Reference design kit pre-integrated with the system-on-chip

Developers of high-end set-top boxes and video gateways can significantly reduce time to market for their new products offering rich multi-screen viewing experiences, by taking advantage of the Reference Design Kit (RDK) from Comcast, now pre-integrated with the Orly STiH416 system-on-chip [1] from STMicroelectronics.

By pre-integrating the RDK with its STiH416 [1] system-on-chip for advanced HD set-top boxes, ST is enabling its customers to bring new products to market faster by saving software integration time. ST’s STiH416 [1], announced in 2011, is the industry’s highest performing set-top box IC, and has the unique ability to support gateway, server and client applications.

The RDK from Comcast is a pre-integrated software bundle that creates a common framework for powering tru2way, IP or hybrid set-top boxes and gateway devices and accelerates the development and deployment of next-generation video services.  Comcast licenses the RDK to OEMs, System Integrators, SoC and software vendors as well as Multichannel Video Programming Distributors to create a community of innovators focused on bringing rich, multi-screen TV home entertainment experiences to consumers faster.

About the STiH416:

ST’s STiH416 [1] is the first device of its type to feature the advanced dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore application processor. Combined with the ARM Mali 3D graphics processor, a dedicated transport processor,and a transcoder for adaptive video streaming, this creates a high-performance multimedia processing subsystem capable of:

• Decoding MVC (Multi-View Coding) 3DTV, H.264/MPEG2/4 and Internet video standards such as DivX, VC1 and Google Webm/VP8, all with outstanding Faroudja video image quality;
• Seamless distribution of HD content from any source to multiple screens in the home, such as TV, PC, mobile or tablet;
• Support for rich on-screen graphics such as advanced user guides and games;
• Management of software environments such as Android, Qt, HTML5, Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR to support next-generation IPTV, Over The Top (OTT) services and apps;
• H.264 video encoder up to 1080p60 HD resolution to enable any client devices in the home.

There is also a dedicated security engine meeting the latest Conditional Access (CA) and Digital Rights Management (DRM) standards. Moreover, with multiple power-management modes and advanced process technology, the STiH416 [1] is optimized for very low power consumption-- less than 30mW in standby mode.

Further information on ST can be found at www.st.com [2].