates the Adobe(R) Flash(R) Platform enabling users to view rich Flash-based content and applications from popular online providers and entertainment sites, further enhancing the user experience.

"Our collaborated turnkey system platform with RaisingSun provides TV manufacturers with a design ready solution for the Chinese domestic digital television market," said Dan Marotta, Senior Vice President & General Manager of Broadcom's Broadband Communications Group. "At CCBN, Broadcom is demonstrating its commitment to the Chinese DTV consumer market by supporting all China's broadcast standards in addition to enabling next generation capabilities such as HD AVS and Internet connectivity that includes support for rich Flash-based content and widget applications."

"With Internet connectivity and DVB-C support, the Broadcom and RaisingSun 'all-in-one' DTV design platform will enable TV manufacturers to quickly realize the benefits of the two-way network upgrade in China, which is required to enable the deployment of advanced interactive services such as VoD," said Peter Zhu, General Manager of RaisingSun. "With two-way network upgrade completed in more than 170 cities and now serving 10 million cable TV users, we look forward to continuing our collaboration with Broadcom to meet the requirements of the Chinese digital TV market."

BCM3549 Product Information
The BCM3549 is Broadcom's next generation DTV SoC solution that integrates an advanced multi-format video decoder, a 3D/2D graphics engine, Ethernet network connectivity, and unique 3D color management, all of which continue to position the TV as the central entertainment device for the digital home. Combining high integration with best-in-class picture quality greatly enhances the DTV experience while enabling TV manufacturers to reduce overall system cost and improve picture quality, all with a single chip low cost implementation.

The BCM3549 provides advanced multi-format decoding in support of high definition AVC, H.264, VC-1, AVS and MPEG-2 streams. By supporting H.264 video compression, the BCM3549 enables viewers to access and watch multimedia and HD content from networked devices, with improved picture quality. It integrates a host of unique features that allow TV manufacturers to create differentiated products. One such feature is a 3D graphics core that provides consumers with an advanced graphical user interface for flipping, rotating, moving or manipulating images, and enables OEMs to create specialized user interfaces that differentiates the TV from traditional flat, two dimensional user interfaces.

Also included in the BCM3549 SoC is home network connectivity via an integrated Ethernet media access controller (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) capabilities that enable users to inexpensively connect with multiple home networking devices such as media servers, PCs, MP3 devices and portable media players (PMPs), and allows access to a multitude of Internet-based multimedia content. As a result, users can share and stream music, photos, movies and Internet-based media content to and from connected devices and TVs.

The BCM3549 supports full 1080p high definition video and incorporates a unique 3D color management system, as well as digital, analog and mosquito noise reduction. Also integrated is an advanced picture enhancement processor (PEP) to improve picture sharpness and perform picture post-processing functions. The PEP engine is fully programmable and can be optimized by TV manufacturers to meet their respective quality requirements. As a result, the BCM3549 enables manufacturers to develop TVs with better video quality, sharper images and more accurate color reproduction.

iTVware Product Information
With its accumulated technical advantages and innovation in digital video household appliance product design, RaisingSun has developed the first complete middleware platform (iTVware) for digital television applications in China. The iTVware middleware has a comprehensive universal extension interface for wireless multimedia, network multimedia and mature application module requirements, and is currently available for developing DTMB (China terrestrial DTV standard) and digital video broadcast (DVB)-based HDTVs in China and advanced television systems committee (ATSC)-based HDTVs in the U.S. In its third generation, iTVware has been tested by the third parties in China and North America.

About Broadcom
Broadcom Corporation is a major technology innovator and global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications. Broadcom products enable the delivery of voice, video, data and multimedia to and throughout the home, the office and the mobile environment. We provide the industry's broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art system-on-a-chip and software solutions to manufacturers of computing and networking equipment, digital entertainment and broadband access products, and mobile devices. These solutions support our core mission: Connecting everything(R).

Broadcom is one of the world's largest fabless semiconductor companies, with 2008 revenue of $4.66 billion, and holds over 3,100 U.S. and over 1,400 foreign patents, more than 7,600 additional pending patent applications, and one of the broadest intellectual property portfolios addressing both wired and wireless transmission of voice, video, data and multimedia.

Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., and has offices and research facilities in North America, Asia and Europe. Broadcom may be contacted at +1.949.926.5000 or at www.broadcom.com.

 

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