ADI, SiTune introduce ATSC-M/H tuners in time for U.S. mobile TV rollout

On this side of the Pacific, Norwood, MA-based Analog Devices (ADI) and San Jose, CA-based SiTune aren't wasting any time jumping into the ATSC mobile TV tuner market.

In September, signal-processing pioneer ADI launched a new family of multistandard RF tuners with ultra-compact footprints and low-power appetites. Aimed at mobile phones, notebook PCs and PDAs, the zero-IF architecture ADMTV803 and ADMTV804 integrate external passive devices for RF tuner circuitry, and feature:

• Support for CMMB, TMMB, DTMB, DVB-H, DVB-T, DAB, T-DMB, ISDB-T and ATSC-M/H;
• 4mm by 4mm LFCSP package;
• 90mW power consumption; • 2.5dB noise figure;
• −102dBm to 10dBm AGC dynamic range;
• Bandwidth-adjustable low-pass filter; and
• Dual VHF and UHF RF frequency inputs.

The ADMTV804 is also available in a 2mm by 2mm WLCSP package and adds a low drop-out regulator designed for China's CMMB and the United States' ATSC-M/H standards market, reducing BOM cost.

Also in September, two year-old startup SiTune introduced two new multistandard CMOS RF tuners supporting ATSC mobile TV. The fabless semiconductor company specializes in low-power products for broadband wireless applications. Both the STN-10T2000 (zero-IF) and STN-25T2000 (low-IF) tuners exceed the A74 performance standard for ATSC-M/H, according to the company. The STN-10T2000 covers 50MHz to 900MHz. Both tuners feature:

• Support for multiple DTV standards including ATSC-MH, DVB-T/H and ISDBT; the STN-25T2000 also supports analog TV standards (NTSC, PAL, SECAM);
• Continuous tuning range from 44MHz to 1GHz;
• Programmable channel bandwidths in 6MHz,7MHz and 8MHz;
• Power supply of 1.2V; and
• 100dB of AGC range.

SiTune demonstrated the STN-10T2000 and STN-25T2000 at IBC last month. Samples and evaluation kits are available now, with full production in Q1 2010.