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To: John Rieman who wrote (35160)	8/12/1998 6:12:00 PM
From: BillyG	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50808

Motorola DTTV chip. Cheaper DTV tuners means greater demand for MPEG2 decoders. The chip outputs a MPEG-2 data stream.......... Motorola creates front-end IC that meets DTTV standard August 12, 1998 ELECTRONIC BUYERS NEWS via NewsEdge Corporation : Silicon Valley -- After designing a three-chip digital-television front end for the European market, Motorola Inc.'s Semiconductor Products Sector, Phoenix, has combined the functions in a single IC. The MC92314DH is designed for the Digital Terrestrial Television (DTTV) standard used in the European, Australian, and Chinese markets, which demodulates Digital Video Broadcast-Terrestrial 2K (DVB-T 2K) signals. The device combines the company's three-chip chipset into three corresponding functional blocks: a 2K-compliant coded orthogonal frequency-division multiplex demodulator, a 2K mode Fast Fourier Transform processor block, and a forward error-correction unit. The chip outputs a standard MPEG-2 data stream. The integrated design uses a finer, 0.35-micron process, cutting the $48 price tag of the older chipset to less than $20 in volume, according to Motorola. To date, chip makers have generally focused on back-end products as they assembled the industry's digital-television infrastructure, according to Jonathan Cassell, semiconductor analyst at Dataquest Inc., San Jose. But as digital broadcasts begin later this year, the front end is becoming an area with huge growth potential. And since the Motorola chip is designed for the front end, OEMs don't need the programmability required by the multitude of back-end standards. "It's a no-brainer chip," Cassell said. On the other hand, 2K-compliant front-end chips, which are aimed at localized broadcast systems, may soon have to comply with a newly minted 8K demodulation standard that targets a broader geographical region. To address this need, Motorola said it will sample a second, 2K/8K chip to bridge the 8K standard by December. Samples of the MC92314 device in a 160-pin QFP with a corresponding evaluation board are being sent to beta-site customers. Volume production of the 2K chip is set for December. Copyright - 1998 CMP Media Inc. <<ELECTRONIC BUYERS NEWS -- 08-10-98, p. PG28>>