Low-power SoCs usher wave of large-scale 4K STB deployments

STMicroelectronics has rolled out four low-power SoCs that will open the door for the large-scale deployment of UHDp60-enabled 4K set-top boxes (STBs). According to the company, the second-generation 4K STBs will come in small form factors and will let users experience a richer, more immersive Ultra-HD experience, increased colour fidelity and better media-content resolution.

With the four SoCs, identified as STiH314/318 and STiH414/418, ST is leveraging the market success of its widely-deployed STiH312/Cannes and STiH412/Monaco architectures, the company indicated. The STiH314/318 and STiH414/418 additions extend the market reach from the most cost-sensitive to the highest-performance use cases. In addition, the availability of mature software allows faster time-to-market and complete re-use of already deployed middleware while low-power operation enables re-use of existing HD form factors.

With high power efficiency and full backward software and pin-to-pin hardware compatibility with the existing Cannes/Monaco devices, the STiH314/318 and STiH414/418 facilitate seamless introduction of UHDp60-10b solutions, including an HEVC-10bit decoder for true Ultra-HD experience, HDMI2.0 (6Gb/s) for best quality, HDCP 2.2 and watermarking compliance with 4K content-protection requirements.

All four devices incorporate quad-core SMP ARM application processors that deliver 8000 (STiH314/414) or 12000 (STiH318/418) DMIPS, as well as a quad-core GPU for excellent 3D graphics performance. The STiH414 and STiH418 also integrate ST's Faroudja Transcode Engine, providing best-in-class transcoding capabilities for multi-screen streaming across consumer and handheld devices. This allows operators to optimise network bandwidth while offering an excellent quality of service throughout the home. The STiH318/418 adds built-in support for VP9, the latest video-compression technology from Google.

Other key benefits include advanced security supporting concurrent conditional access, DRM and watermarks to protect premium broadcast content; a wide range of connectivity options including USB 3.0, PCI-e, SATA and Gigabit Ethernet; and dedicated interfaces to companion front-end solutions DOCSIS 3.0, DVB-C/DVB-S2/DVB-T2 and802.11ac WiFi devices.

Manufactured in 28nm process technology, ST's Cannes/Monaco-compatible STB SoC devices will be available with complete software support to major OEMs in 4Q14.