Cable sol'n supports multiple video streams

Entropic Communications Inc. has released the EN5288, its third generation Channel Stacking Switch (CSS) silicon. According to the company, the device is cost optimized for four tuner applications and offers low power consumption. The EN5288 targets single family home requirements of the global direct broadcast satellite (DBS) market and offers the lowest BoM component count and the smallest package size, added the company.

Entropic's CSS ICs claim to cut the cabling complexity of DBS installations. The CSS technology enables delivery of multiple video streams from individual or multiple satellites into the home in a single cable.锟絋his single cable architecture simplifies cabling to make the deployment of STBs, with multiple tuner capabilities, in multiple rooms. Entropic noted that this eliminates retrofitting and the need to punch through walls.锟紸dditionally, Entropic's CSS technology simplifies plug and play for STB upgrades and allows all levels of installers, from professional to consumers, to reuse existing cabling to quickly setup an in-home DBS system.

The CSS IC, embedded in a low noise block (LNB), is cost optimized to support four tuners in the home, but also offer scalability to support up to twelve tuners down a single coaxial cable. Entropic has already experienced positive traction in the market for its EN5288.

The cost-optimized EN5288 is now being sampled and will be incorporated into next generation consumer premise equipment including LNBs and multiswitches OEMs and expected to launch next year.锟経sing a highly integrated design packaged in a small 7 x 7mm² QFN package, the EN5288 incorporates two inputs and two stacked outputs plus a dedicated legacy output per IC.锟絀C's can be configured in parallel to provide up to twelve stacked outputs, supporting up to six DVRs in a home network.锟絀n addition to providing a single cable network to deliver DBS video signals, this network also supports home networking and access solutions such as those offered by Entropic's home networking and broadband access platforms, both based on the MoCA standard.

The EN5288 is geared for operators and free-to-air installers, as well as retailers in the direct-to-home outdoor unit market.锟紸ll generations of CSS solutions allow LNB converters and multiswitches to multiplex multiple channels from DBS satellites onto a single coaxial cable enabling connection to DVRs and multiple STBs as well as providing a single cable backbone for home networking solutions.