 | December 1, 2000 |
Triple plays
ADVANCES: Highly integrated chips deliver SOHO applications
From home LANs to the digital den, applications abound that require highly integrated ICs to meet cost and power requisites to consumer success. The silicon industry is responding with products tailored to specific applications, such as new offerings from ESS Technology and Broadcom for Internet appliances. In both cases, the companies have combined three different connectivity technologies.
New chip sets from both ESS and Broadcom support HomePNA phoneline LAN, 10/100-Mbit/sec Ethernet, and dial-up modem functions. In fact, Broadcom's BCM4211 and 4413 support new faster HomePNA rates at 16 and 32 Mbits/sec, respectively. Both the ESS and Broadcom entries rely on a host processor to handle the modem function in software. Support for multiple communication interfaces ensures that Internet appliances can connect to dial-up ISPs, link to a home LAN, and connect directly to Ethernet-based broadband modems. The new Gateway Internet appliance that's tied to AOL includes the Broadcom BCM 4211.
Don't think for a minute, however, that other home convergence applications are being ignored. C-Cube, long a leader in video encoding and decoding chips, has announced products for the cable-modem and set-top-box markets. The CL2161 targets set-top boxes and can handle two-way communications for applications like voice over data. The CL2151, meanwhile, is designed for set-top boxes with an integrated cable modem. The design incorporates dual modulation functions, so it can decode video and handle two-way communications simultaneously.
Motorola and operating-system vendor Wind River Systems have also unveiled new enabling technology for the digital den, in the form of a DTV platform. The duo hopes to speed development of DTV and digital set-top-box products by offering Wind River's development tools along with Motorola's MCT5100 module, which handles DTV reception in accordance with the ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) standard.
Home wireless LANs will also get a development-time assist courtesy of Intersil and its 802.11b-based reference design for wireless gateways and SOHO access points. Intersil supplies OEM customers with a complete design including schematics, software, bill of materials, and guaranteed Wi-Fi certification.
—Maury Wright
|
