TI Dips DOCSIS 3.0 Into IPTV Waters
Supplier Sees 8-Downstream Chip Solution Enabling Cable-Delivered IPTV Services
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 9/11/2008 6:30:00 PM MT
Texas Instruments is debuting an eight-downstream-channel DOCSIS 3.0 solution, which the silicon vendor said could allow cable operators to deliver IP-based video services.
TI expanded its Puma 5 DOCSIS 3.0 family to include a “quad QAM” chip, the TNETC4840, which adds four demodulators to the core four-channel chipset.
That extra downstream capacity can deliver an additional 160 megabits per second, to provide multichannel video applications over IP, according to TI. The company is providing an 8x4 (eight downstream and four upstream) development package to let cable equipment manufacturers develop devices capable of delivering IPTV.
“There’s really a clear trend that operators are going to use DOCSIS 3.0 to offer IP video, and support multiroom services and a broader range of consumer electronics devices in the home,” said Peter Percosan, executive director of broadband strategy for TI’s Digital Connected Home business.
The chip’s analog front-end allows for different configurations of wideband and narrowband tuners, Percosan said, enabling universal service gateways ranging from low-end systems supporting up to 200 Mhz of DOCSIS “capture bandwidth” to high-end full spectrum coverage.
For example,a gateway device with the Puma 5 in an eight-downstream-channel configuration could have one wideband tuner plus four narrowband tuners that can be tuned to legacy video.
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