RF front end

Austin, TX-based

has announced the first product in its new SiRX product family – a single-chip satellite RF front-end for direct broadcast satellite (DBS).

The Si21xx devices target all free-to-air (FTA) and pay-TV DBS equipment including satellite set-top boxes, PC cards for satellite TV, DBS receivers for automotive or avionic use, DVD recorders and digital TVs with integrated satellite receivers.

The SiRX satellite RF front-end integrates a satellite L-band RF tuner, a dual-mode DVB-S/DSS digital demodulator and a step-up supply controller for the lownoise block converter (LNB) into a single 6 x 8 mm CMOS device.

The integration of the LNB supply controller is an industry-first and includes support for DiSEqC 2.x and legacy tone/voltage LNB signaling.

The SiRX devices also support an on-chip hardware blindscan feature that improves channel scan time. This feature reduces set-top box installation time for FTA applications where channel locations are unknown.

The integration of the tuner, demodulator and LNB supply functions eliminates the need for external signaling among three separate ICs, which simplifies the required software-programming overhead as well as the number of board signal traces.

Samples of the SiRX family are available now in a 6 x 8 mm, lead-free, RoHS compliant 44-pin QFN package with full production in the second quarter of 2006. Pricing for the Si21xx devices starts at $7.37 in quantities of 1K.

Silicon Laboratories also provides an evaluation board for $150.