ST secures MoCA certification for STB IC

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND: STMicroelectronics has obtained MoCA 1.1 certification for its highly featured STi7108M video decoder, enabling High-Definition (HD) set-top boxes or digital video recorders (DVRs) to share content and services easily throughout the home.

The MoCA (Multimedia over Coax Alliance) standard for home-entertainment networking uses existing coaxial cables to distribute high-bandwidth content such as streamed HD-video, gaming, broadband Internet access and Over The Top (OTT) services to every room in the house. Providing high speed and quality of service (QoS) features for glitch-free streaming, MoCA provides a convenient solution for homes, multi-occupancy dwellings and commercial properties such as hotels.

With the strong commitment from US cable and Pay-TV operators, and trials under way with European operators, according to the MoCA organization, there are large potential markets for MoCA-certified equipment. ST is a Contributor member of MoCA.

"STMicroelectronics' entrance is a welcome addition to the connected home and supports growing demand for a highly reliable backbone," said Charles Cerino, MoCA president.

Set-top boxes featuring the MoCA-certified STi7108M can be added to a home network simply by connecting to the coaxial wall socket. As a high-end chip, the STi7108M offers advanced functions such as dual application processors providing 3D TV capability, a high-performance ARM graphics engine capable of supporting 3D gaming and advanced program guides, and ST's Faroudja video processing, which maximizes the quality of displayed images. With these features, the device makes optimum use of MoCA's reliable, high-bandwidth connectivity to deliver exhilarating user experiences.

"Successfully obtaining MoCA 1.1 certification for the STi7108M positions us to support customers by delivering even more new MoCA-certified chips to market quickly and efficiently," said Laurent Remont, General Manager for the Connected Home Division, STMicroelectronics. "In short order, we will offer a complete MoCA-enabled portfolio for end products ranging from simple clients to multi-demodulator gateways."

Major features of STi7108M
* Video decoding: H.264, MPEG2, VC-1 or WMV9 Internet video, MPEG4 part 2.
* Dual ST40-300 CPUs (4000DMIPS total host-processing performance).
* ARM Mali-400 graphics processing unit MoCA 1.1 band D (certified), E, F on request
Ethernet GMAC.
* Inputs for up to 6 transport streams, including Ethernet, two eSATA interfaces supporting DVR functionality, three USB2.0 host ports.
* Peak MoCA data rate of 170 Mbps.
* Five MoCA QoS queues (PQoS, high, medium, low, broadcast).
* Connectivity of up to 16 MoCA nodes.
* Dual-core CPU providing 2400 DMIPS.
* Low-power architecture.

Samples of the STi7108M are available now.