new TV Tuner Chip, the Si2177

historical

Digital TV reception is the target App for these new Tuner Chips, the target
platform is the Smart Phone. If you read the Preliminary Datasheet, SILICON
LABS conspicuously mentions their new Tuner exhibits immunity to
interference from Wi-Fi and LTE. Since Smart Phone and Tablet technology is
accelerating at WARP speed with a Moore Iteration every few months (not 18
months like he envisioned), it is logical that Technology Convergence in
Smart Phones is not over, designers will probably put TV Receivers in Smart
Phones and Tablets, and LTE in Set Top Boxes and TVs.

I remember, in the 1980s SILICON LABS was the first to produce Multi Op-Amp
DIPs, I still have some of them in my Chip Stash. If Memory serves me, their
designation was L144.

I apologize for substituting terms in the previous messages, it did get some
of you going. Not since I was a Wafer Fab Engineer at Western Digital has
that annoying practice gotten me in trouble when I openly referred to my
Employer as Western Vegetable.

-----Original Message-----
From: osmocom-sdr-bounces at lists.osmocom.org
[mailto:osmocom-sdr-bounces at lists.osmocom.org] On Behalf Of Leif Asbrink
Sent: Friday, September 20, 2013 7:43 PM
To: osmocom-sdr at lists.osmocom.org
Subject: Re: new TV Tuner Chip, the Si2177

The bandwidth of the I/Q pair is too large to be transmitted over USB for
the reception of TV signals. After demodulation the bandwidth is lower so it
would (marginally) fit an USB interface if we talk about traditional
analogue TV. For digital TV the bandwidth reduction by the decoder is much
larger.

I would not be surprised if the Si Labs chips have an option to send
unprocessed I/Q data to the USB. Somebody should approach them and ask:-)

73

Leif / SM5BSZ

> OK, for those who do not grasp the principle of On-chip Demodulation,
SILICON LABS is manufacturing a spectrum of advanced Tuners, one of which
may suit the mindset of those who buck the idea of a Demodulator on chip.
There is one that demodulates Analog TV alone, one that demodulates Digital
TV alone, and one that does both. Ask yourself this question... Why is there
an A/D converter chip on the current Tuner Dongles? Would it not be better
to convert the unadulterated demodulated Digital stream directly into a
192k/24bit audio card (or just 48k/16bit)? This new capability tells my
Engineering mind that the noise floor would go way down, which is the main
deficiency with the current cheap TV Tuner Dongles, keeping them from being
used for low level narrowband reception.
> 
> http://www.silabs.com/Support%20Documents/TechnicalDocs/Si2157-short.p
> df
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: osmocom-sdr-bounces at lists.osmocom.org 
> [mailto:osmocom-sdr-bounces at lists.osmocom.org] On Behalf Of Jay 
> Salsburg
> Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2013 12:21 PM
> To: osmocom-sdr at lists.osmocom.org
> Subject: new TV Tuner Chip, the Si2177
> 
> I just received a Product Announcement from SILICON LABS. There new TV 
> Tuner Chip, the Si2177, appears to be able to demodulate Analog TV 
> directly on the chip without software. If I am not mistaken, this 
> function is a new feature in TV Tuner Chips, which may provide a much 
> better SDR than current TV Tuner Chip Dongles, especially when it 
> comes to noise performance. It also eliminates almost all external 
> components. RF Input Frequency Range - 42 to 870 MHz
> 
> Si2177 5th Generation Silicon TV Tuner ICs
> 
> http://www.silabs.com/Support%20Documents/TechnicalDocs/Si2177-short.p
> df
> 
> 
> 
> -----
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> 09/19/13
> 
> 

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