MaxLinear, a provider of radio-frequency and mixed-signal semiconductor solutions, has claimed that Chinese set-top-box (STB) makers CAMEO Communications and Coship have tapped MaxLinear’s MxL201RF cable tuners for the emerging Chinese triple-play market.

Recently China authorized its cable operators to offer Internet and telephone service to their customers – a move that is purported to set off a build out of DOCSIS networks which in turn would create a $100 billion market opportunity. And estimates have indicated that in China the development of set top boxes and network upgrades will be about $36 billion of the overall total.

CAMEO and Coship have made use of the MaxLinear’s low-power, high-performance cable tuner to build embedded modules that can enable interactive IP services for cable operators’ customers that will also create new revenue generating streams for these companies.

Kishore Seendripu, MaxLinear’s CEO has commented that their MxL20XRF cable tuners are important for these emerging set top box designs because their small size and low power provides flexibility to manufacturers, which ends up being an important point of differentiation to consumers. They are excited to get in on the ground floor of what is going to be one of the biggest STB markets ever and are confident that they are working with two of the industry leaders in CAMEO and Coship, and that together they can be aggressive in pursuing this opportunity.

According to MaxLinear, the MxL201RF digital cable and terrestrial tuner measures only 5mm x 5mm in a 32-pin QFN package, it offers a small, flexible and cost effective front end for cable and terrestrial STBs. The solutions consume only 400mW of power, resulting in building a four-tuner system with the power budget of only one competing device. They are compliant with the European Union Code of Conduct and U.S. Energy Star standards and feature integrated channel filtering and on-chip 94dB gain to deliver high-quality signal reception of weak signals even under conditions of significant channel loading, severe transmission spectrum tilt, and strong adjacent digital and analog channel blockers.