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Cable Technology Feature Article

August 07, 2012

MaxLinear FSC Digital Cable Receivers Optimize Video Gateways and Set-Top Boxes

By Shamila Janakiraman, TMCnet Contributor


MaxLinear announced that it’s Full-Spectrum (News - Alert) Capture or FSC digital cable front-end receivers have been integrated into over 12 video gateway and set-top box designs used by several manufacturers across the globe.

The company is a provider of integrated, radio frequency (RF) and mixed-signal integrated circuits for broadband communications applications. MaxLinear’s FSC receivers help cable operators cater to the growing consumer demand for rich multimedia and data.

Brian Sprague, MaxLinear’s VP and GM for Broadband and Consumer Products said in a statement, “Video gateway and set-top box markets are evolving rapidly as cable providers strive to meet burgeoning consumer demand for bandwidth and content. MaxLinear’s growing family of FSC receivers facilitates more efficient distribution of video and IP services, faster download speeds, lower power, and lower cost designs. We are looking forward to supporting our customers’ deployments at the end of this year.”

The FSC receivers offer up to one Gigabits per second (Gbps) of data reception capability. The FSC device effectively can replace many discrete single-channel cable tuners in a gateway or a set-top box with just one broadband multi-channel receiver.

Furthermore, MaxLinear’s MxL265 and MxL267 FSC receivers suit cable voice and data modem applications. These receivers can receive 16 or 24 channels at the same time located anywhere in the cable spectrum. They deliver up to 1Gbps downstream data speeds in data applications.

Officials explained that the MxL256 and MxL258 receivers are optimized for video gateway applications and they include integrated on-chip QAM demodulators optimized for cable video. They can also simultaneously receive six or eight channels located anywhere in the cable spectrum.

MaxLinear’s FSC family of devices supports an on-chip spectrum-analyzer function that helps MSOs to remotely monitor and diagnose potential problems with customer premise equipment.

The wake-on-WAN capability of the FSC receivers lets the host processor in a set-top-box, a gateway or a modem remain dormant till a unique wake-up packet from the cable network is detected. This saves a lot on power and this feature on MaxLinear’s FSC devices makes them compatible with Energy Star requirements besides also the European Code of Conduct for Digital TV Services and Broadband Equipment for both standby and operating modes.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2012, taking place Oct. 2-5, in Austin, TX. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. For more information on registering for ITEXPO click here.

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Edited by Brooke Neuman


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