New cost-effective hardware development kit from Texas Instruments enables broad adoption of DOCSIS® 3.0 video gateways

Bangalore, September 10, 2009 -Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) today announced availability of a new Puma 5 DOCSIS® 3.0 (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification) HDK (hardware development kit) targeted at applications that require scalable and highly flexible RF front-end solutions such as video gateways. The TNETC958 is a cost-effective, low-power HDK that includes TI’s Puma 5 DOCSIS3.0 SoC and MPEG  tuners provided by MaxLinear allowing end-equipment to fully leverage frequency agility to select content from anywhere in the cable RF spectrum. End products leveraging TI’s Puma 5 HDK will allow operators to offer innovative high speed data, voice, digital TV and IPTV services without making changes to their current RF plants.

The Puma 5 HDK incorporates four MxL241SF MPEG tuners, which helps reduce power consumption and increases cost-efficiency. The MPEG tuner is a complete integrated RF+QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) demodulator channel, utilizing MaxLinear’s advanced CMOS (Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor) tuner functionality with TI’s industry proven QAM demodulator, allowing  manufacturers to develop a broad range of products such as cable set-top boxes, modems and video gateways. For more information on TI’s complete portfolio of cable solutions, please visit: www.ti.com/cable-cpe-folder 

Key features and benefits of the TNETC958 Puma 5 DOCSIS 3.0 HDK:

• The Puma 5 HDK modular and frequency agile low-power RF front end supports:
  • DOCSIS3.0 modular downstream channel selection providing manufacturers with the ability to scale their downstream channel BOM (Bill of materials) investment based on the application’s requirements.
  • Single MT2170 wideband tuner enabling a 96MHz capture bandwidth for the four bonded downstream channels, as well as a MT1570 DOCSIS® 3.0 PGA (programmable gain amplifier) provided by Microtune®, Inc.
  • Up to four additional downstream channels via MPEG tuners that feature a 1GHz tuning range and that are software configurable for 6/8MHz channel bandwidth. This feature enables the acquisition of any video or DOCSIS channel anywhere in the spectrum without the need for re-planning the RF channel lineup.
• Multiple DOCSIS 3.0 channel bonding configuration options from four downstream and four upstream (4x4) and up to 16 downstream and four (16x4) upstream supports various tiered DOCSIS applications such as low-cost wideband data, voice services and high-end gateway products.
• Supports triple-play voice, video and data products:
  • Two-line voice enabled cable modem
  • Up to two battery packs for lifeline voice support
  • Modular attach support for video processing platforms
• Includes home networking capabilities with modular attach support for 802.11n and MoCA1.1/2.0
• Extended memory: 1GBit DDR, 2x16MB SFLASH
• Supported by TI’s field-proven DOCSIS and voice software development kits (SDK)

Find out more about TI’s cable portfolio:

• Cable solutions page: www.ti.com/cable-cpe-folder  
• Follow TI on twitter: http://bit.ly/Ubpbt

About Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments(NYSE: TXN) helps customers solve problems and develop new electronics that make the world smarter, healthier, safer, greener and more fun. A global semiconductor company, TI innovates through design, sales and manufacturing operations in more than 30 countries.  For more information, go to www.ti.com.

Trademarks

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. DOCSIS and CableLabs are trademarks of Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. 

India Product Information Centre