Vitesse demos video router reference designs for professional and consumer video

2011 NAB Show, LAS VEGAS, USA: Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. announced availability of two complete video router reference designs, one to support the needs of professional broadcast video and a second to support the consumer video segment.

Featuring Vitesse’s HDVScope signal monitoring and diagnostics, these designs reduce power by 40 percent and component count by 50 percent compared with existing solutions. The reference designs simplify design-time of next-generation video products, enabling customers to leverage Vitesse’s cutting-edge technology with minimal engineering investment.

With exploding demand for high definition (HD) video content usage, broadcasting, distribution, production and display requirements system manufacturers require complete and proven solutions to speed their development time and shorten their time-to-market. The reference designs address these needs with proven technology based on next-generation Vitesse crosspoint switches and Serial Digital Interface (SDI) video transceiver products.

While the professional video SDI reference design utilizes a scalable architecture to address the needs of studio and remote broadcast environments, the 4 x 4 HDMI/DVI switch reference design is aimed at consumer applications where HDMI cable interconnect has become standard in most applications such as digital signage and multi-display environments. Both designs highlight the best-in-class equalization techniques. The reference designs include full Gerber files, schematics, and layout information.

“These reference designs allow developers to get to market quickly with pre-configured, proven system designs, while allowing easy scaling to larger crosspoint switch dimensions,” said Juan Garza, product marketing manager at Vitesse. “They also allow designers to leverage and apply new technologies designed especially for these applications, such as integrated HDVScope waveform viewing and diagnostic capabilities in our latest video transceiver products.”

Signal integrity is critical in both professional and consumer video markets, underscoring the utility of Vitesse’s proven signal integrity technologies such as HDVScope. On-chip technologies can be used to scan the input data eye within the chip itself and produce a data stream representative of the input waveform at each pin. Using HDVScope within production designs allows faster debug of customer problems, while allowing better prediction of failing links.

HDVScope diagnostics and adaptive equalization technologies are deployed in Vitesse’s recently announced video transceiver products, the VSC3401 re-clocker/cable equalizer and VSC3402/VSC3403/VSC3404 re-clocker/cable driver products. Used in conjunction with Vitesse’s highest performance crosspoint switch portfolio, customers have access to proven system designs that are scalable to larger switch dimensions.