Audio Video News

EchoStar's Mark Jackson puts it succinctly: "Our customers want access to more channels, and they are increasingly demanding bandwidth-intensive HDTV channels." But there is only so much bandwidth available between the satellite in the sky and the dish on the ground, and that bandwidth is carefully divided among channels. The more channels on the system, the less bandwidth available for added features like HDTV.

But there may be a way to squeeze more HDTV out of the existing infrastructure according to Broadcom which makes integrated circuits for the broadband communications industry. The company announced last week the availability of what it is describing as the industry's most highly integrated, highest performance silicon solution for reception of consumer satellite TV services, which it says can increase channel offerings for satellite TV companies while utilizing existing satellite bandwidth.

Broadcom says that the new BCM4500 Advanced Modulation Receiver and BCM3440 CMOS Satellite TV Tuner together will enable service providers like EchoStar's DISH Network to gain more than 35 percent in useable bandwidth from their existing satellites. The company adds that the BCM4500 also achieves a bandwidth improvement of up to 50 percent compared to standard digital video broadcast satellite (DVB-S) transmissions that are in use today.

But will satellite companies use the additional bandwidth for more channels or more HDTV? EchoStar's Jackson says that "Broadcom's advanced satellite TV compression technology can allow us to begin planning for future expansion of our high definition TV services while continuing to offer our customers the variety and premium quality channels they have come to expect from DISH Network."

According to Broadcom, it designed this new chipset to enable satellite TV providers to offer additional high-definition television services and more channels while using the current satellite frequencies licensed to Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) providers. For example, Broadcom says its chipset will allow a DBS operator to deliver three high-definition TV (HDTV) channels over a single satellite transponder instead of the two channels currently available. The company adds that "satellite TV broadcasters can also use this technology to transmit a greater number of revenue-generating HDTV channels to each customer without requiring consumers to change their hardware." Broadcom says this is because the chipset is adaptable to current industry set-top boxes that were manufactured with an expansion port, such as the DISH Network Model 6000 HDTV satellite receiver.

How does the new chipset squeeze that extra data into the air? Broadcom explains that the BCM4500 receiver achieves higher levels of data throughput by implementing 8PSK (Phase Shift Keying) modulation along with "Forward Error Correction based on turbo codes," which the company says enhances low-power, reliable communications. Broadcom's Tim Lindenfelser adds that "we believe that the BCM4500 and BCM3440 will contribute to the continued expansion of the direct-to-home video market, and help accelerate the two-way satellite market as well."