STMicroelectronics Reveals New Chipset Family for HD HEVC Entry Set-Top Boxes
Full-featured, cost-optimized ARM®-based solutions for broadcast and connected HD HEVC STBs deliver future-proof performance and interfaces Geneva / 09 Sep 2015STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, today announced its new HD HEVC Liege3 family of chipsets for entry Set-Top-Box markets, composed of satellite variants (STiH337/STiH332), cable-market products (STiH372), and IPTV set-top-box devices (STiH307/STiH302).
More than just an upgrade of previous-generation devices, the new chipset family combines the latest architectures used in ST’s Cannes (STiH310/STiH312/318) products with optimized IPs to deliver future-proof SoCs with high integration. This will enable large-scale migration of entry set-top boxes towards HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding).
ST’s new set-top-box devices benefit from a scalable hardware and software architecture enabling flexible platform configurations to reach optimized price/user experience ratio across the different HD HEVC entry set-top-box segments. All chipsets in the new ARM-based family are pin-to-pin compatible to facilitate design re-use among the different broadcast technologies. Software compatibility with ST’s Cannes SoC family enables OEMs to benefit from the comprehensive ecosystem in order to easily design innovative client boxes on multiple middleware products.
Addressing the satellite markets, the STiH337/STiH332 SoCs implement a new DVB-S2X demodulation scheme enabling MSOs (Multiple System Operators) to leverage compression-efficiency improvements brought by the HEVC technology. This results in the enhancement of S2X spectral efficiency for optimal use of the satellite transponder capacity.
“Our new ARM-based chipset family strengthens ST’s presence in all the segments of the very dynamic HD HEVC entry set-top-box broadcast markets. It also underlines our strong engagement and capacity to deliver innovative solutions,” said Philippe Notton, Group Vice President and General Manager of STMicroelectronics’ Consumer Product Division. “With the new Liege3 SoC family, MSOs can maximize the lifetime of their HEVC investments with a chipset platform that integrates enough processing power for future evolution while today supporting all the latest key interfaces and broadcast technologies for optimal spectrum usage.”
Key features of ST’s new set-top-box SoC family that ranges from entry-level 2.5 K DMIPS without GPU up to 5K DMIPS with embedded GPU include:
- ARM® CPU capable of delivering up to 5K DMIPS for advanced user interface and complex middleware;
- Mali™ 400 GPU for fluid user interface and HTML5 support on connected platforms;
- HEVC 10-bit performance proven by extensive interoperability tests performed with all major encoder providers;
- A rich set of future-proof connectivity options including Ethernet, USB 3, PCIe, HDMI;
- Integrated DVB-C or DVB-S2X demodulator;
- HDR support;
- Advanced security engine enabling CAS- and DRM-based secure video- content protection;
- 28nm FD-SOI (Fully Depleted Silicon on Insulator) technology, providing highly-efficient RF and analog integration as well as outstanding power efficiency at all operating levels, enabling very small fan-less designs.
Reinforcing ST’s commitment to serve the HD entry-level set-top-box markets, the new Liege3 SoC family is currently sampling to lead customers and will be demonstrated in ST’s private demo suite at IBC 2015.
About STMicroelectronics
ST is a global semiconductor leader delivering intelligent and energy-efficient products and solutions that power the electronics at the heart of everyday life. ST’s products are found everywhere today, and together with our customers, we are enabling smarter driving and smarter factories, cities and homes, along with the next generation of mobile and Internet of Things devices. By getting more from technology to get more from life, ST stands for life.augmented.
In 2014, the Company’s net revenues were $7.40 billion, serving more than 100,000 customers worldwide. Further information can be found at www.st.com.
