Broadcom Upgrades Set-Top Chips for Half-Resolution 3D

Heralding the arrival of 3D in set-top boxes, Broadcom is delivering firmware upgrades to its decoder/processor chips, enabling them to deliver half-resolution 3D, Stephen Palm, technical director for broadband communications, told us.

Among Broadcom’s major customers for its BCM7405 and other set-top chips is DirecTV, which was expected to launch four 3D channels this month, including ESPN 3D, pay-per-view, on-demand and N3D. The 7405 is a multi-format decoder that combines high-speed graphics processing with video scaling with motion adaptive deinterlacing. Broadcom is developing chips to handle full-resolution 1080p 3D, although timing for their introduction hasn’t been set, Palm said. DirecTV officials weren’t available for comment Thursday on its 3D plans.

"Half-resolution is pretty good and it allows people to take their Broadcom-based boxes and be able to handle 3D,” Palm said. “There are many different 3D formats and we will typically support as many of them as we can.” Even with half-resolution, “people are very excited they can something they never planned on being available in 3D,” Palm said. Many of the chips getting a firmware upgrade were developed and released during the past 1-2 years with support for Broadcom’s Nexus application programming interface, Palm said.

Broadcom is also readying chips with support for the RVU Alliance’s remote user interface (RUI) design. RUI, unveiled last year with support from Broadcom, Cisco, DirecTV, Samsung and Verizon, puts the majority of user interface functionality, including trick play, on a server such as a satellite receiver or cable box. The server interprets them and delivers bitmap and streaming data to networked client boxes that could be equipped with Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) or Digital Living Network Alliance (DNLA) technology. The goal is to provide a consistent UI throughout a home via thin clients. Broadcom demonstrated RUI technology at CES in January on its BCM7420 set-top IC and BCM3549 DTV chip. RUI could also be built into a TV and the first products containing it, including DirecTV receivers, are expected to ship in September, Palm said. Broadcom implemented RUI by adding “a little bit of software” to its DLNA software stack, Palm said. RUI will run on a variety of Broadcom chips including BCM7325, which contains satellite tuners, and the more recent BCM7408, which also supports MoCA. “The nice thing about it is that it can project a company’s brand of guide and interface” and provide consistent performance across a home network, Palm said.

Broadcom also is making a push with processors for Android-based tablets that could be a central point for services in a home ranging from TV to home automation. Broadcom Thursday demonstrated the 1 GHz BCM911211 Persona processor running a prototype tablet developed by ODM partner Gemtek. It contained 2 GB of flash memory and 512 MB DRAM and featured a seven-inch LCD with 800x480 resolution, said Leo Azevedo, senior marketing manager for IP Connectivity. The Persona chip is available with 32, 64 and 128 MB of on-board memory, the latter to handle 1080p, he said. Broadcom’s BCM11182 is designed for 1080p, while BCM11181, with 32 MB memory, is for 720p, Azevedo said. The dual processor version of chip will be ship in the fall as production shifts to a 40-nanometer process from 65 nanometers, Azevedo said. “The idea is to make tablets more than a media consumption device so that it is the center of services in the home,” Azevedo said.

To achieve that goal, Broadcom is partnering with carriers that will market the tablet with their services. In some cases the tablet may be included free with a service and Broadcom is targeting a $100 ODM cost, Azevedo said. Among the early Broadcom partners are British Telecom and NTT in Japan. BT will offer a tablet in the second half packaged with its phone service, while NTT will bundle the device with a fiber-to-the-home offering, Azevedo said. The tablets will draw on Broadcom’s experience developing VoIP and two-way videoconferencing, Azevedo said. Broadcom is among the chip suppliers for Vonage’s VoIP boxes.

Broadcom has no immediate plans to commercialize Persona for e-readers or full-blown tablet PCs, the latter because they are based on Microsoft operating systems, Azevedo said. Broadcom prefers Android’s open architecture over Microsoft’s OS, which “tries to control the experience,” Azevedo said.