Thursday May 14, 8:01 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: LSI Logic Corporation
LSI Logic and The BBC Announce Immediate Availability of Industry's
First Single-Chip 2K/8K Digital Terrestrial Solution
Cost-Effective Solution Ready in Time for Autumn European Launch of Digital Terrestrial
Television
LONDON, May 14 /PRNewswire/ -- LSI Logic, the world's leader in system-on-a-chip design, and the BBC, the
internationally renowned UK broadcaster, today announced the immediate availability of the L64780, a jointly developed
single-chip digital terrestrial television (DTT) demodulator. LSI Logic and the BBC joined forces in June 1997 to develop a
cost-effective DTT solution for deployment in 1998. The chip received both 2K and 8K modes, and decoded picture and
sound from the BBC's trial service broadcast transmitter located at Crystal Palace, London.
The design of the L64780 device was implemented by a team at the BBC's Kingswood Warren R&D facility (England) and by
LSI Logic at its Paris Design Centre. It was based on a hardware prototype initially constructed by the BBC to run trials of the
experimental DTT broadcasts in the UK and other European locations. By applying its unique chip design, LSI Logic has
squeezed a 19 inch rack composed of over 20 programmable chips originally used in the BBC prototype design onto one tiny
piece of silicon.
The L64780 is fully compliant to the European Digital Video Broadcast Terrestrial (DVB-T) standard of which the BBC and
LSI Logic are members. The device supports all European DTT standards, including 8K and 2K modes. Tolerance to fast
moving and difficult channels is achieved through an innovative channel estimation algorithm working in both time and frequency
domains. In addition the L64780 seamlessly interfaces with low cost tuners since common phase error measurement and
compensation algorithms were incorporated on chip.
''Through our joint development with the BBC, we are the first semiconductor manufacturer to deliver a
Right-First-Time(TM), single-chip DTT solution. This chip will enable TV and set-top manufacturers to put cost-effective
products in the hands of consumers in time for DTT European deployment later this year,'' said Elie Antoun, Executive Vice
President of Consumer Products, LSI Logic.
''The BBC has been a pioneer in the area of digital television, and was the first broadcaster in the world to have a digital
terrestrial pilot on air which complied with the European DVB-T standard. The BBC's expertise in compression and
modulation technology, combined with the integrated circuit design skills of LSI Logic has meant that the development of the
L64780 has been an outstanding cooperative achievement,'' said Dr. Ian Jenkins, Controller of New Technologies, BBC.
The L64780 is a single-chip Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex (COFDM) demodulator. The device is capable
of delivering up to 31.7 Mbit/sec. With each service demanding typically between 2 Mbit/sec (movies) to typically 5 Mbit/sec
(mixed programming channels), several program services can be offered in the 8 MHz channel previously filled by one
conventional analog PAL channel.
The L64780 chip samples a low IF signal and converts it digitally into baseband. The device then applies all digital processing
steps to extract the data from the received signal, such as FFT, timing and frequency synchronization, channel estimation and
equalization, generation of optimal soft decisions using the channel state information, symbol and bit de-interleaving.
''This is an outstanding example of collaboration. The BBC provided DTT expertise and an intimate knowledge of the
European broadcast market, while LSI Logic provided the expertise to implement the BBC's DTT expertise into working,
cost-effective silicon. By working with the BBC we have been able to deliver a highly integrated DTT system-on-a-chip
solution within a record one year,'' said Jean-Luc Droitcourt, Marketing Director for Digital TV, LSI Logic.
L64780 samples, together with an evaluation daughter board for the set-top box development platform (SDP) are available
immediately. The daughter board includes the L64780 device, software drivers and a tuner module. LSI Logic has shipped
samples and evaluation platforms to lead customers. The chip is priced at sub $20 for volume purchase.
BBC company background
The BBC is a public corporation, set up by Royal Charter to provide broadcasting services at home and abroad. The BBC's
core home services are funded by the television licence fee which pays for BBC-1 and BBC-2 which provide more than
12,500 hours of programs a year; national Radios 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 Live; national radio services in Northern Ireland, Scotland
and Wales, including services in Welsh and Gaelic languages; and 38 English local radio services. The BBC World Service, the
international radio service funded by Government Grant-In-Aid broadcasts to 144 million regular listeners a week in 45
languages, including English. The BBC generates further revenue to support its home services by exploiting its assets at home
and abroad through its commercial arm, BBC Worldwide. Additional information may be obtained from their web site at
www.bbc.co.uk.
LSI Logic company background
LSI Logic (NYSE: LSI - news), The System on a Chip Company(R), is a leading supplier of custom high-performance
semiconductors, with operations world-wide. The company enables customers to build complete systems on a single chip with
its CoreWare(R) design program, which increases performance, lowers system costs and accelerates time to market. LSI
Logic develops application-optimised products in partnership with trend setting customers, and operates leading-edge
manufacturing facilities to produce submicron geometry chips. The company maintains a high level of quality as demonstrated
by its ISO 9000 certifications. LSI Logic Corporation is headquartered at 1551 McCarthy Boulevard, Milpitas, California
95035, lsilogic.com.
LSI Logic Europe
LSI Logic Europe has its headquarters at Bracknell in the UK, and offices and design centres in France, Germany, Israel, Italy,
the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland. LSI Logic's sales in Europe accounted for 19 percent of the
corporation's total worldwide revenue.
SOURCE: LSI Logic Corporation
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