Silicio per tv digitale

Per una radio digitale che fa obiettivamente fatica a trovare il suo giusto inquadramento, anche sul piano della produzione industriale dei componenti e dei terminali, c'è una televisione digitale che, malgrado le molte perplessità che investono le questioni regolatorie e i contenuti, sembra convincere maggiormente. Tra ieri e oggi mi sono arrivati due comunicati relativi ad altrettante novità provenienti dall'industria del silicio. Una riguarda Microtune, una società texana, l'altra Mirics, un produttore fabless (il silicio lo progetta) che ho citato parecchie volte qui, per il suo possibile ruolo di catalizzatore di una concreta offerta di radio digitali DRM: il chipset Mirics è quello utilizzato da UniWave per ricevitore multimode che dovrebbe a questo punto essere imminente. Tra l'altro il comunicato Mirics mi è stato segnalato dall'amico Bennett (thanks, Ben) che mi ha parlato del progetto di legge proposto dal senatore Kerry.
Le due notizie riguardano componenti integrati utilizzati per la costruzione di dispositivi multistandard per la ricezione di sistemi televisivi (e canali radiofonici) analogici e digitali. Il chip Microtune è stato scelto da Delphi per la creazione di una linea di televisori digitali in-car. Mirics invece annuncia una joint venture con CyberLynk per lo sviluppo di sistemi di ricezione HDTV dal computer portatile, basati sulla piattaforma SDR FlexiTV. E' anche un segnale importante di come il silicio si sta adeguando al trattamento di segnali video digitali attraverso un modello di logica programmata su microprocessori specializzati

MICROTUNE'S NEW AUTOMOTIVE TV TUNER DEPLOYED IN DELPHI'S FACTORY-INSTALLED CAR TV ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEMS

Ingolstadt, Germany and Plano, TX, March 23, 2009 - Microtune, Inc. (NASDAQ: TUNE) announced today that Delphi, one of the world's largest OEM automotive electronics systems suppliers, is deploying Microtune's new MT2067 tuner in the TV receiver system of its factory-installed front and rear seat entertainment systems targeted for Europe and Japan.
"We are pleased to be working with Delphi as it advances the in-vehicle market for premier digital TV entertainment," said James A. Fontaine, Microtune President and CEO. "We have enjoyed a long-term relationship with the company as an RF component supplier. Delphi adopted our new automotive TV tuner based not only on our past successful collaboration, but also because of our recognized position as the industry leader in TV tuner-chip electronics."
Last December Microtune introduced the MicroTuner (TM) MT2067, a first-of-its-kind analog/digital tuner chip developed specifically for in-car digital TV. Based on the Company's patented radio frequency (RF) silicon technology, the MT2067 is a world-standard, automotive-grade tuner engineered to provide superior, stable broadcast reception in fast-moving vehicles. At 7 x 7 millimeters, the miniature MT2067 tuner offers state-of-the-art chip technology for advanced automotive electronics systems, while also supporting global TV receiver platforms (NTSC, PAL, SECAM, DVB-T, DVB-H, ISDB-T, DTMB, ATSC and ATSC-M/H).

FOR MORE INFORMATION
For more information about the MT2067 tuner, Microtune's new MT1119 antenna amplifier or its complete suite of automotive products, visit the automotive sections of the Company's website. Additionally, to read about the issues and complexities of designing in-car TV for automotive systems, please see Microtune's White Paper, "TECHNICAL AND QUALITY CHALLENGES OF HIGH-SPEED AUTOMOTIVE TV DESIGN, " also available on the Company's website. Finally, Mr. Barry Koch, Microtune's Managing Director of Microtune GmbH &Co., KG, also shares his view of automotive market trends and opportunities in an interview available online.

ABOUT MICROTUNE
Microtune, Inc. is a silicon and subsystems company that designs and markets radio frequency (RF) solutions for the worldwide broadband communications and transportation electronics markets. Inventor of the MicroTuner(TM) single-chip broadband tuner, Microtune offers a portfolio of advanced tuner, amplifier, and upconverter products that enable the delivery of information and entertainment across new classes of consumer and automotive entertainment electronics. The Company currently holds 83 U.S. patents for its technology. Founded in 1996, Microtune is headquartered in Plano, Texas, with key design and sales centers located around the world. The website is www.microtune.com.

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Mirics and CyberLink join forces to deliver HDTV to notebooks

World’s first PC TV receiver featuring software demodulation delivers HD content with CyberLink’s industry standard TVEnhance

Fleet UK, 23rd March, 2009: Mirics has demonstrated full interoperability of its revolutionary FlexiTV software receiver with CyberLink's TVEnhance, together delivering the latest high definition video content to notebook PCs. With both demodulation of the DVB-T signal and decoding of the H.264 high definition video taking place on existing notebook processors, Mirics FlexiTV has once again proven its credentials as an efficient, optimised system having minimal impact on overall system resources.
Launched in 2008, FlexiTV targets processor-based platforms such as notebook PCs, and was the world's first global standards broadcast receiver to leverage the flexibility and cost benefits of software-based demodulation. Mirics FlexiTV is the only commercially available software demodulator-based receiver conforming to applicable broadcast TV and radio specifications such as Nordig 2.0.
Chris Cytera, Product Line Director for FlexiTV, commented: "We are delighted to be working with Cyberlink to provide the best possible HDTV experience to notebook users. With terrestrial HDTV rolling out wordwide, Mirics FlexiTV plus CyberLink TVEnhance is the ideal combination for enjoying totally smooth, high quality portable HDTV on a standard consumer notebook. No other multi-standard PC TV receiver using software demodulation can deliver this kind of quality user experience."
Alice H. Chang CEO of Cyberlink, said: "We are excited to partner with Mirics to deliver unprecedented HDTV quality with minimal CPU usage on notebook PCs. The technology collaboration with Mirics FlexiTV software demodulation coupled with GPU accelerated H.264 decoder technology establishes our commitment to providing users with the ultimate TV-on-PC experience worldwide."

About Mirics
Mirics provides total system solutions for converged wireless connectivity on portable consumer electronic devices such Notebook PCs, Media Players and Cellphones. The initial focus of the company is the delivery of free-to-air broadcast services and content to portable computing and communications devices. With development, support and sales operations in Boston (USA), Hampshire (UK), Hong Kong, Shanghai and Taipei, Mirics has brought together a strong team with extensive experience in delivering high performance integrated circuits and algorithmic IP into high volume wireless, broadcast and cellular applications.
Mirics has secured funding from an eminent investor team comprising Acacia Capital Partners, Intel Capital and Pond Venture Partners. Mirics recently secured $7m of financing in January 2009, bringing total investor financial support to $22m. Based upon projections from analysts such as IDC and Gartner, Mirics expects the PC TV market to exceed 32 million shipments (OEM + retail) by 2010.
www.mirics.com

About CyberLink
CyberLink Corp is the leader and pioneer in enabling digital multimedia on PCs and CEs. Backed by a group of high-caliber software engineers, CyberLink owns its core codec and a number of patented technologies. CyberLink has built a solid reputation for delivering high-quality, interoperable, and fast time-to-market solutions that keep our OEM partners on the leading edge. Our business partners include leaders in the PC industry: drive manufacturers, graphics-card makers, and top-5 desktop and notebook brands. Today, CyberLink's software solutions include: complete applications for Blu-ray Discs, Digital Home entertainment, TV-on-PC and human resource development. With customers spanning from multi-national corporations to small/medium-sized businesses, and from power users to home users, CyberLink has enjoyed rapid and consistent growth leading to a record breaking IPO in 2000 on the Taiwan Over The Counter Exchange (OTC: 5203). Currently, CyberLink is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: 5203.TW). CyberLink's worldwide headquarters is located in Taipei. To keep up with market demands, CyberLink has operations in North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region, including Japan. For more information, please visit CyberLink's website at www.cyberlink.com.