To: CrayUSA who wrote (14944 ) 9/13/1999 7:37:00 PM From: flickerful Respond to of 52051
MITEL SEMICONDUCTOR DELIVERS INDUSTRY'S BEST PERFORMANCE TO Set-top Box Receivers; New phase locked loop provides 10dB performance improvement over competing solutions Business Editors/Technology Writers OTTAWA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 13, 1999--Mitel Semiconductor, a division of Mitel Corporation (NYSE:MLT) (TSE:MLT), today introduced the SP5730, a phase locked loop (PLL) frequency synthesizer that improves the phase noise performance of digital television receivers by 10dB over competing solutions. The SP5730 achieves industry-leading performance with a wider range of division ratios, while reducing power consumption for Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) systems. "Obtaining optimal phase noise performance is a key concern for DTT system manufacturers," said Paul Fellows, marketing manager at Mitel Semiconductor. "Since launching the world's first DTT-compliant device in 1997, Mitel has built upon its expertise to deliver the SP5730, which brings unprecedented receiver performance as the only solution to exceed -83dB of phase noise performance." System manufacturers require excellent Bit Error Rate (BER) performance to meet user expectations for clear DTT reception. Under poor signal-to-noise conditions, DTT reception rapidly approaches the "cliff-edge" of BER performance. Since the phase noise of a tuner has a direct impact on the demodulated BER, the high performance of the SP5730 significantly improves the noise margin of the overall system. Mitel serves high-growth markets The device was designed to bring precise tuning control to DTT systems. It can also provide direct support for offset frequencies required by various Digital Video Broadcasting -- Terrestrial (DVB-T) systems being implemented in Europe and Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting (ISDB) implementations in Japan. Dataquest forecasts that annual shipments of digital terrestrial set-top boxes (STBs) will grow from under one million units worldwide this year to six million units by 2002.(a) As more service areas develop, increased signal traffic will require system designers to implement performance-enhancing features to achieve consumer expectations for high-quality digital TV. Increased performance for digital television receivers The SP5730 is a single-chip PLL frequency synthesizer designed for tuning systems up to 1.3GHz, as required by the DTT standard. Using a high-speed bipolar process technology, the device achieves ultra-low phase noise performance of -83dBc/Hz within the loop bandwidth at a comparison frequency of 166kHz, and a LO frequency of 1GHz. At comparison frequencies up to 4MHz, higher phase noise performance can be achieved to enhance receiver performance in developing service areas, where adjacent channel and/or co-channel interference typically limits operation. Overall, Mitel's phase noise performance is at least 6dB better than competitive bipolar or BiCMOS devices at low comparison frequencies, and greater than 10dB better at higher comparison frequencies. To ease use and reduce system costs, the device offers a range of 29 division ratios, including the usual binary multiples. These address all of the currently identified frequency step sizes required for DTT systems, while allowing the use of commonly available, low-cost crystals for the reference frequency. The device provides a step size equal to the loop comparison frequency while eliminating prescaler phase noise degradation over the RF operating range. Mitel has further minimized system costs by integrating all of the functionality required for a complete synthesized source. The only external components required are a frequency reference, loop filter and external high-voltage transistor. The device operates with a power consumption of just 83mW. This is less than half the power required by competitive bipolar solutions, and it is comparable to BiCMOS designs which are typically more expensive. The SP5730 therefore enables STB designers to achieve targets for standby power consumption while keeping costs down through an integrated design. Support, price and availability The SP5730 is available in production volumes now, supplied in 16-pin SOIC and QSOP packages. It costs US $.85 in quantities of 1 million units. Design and evaluation support is provided by Mitel's global support teams. An evaluation board is now available, free of charge, to qualified customers. About Mitel Semiconductor Mitel (NYSE:MLT - news),(TSE:MLT - news) is a global designer, manufacturer and marketer of networked systems and specialty semiconductors for the communications industry. Mitel Communications Systems provides enterprises with voice and data communications systems; complete private networks including remote teleworking solutions; unified messaging and call-center applications; CTI systems and applications; and it supplies competitive carriers with public network access products. Mitel Semiconductor specializes in connectivity solutions for the communications and medical industries with a product range which includes components for both wired and wireless networks; microelectronics for enabling the convergence of voice and data; optoelectronic devices for high-speed Internet systems; and applications-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) for medical applications such as pacemakers and hearing aids. (a) "Digital Television Gets on the Air" by Jonathan Cassell, March 1, 1999.