STMicro chipset powers dual TV-, PVR STBs

STMicroelectronics has expanded its Omega family of STB decoders with the release of the STi5528 and STi4629 chipsets.

Supporting full dual TV and dual PVR (Personal Video Recorder) functionality, the solution extends the performance of the Omega family through the use of two 32-bit RISC processors, making it a cost-effective solution for advanced digital STBs.

The products can decode two separate video and audio streams allowing consumers to connect two televisions to a single STB. While decoding the two audio and video streams, the chipset can also record two channels to a hard disk to provide dual PVR functionality.

For the management of real time functions such as audio and video decoding and demultiplexing, the STi5528 employs an ST20 core running at 166MHz. For application software, the device provides a 200MHz ST40 processor. With integrated Floating Point and Memory Management Units, the ST40 delivers the high throughput required to implement high performance STBs with digital video recording and web interactivity features.

Other key components of the STi5528 and STi4629 include enhanced security features that help protect service providers' revenue streams, a video architecture that provides a dual stream MPEG2@ML video decoder and PAL/NTSC/SECAM video encoders, and a USB interface for home networking. The STi5528 also includes UARTs, I?C/SPI master/slave interfaces, four PWM channels, a multi-channel infrared transmitter/receiver and a MAFE (modem analog front-end) interface.