MaxLinear developed its
MxL20xRF family of silicon
tuners for the global digital
cable market. These devices
target set-top-boxes (STBs),
digital video recorders (DVRs),
cable modems, embedded
multimedia terminal adapters
(EMTAs), cable gateways,
and cable-enabled televisions.
The MxL20xRF family uses
MaxLinear’s proprietary digital
CMOS process to deliver
the highest performance in
accordance with the ANSI/
SCTE40, DOCSIS/EURODOCSIS,
and ITU-T J.83 cable
industry standards. The devices
feature integrated channel
filtering and on-chip, 94-dB
gain to deliver high-quality signal
reception of weak signals
even under significant channel
loading, severe transmission
spectrum tilt, and strong adjacent
digital and analog channel
blockers.
The tuners consume only
400 mW each, meaning a fourtuner,
channel-agile DOCSIS
3.0 system can be built with
the power budget of just one
competing device, which typically
consumes more than 1.6
W and has limited capture
bandwidth. Measuring only 5
by 5 mm in a 32-pin quad flat
no-lead (QFN) package, they
also offer the smallest tuner
footprint, enabling designers
to implement ultra-compact
front-end solutions, especially
for complex, multi-tuner
DVR/PVRs and transport
gateways. The new tuners
can be implemented on simple
two-layer printed-circuit
boards (PCBs), and they don’t
require any provisions for thermal
management, which saves
costs associated with the fans,
shields, and heatsinks required
for competing tuners.
“Using our tuner, the power
consumption of every tuner in
a cable box can be reduced by
nearly 1 W,” says Kishore Seendripu,
MaxLinear’s CEO. “If we
assume a market size of about
150 million cable-tuner units
in North America, 150 MW
of power generation and consumption
can be eliminated
annually. So, this is an incredibly
green solution.”
The MxL201RF tunes over
the 44- to 1002-MHz range
(see the figure). The IF output
is programmable. No external
surface acoustic wave (SAW)
filters are needed, as selectivity
is built in. Bandwidths of 6, 7,
or 8 MHz may be selected.
Also, the MxL201RF was
developed mainly for the North
American cable markets, but it
can be used for any digital cable application as it supports digital
cable standards including ITUT
J.83 Annexes A and C [DVBC]
for Europe, China, and India
and Annex B [North American
Cable], DOCSIS, and EURODOCSIS
as well as digital terrestrial
reception standards
(DVB-T/H, ATSC, ISDB-T
and DTMB). The MXL203RF
was developed specifically for
the China, Europe, and India
DVB-C markets.
The MxL201RF and MxL-
203RF are in production now
and shipping to key customers.
LOUIS E. FRENZEL
MAXLINEAR INC.
www.maxlinear.com