Introduction
 Adjusting to individual customer requirements and market demands, our solution is centered on highest modularity and flexibility using a high-performance processor that allows to add, remove, or change functionality through software or by joining cards to the PCI bus.
We also offer full STB functionality in ASIC chip format for customers who wish to combine STB and TV in a single multimedia device.
For customers who already have their own product but would like to add specific features, we provide skilled add-on design services directed to upgrading existing Set Top Boxes for the next generation. In today’s interactive TV world, who wants to miss Internet browsing, emailing, chatting, or a home theater?
Ultimately, our STB reference design provides extensive functionality, exhibits leading-edge performance, and greatly reduces cost and complexity in future designs.

Features
The STB reference design offers the following major features:

Hardware
•   32-bit scalable performance RISC up to 240 MHz (max 600MIPS) to support MHP Internet
•   32-256MB SDRAM

TV & Video Input
•   Modular connection to TV broadcast media
  >   Analog cable (DOCSIS, EuroDOCSIS, DVB-RC/DAVIC)
  >   Digital cable (DVB, all modulation schemes)
  >   Digital terrestrial
  >   Uni-/bi-directional connection

•   Camera connection – Fire Wire (IEEE1394) / USB

Video & Audio Output
•   TV output (PAL, NTSC)
•   Support of up to 1280x1024x8bpp, 1024x768x16bpp
•   VGA/LCD output
•   Stereo connection (AC97, SPDIF)
•   MP3
•   Dolby Digital 5.1 (AC3)

Modem & Internet Connection
•   Cable modem
•   POTS modem connection (V.90) GSM GPRS modem
•   Ethernet 10/100 connection to Personal Computer
•   WLAN connection to Personal Computer
•   XDSL modem

Personal Utilities
•   3 area alpha blending
•   Home theater
•   Chat
•   Internet browsing
•   Video-on-demand
•   Interactive TV
•   Voice over IP
•   Home banking
•   Home shopping
•   Games
•   EPG (Electronic Program Guide)

Miscellaneous
•   Real Time Clock
•   Smart card reader
•   Two-channel input (simultaneous recording and viewing)
•   Internet protocol support
•   E-mail communication
•   DVB MHP
•   Net TV, iTV, AOLTV

Peripherals
•   Keyboard – IrDA/Bluetooth
•   Mouse – IrDA/Bluetooth
•   Headphones – IrDA/Bluetooth
•   Parallel (1394) connector
•   RS 232
•   Camera connection (FireWire)

Plug-in Options
•   USB
•   XDSL modem
•   V90 modem
•   MPEG II or MPEG IV
•   IEEE 1394 FireWire
•   Ethernet 10/100
•   Power line networking (home automation, security)

Optional Devices
•   DVD
•   Internal hard drive

Power Mode Options
•   Standby power
•   Low power consumption
•   Backup battery for the Real Time Clock

General Description
The hardware design takes a modular approach; that is to say that each component is scalable and replaceable and can thus be acquired from different chipset vendors.

The three main components are:

•   TV broadcast reception unit

•   Main processor – SH4 by Hitachi
 >  166MHz to over 400MHz
 >  RISC and DSP capabilities
 >  Direct connection to media processor and other peripherals
 >  Specified to work with MHP Internet including JavaScript

• Media processor – CyberPro 5000 by Tvia
 >   Streaming media processor
 >   Designed for STB and Internet applications
 >   Direct connection to CRT/LCD screens
 >   2 simultaneous video ports
 >   Audio and video/camera interfaces
 >   2D/3D graphics processing
 >   MPEG-1/MPEG-2 decoding
 >   Macrovision CA
 >   Soft modem

Highly flexible in choosing the right processing power for the individual application.
The interface to the TV broadcast receiver is designed to accommodate different units, to offer adaptability to different media, and to be open to a variety of vendors. The basic design has a digital cable tuner and demodulator unit.
A hard drive is designed into the product to enable novel features such as digital video recording and a pause facility for live-TV watching.