- MxL540 Family of Four-Channel Front-End Receivers Enable a New Class of Gateways That Allow Manufacturers to Cost Effectively Upgrade Existing Single and Dual-Channel Satellite Systems
CARLSBAD, Calif. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — September 13, 2013 — MaxLinear Inc. (NYSE: MXL), a leading provider of integrated radio frequency (RF) and mixed-signal integrated circuits for broadband communications applications, today announced the MxL540 product family – MxL541, MxL542 and MxL544 – of four-channel tuner-demodulators for DVB-S/S2 satellite systems.
These new 40nm digital CMOS products, which reduce overall system costs, are aimed at manufacturers of single and dual-channel satellite systems to upgrade to four-channels and allow customers to watch these channels from their televisions, tablet computers, personal computers or smartphones.
MxL540 products feature MaxLinear’s Full-Spectrum Capture™ (FSC™) technology, which digitizes the entire 950-2150 MHz satellite spectrum and replaces up to four discrete tuners and demodulators with a single chip. MxL540 products have one to four inputs and can output up to four channels.
MxL540 products are the latest addition to MaxLinear’s MxL500 family of satellite FSC TV receivers. This family is designed to exceed the signal reception performance and low power needs of tomorrow’s satellite systems that deliver multi-screen viewing, personal video recorder (PVR) functionality, emerging “catch-up television” features and fast channel change capability.
“Mid-tier satellite markets are on the cusp of migrating from single or dual channels to multi-channels, driven largely by multiple TVs in homes, catch-up TV, PVR, and multi-screen viewing,” said Brian Sprague, MaxLinear Vice President and General Manager, Broadband and Consumer Products. “Leveraging FSC technology, the MxL540 product family is ideally positioned to enable this progression for operators and OEMs allowing them to deliver systems with industry leading power and performance at compelling price points.”
Technical Highlights
MxL541 and MxL544 can receive L-Band (950-2350 MHz) spectrum and they have one and four RF inputs respectively. The MxL542 has two RF inputs that can receive Extended L-Band (300-2350 MHz) spectrum on each of its inputs. All these devices are available in very small form factor, pin-compatible 10mm x 10mm QFN packages ideally suited for minimizing system-manufacturing costs.
The parts are pin compatible with MaxLinear’s six and eight-channel solutions to allow manufacturers to reuse and scale the design with additional channels.
The low power and power control flexibility of the MxL541, MxL542 and MxL544 ensure compliance with the requirements of Energy Star and the European Code of Conduct for Digital TV Services and Broadband Equipment for both standby and operating modes.
Advantages of MxL541, MxL542 and MxL544 include:
- Full-Spectrum Capture: Receives up to four channels located anywhere in the entire satellite spectrum when used with channel stacking LNBs (for MxL541), wideband LNBs (for MxL542) or quad/quattro LNBs (for MxL544).
- Ultra-low power: Consumes less than a third of the power consumed by a discrete four-channel solution. This reduces the overall costs associated with thermal mitigation inside a gateway and helps meet Energy Star requirements.
- Low system cost: Integrates all active components including low noise amplifier (LNA), multiple tuners and demodulators, which translates into lower bill of materials (BOM).
- Simple system design: Dramatically reduces the number of components required around the chip by up to 75%, which simplifies the frontend design and reduces time-to-market.
- Versatile transport interface: Features a built-in transport engine that can interface to almost all backend SoCs.
- Remote spectrum monitoring: Has built-in performance monitoring and remote diagnostics capability that reduces truck rolls for satellite operators.
- Fast channel change: Facilitates fast and seamless channel change thanks to FSC technology and multiple demodulators.
Availability
Samples of MxL540 product family are available now. The chips will ramp into mass production in Q4 2013.
About MaxLinear, Inc.
MaxLinear, Inc. is a leading provider of radio-frequency and mixed-signal semiconductor solutions for broadband communications applications. MaxLinear is located in Carlsbad, California, and its address on the Internet is www.maxlinear.com.
MxL, Full-Spectrum Capture, FSC and the MaxLinear logo are trademarks of MaxLinear, Inc. Other trademarks appearing herein are the property of their respective owners.
