With the launch of a single-chip receiver for T-DMB and DAB-IP broadcasts, Frontier Silicon has extended its portfolio of mobile TV solutions. The new Paradiso 1T (FS1032) chip has been created using enhanced system-in-package (SiP) techniques, incorporating proprietary digiSHIELD technology, to integrate the advanced Paradiso multistandard baseband IC with a high-performance RF tuner and ancillary passive components.
The new SiP offers handset makers industry-leading performance, exceeding CENELEC (EN50248) requirements, including power consumption of less than 140mW with a significantly reduced footprint and component count. Paradiso 1T is sampling now and will be available for mass production in Q3, says the company.
Frontier Silicon has unparalleled expertise in DAB, possessing a share of over 70 percent in the DAB digital radio market. Paradiso 1T builds on this strength, supporting all modes of DAB, T-DMB and DAB-IP - mobile TV broadcasting standards that are in commercial use now, with Korea boasting the most dramatic uptake of 2.83 million T-DMB subscribers in 2006 and a forecast of 18.5 million by 2010 (Statistics provided by the Korean Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC)).
Commonly, when two dies are stacked closely together, the coupling of clock noise and digital interference from a baseband die to the RF tuner is magnified. Frontier Silicon's digiSHIELD technology has neutralised this, applying innovative noise suppression techniques to minimize such coupling, maximising RF sensitivity and adjacent channel rejection performance.
The extensive package integration of the Paradiso 1T enables handset makers to minimise their external component count, resulting in low external bill-of-material costs. It also offers high-level API software (Brando) that is provided pre-integrated with leading middleware vendors; this helps accelerate the time-to-market for new handsets. An additional benefit is the fact that the solution is scalable; its software being compatible with the other members of the Paradiso 1 family including the Paradiso 1H (FS1031) DVB-H SiP, which was demonstrated at 3GSM World Congress in February 2007, says the company.
"The Paradiso IC family offers manufacturers a ready-made solution for multiple markets, enabling the easy development of a range of mobile TV handsets for different broadcast standards, while using the same core Paradiso building block," said Jerry O'Brien, Frontier Silicon's mobile digital TV technical marketing manager. "Importantly, our software-defined architecture allows customers to rapidly reconfigure the device through firmware updates, effectively future-proofing their solutions in the increasingly fragmenting mobile TV market."
