CES 2019: tech partnership debuts mobile chips for ATSC 3.0
Details
Michelle Clancy
| 09 January 2019

Sinclair Broadcast Group subsidiary ONE Media 3.0 LLC, Saankhya Labs, VeriSilicon and Samsung Foundry have launched a multi-standard demodulator system-on-a-chip (SoC) supporting the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard.

The chip is based on Saankhya's patented software-defined radio (SDR) platform and supports 12 DTV standards, including ATSC 3.0, DVB-T2, ISDB-T, and satellite and cable standards for TV, set-top boxes, home gateways as well for automotive and mobile applications.

This announcement follows Sinclair Broadcast Group's recent commitment to a nationwide roll-out of ATSC 3.0 service and its past announcement to fund millions of chipset giveaways for wireless operators.

Two variants of the chip were announced: A Demod-only variant – SL3000 – is designed for linear TV applications such as reception in HDTV sets, set-top boxes (STB) and home gateways. A Demod-plus Tuner variant – SL4000 – is designed for mobile and portable devices.

The demodulator SoC was designed and developed by Saankhya Labs with ASIC turnkey design and manufacturing services from VeriSilicon, using Samsung Foundry's volume production process.

"These mobile 3.0 chips validate the 'sea change' in over-the-air distribution of, not only television, but all digital data,” said Mark Aitken, president of ONE Media 3.0. “Broadcasters are doing their part by deploying the next-gen transmission facilities, and now there will be devices enabled to receive that data – personalised and in mobile form. This chip is the key to that disruptive future in a 5G world."

Parag Naik, CEO of Saankhya Labs, added: "We are excited to bring disruptive changes to the broadcasting industry with the launch of our most advanced mobile and terrestrial TV demodulator SoC. This mobile TV SoC is an essential component of our patented broadcast offload convergence solution. This will help broadcasters and telecom service providers enable their vision to bring unmatched video viewing experience anywhere, anytime, to the consumer.”