Single-Chip Hybrid TV Tuner Eliminates Over 100 Discrete Parts

The Si2170 is a globally-compliant hybrid TV tuner with analog TV demodulator that resides on a single CMOS IC. Silicon Labs claims it’s the first silicon TV tuner to exceed the performance of traditional discrete TV tuners, enabling TV makers to improve picture quality and reception for both analog and digital broadcasts. The high level of integration eliminates over one hundred discrete components, enabling simpler design, lower manufacturing costs, higher production yields, and improved reliability for integrated digital televisions (iDTVs), set-top boxes, and PC TV applications. The Si2170 silicon tuner integrates a highly-linear RF front-end design incorporating a merged low noise amplifier (LNA) and high-Q tracking filter to provide gain only around the desired channel frequency. This enables superior sensitivity and rejection of strong undesired channels and interference in severe broadcast conditions, translating into reception of more channels, reception of weak signals and improved picture clarity. Silicon Labs’ patented digital low-IF architecture allows many functions typically relying on analog and discrete fixed components to be implemented with programmable digital signal processing. The Si2170 hybrid TV tuner with analog TV demodulator is available now in a standard 7-mm x 7-mm, 48-pin QFN package. Pricing begins at $3.95 in 10k-piece quantities. SILICON LABORATORIES INC., Austin, TX. (877) 444-3032.