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Mindspeed Technologies, Inc.: Mindspeed(R) Delivers Revolutionary Low-Power SDI Chipset for Video Broadcast Equipment

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^{Published in Science and Technology on Wednesday, April 8th 2009 at 9:55 GMT, Last Modified on 2009-11-03 08:18:23 by Market Wire}  

NEWPORT BEACH, CA--(Marketwire - April 8, 2009) - Mindspeed Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: [ MSPD ]), a leading supplier of semiconductor solutions for network infrastructure applications, today announced the industry's first multi-channel, multi-rate, low-power chipset for serial digital interface (SDI) applications. Leveraging expertise cultivated through twenty years of high speed integrated circuit (IC) design, Mindspeed's new offering provides a complete serial link solution for 3G/HD/SD-SDI equipment with over 70 percent power savings compared to existing solutions.

The chipset, consisting of a dual cable equalizer, a quad video reclocker and a dual cable driver features trace equalization and output de-emphasis, providing unparalleled analog performance for large system designs and complements the company's existing, world leading, crosspoint portfolio.

"We have utilized our core strengths of integration, signal integrity, and low power design to provide a solution for the challenges faced by equipment designers in the broadcast industry today," said Kurt Bush, senior vice president and general manager of Mindspeed's high performance analog products. "With these multi-channel devices, we offer our customers robust functionality and high performance in a fraction of the area and power, helping to achieve the density and power consumption requirements of large systems. Furthermore, by integrating compensation for trace losses, we enable the design of robust 3G-SDI systems, without the added complexity and cost of external components."

Solving the Design Challenges of High Port Count, High Density Systems

In the broadcast market, there is a definite trend towards larger systems with more SDI ports. Often, the physical size of the equipment does not scale with port count, leaving the system designers with the conundrum of achieving more SDI input/output ports in the same space. Mindspeed's multi-channel devices are the ideal solution to address this problem.

Housed in industry standard quad flat no-lead (QFN) packages, the new devices help realize a Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) compliant SDI port in a fraction of the space previously possible. The devices also feature an integrated crosspoint switch, eliminating the need for additional multiplexers and switches on the board, as well as internal supply regulators and input/output termination, further reducing the need for external components. These devices help achieve an area reduction of 30 percent or greater compared to designs realized with legacy solutions.

Low Power CMOS Design Alleviates Heat and Power Dissipation Concerns

In addition to the density challenge, the designers of broadcast equipment must tackle the obstacles of heat dissipation and high operating power consumption. Furthermore, the desire to deliver more environmentally friendly equipment is driving the need for systems with lower operating power consumption. Mindspeed's low power SDI products are the first of their kind, implemented entirely in deep sub-micron complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS), providing unprecedented power savings to the designers.

The quad reclocker, typically consumes 475mW when all four channels are active, which is comparable to the power dissipation of the single-channel reclockers available today. At 160mW and 80mW respectively, the dual cable equalizer and cable driver consume two-thirds less power per channel than existing devices. Collectively, the new SDI chipset from Mindspeed offers designers greater than 70 percent power reduction.

Integrated Loss Compensation Enables Robust 3G-SDI Design

In order to achieve robust system operation at the higher data rate necessary for 3G-SDI, many designers have resorted to utilizing additional components to compensate for signal degradations and losses across the board. The external compensation increases the design cost and complexity, while occupying valuable board real estate. Mindspeed's devices ease signal integrity concerns as, in addition to providing exceptional analog performance, they also include compensation for trace losses.

The dual equalizer comes equipped with de-emphasis at both outputs, while the dual cable driver features input trace equalization for up to 40" of FR4 trace at both inputs. The quad reclocker provides trace equalization at the inputs and de-emphasis at the outputs, enabling high speed transmission across 40" of FR4 trace and two connectors. Using Mindspeed's products, designers are able to realize a robust 3G-SDI system simply and cost effectively.

SMPTE Compliant Performance for 3G/HD/SD-SDI Applications

The new SDI chipset from Mindspeed is compliant with SMPTE standards defined for operation at SD-SDI (SMPTE 259M-C), HD-SDI (SMPTE 292M), and 3G-SDI (SMPTE 424M).

These devices are ideally suited for the design of SDI equipment, such as distribution amplifiers, video routing switchers, video production switchers, multi-viewers, monitors and cameras, amongst many more.

Technical Details

The dual cable equalizer, M21524, provides adaptive, low noise, high gain equalization for two 75 ohm coaxial cables at SDI data rates from 143 Mbps to 2.97 Gbps. It also features a 2x2 crosspoint switch allowing any input to be routed to either output. This device is capable of compensating for losses accumulated across cable lengths for up to 140m when operating at 2.97 Gbps.

M21355, the quad reclocker, features automatic rate detect (ARD) circuitry, and a 16x4 crosspoint switch at the input. It operates at SDI data rates ranging from 270 Mbps to 2970 Mbps.

M21355 has an input jitter tolerance (IJT) of greater than 0.6 unit intervals (UI) and can provide re-timed serial outputs with very low output jitter. The quad reclocker requires a single, external, 27MHz crystal, which is used as the reference clock for all four channels.

M21528, the dual cable driver, can drive 2, unipolar, pairs of 75 ohm coaxial cables, or 50 ohm equivalent loads, at SDI data rates from 143 Mbps to 2.97 Gbps. Similar to the equalizer, this device also features an integrated 2x2 crosspoint switch. M21528 is capable of outputting SDI signals with jitter values of less than 17ps p-p, when operating at 2.97 Gbps.

Pricing, Availability, and NAB Demonstration

M21528, the dual cable driver, and M21355, the quad reclocker, are available for sampling today and M21524, the dual cable equalizer, will be available for sampling in the third quarter of 2009.

In prototype quantities, M21524, M21355, and M21528 are priced at $27.00, $90.00, and $14.00 respectively.

Mindspeed's new SDI chipset will be showcased at the company's booth #SU3404 at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show, held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, April 20, 2009 through April 23, 2009.

For more technical information, please visit: [ www.mindspeed.com/LP_SDI ]

About Mindspeed Technologies ®

Mindspeed Technologies, Inc. designs, develops and sells semiconductor networking solutions for communications applications in enterprise, access, metropolitan and wide area networks.

The company's three key product families include high-performance analog transmission and switching solutions, multiservice access products designed to support voice and data services across wireline and wireless networks, and WAN communications solutions including T/E carrier physical-layer and link-layer devices as well as ATM/MPLS network processors.

Mindspeed's products are used in a wide variety of network infrastructure equipment, including voice and media gateways, high speed routers, switches, access multiplexers, cross-connect systems, add-drop multiplexers and digital loop carrier equipment.

To learn more, visit us at [ www.mindspeed.com ]

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements include statements relating to product features and their benefits, sampling production schedule, product prices and certain projections and business trends. Actual results, and actual events that occur, may differ materially from those projected as a result of certain risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: cash requirements and terms and availability of financing; future operating losses; worldwide political and economic uncertainties, and specific conditions in the markets we address; fluctuations in the price of our common stock and our operating results; loss of or diminished demand from one or more key customers or distributors; our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; constraints in the supply of wafers and other product components from our third-party manufacturers; doing business internationally; pricing pressures and other competitive factors; successful development and introduction of new products; our ability to successfully and cost effectively establish and manage operations in foreign jurisdictions; industry consolidation; order and shipment uncertainty; our ability to obtain design wins and develop revenues from them; lengthy sales cycles; the expense of and our ability to defend our intellectual property against infringement claims by others; product defects and bugs; possible future impairments because our stock market capitalization is lower than our stockholders' equity; and business acquisitions and investments. Risks and uncertainties that could cause the company's actual results to differ from those set forth in any forward-looking statement are discussed in more detail under "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in the company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended January 2, 2009, as well as similar disclosures in the company's subsequent SEC filings. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made only as of the date hereof, and the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.