Saankhya Labs, a subsidiary of Tejas Networks (BSE: 540595) (NSE: TEJASNET), today announced that ADTH, a leading communication solutions provider with offices in Atlanta, Shanghai, Seoul, and Taipei, has launched a series of NEXTGEN ATSC designs, powered by SL3000 – Saankhya’s SDR (Software Defined Radio) based ATSC 3.0/1.0 demodulator chipset. These ready-to-manufacture designs will enable OEMs/ODMs to offer upgrade solutions, for millions of consumers in North America and South Korea to experience Next Generation ATSC 3.0 broadcasts, on their existing HDTV sets and smart display devices.
NEXTGEN TV is the most significant broadcast technology upgrade ever, promising a more immersive experience, with stunning video and enhanced audio. NEXTGEN TV offers more choices to get the most out of live sports, news, events and more. As of June 2022, ATSC 3.0 is live on the air in 68 markets, covering an estimated 51% of all US households. In South Korea, ATSC 3.0 is continuing to gather momentum since the 4K-UHD broadcasts of Winter Olympics in 2018, reaching over 70% of the population. India is also assessing ATSC 3.0 for Direct-to-Mobile and video offload services.
ADTH’s multiform solutions are targeted for both fixed and mobile platforms.
- ADTH’s dual tuner home gateway design is a Wi-Fi DTV streamer box that can be placed anywhere in the house for whole home reception of ATSC 3.0/1.0 broadcasts on Mobile devices with an accompanying TV App made by Tolka.tv. Two different UHD channels can be simultaneously tuned and watched, on different devices within the home.
- ADTH’s HDMI dongle/STB designs enable ATSC 3.0 reception on millions of legacy TVs and HDMI monitors. The dongle/STB is powered by Saankhya’s SL3000 demodulator chipset and interfaced to a Media Decoder SoC running software made by Tolka.tv. The Tolka.tv’s application software tunes to over-the-air ATSC 3.0 signals, then demodulates and decodes the UHD video and AC-4 audio, before sending the stream over HDMI for watching on the TVs or HDMI-connected monitors.
- ADTH’s USB dongle design enables secure reception of ATSC 3.0/1.0 broadcasts on media boxes, tablets, or phones using the accompanying TV app made by Tolka.tv. ADTH and Saankhya Labs engineers worked closely to tune the product for best-in-class signal reception, small form factor design, low power consumption, rapid channel scan and fast channel change.
Vivek Kimbahune, EVP of Sales and Business Development, Saankhya Labs, said, “ADTH’s ready-to-manufacture solutions are well positioned to capitalize on the enormous opportunities presented by ATSC 3.0. SL3000 was a collaborative development effort between One Media (a subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group) and Saankhya Labs. The performance, programmability, and power efficiency of SL3000 make it an ideal choice for integration into DTV receivers and we are glad that ADTH chose to partner with us for their NextGen products. It is a significant milestone for Saankhya Labs to be supplying the most advanced multi-standard demodulator chipset to one of Taiwan’s leading design houses for building world–class products.”
Saankhya’s 3rd generation SDR baseband demodulator chipset supports ATSC 3.0/1.0 and Clear QAM, offering a unified front-end for broadcast TV market. SL3000 is a full-featured baseband demodulator integrating ADC, FEC decoder, de-interleaver, memory, and ADC in a single 8x8mm, Pb-free/ROHS compliant, 68 pin QFN package. The chipset supports ALP or transport stream packets from the demodulator with field upgradeable firmware.
“Saankhya Labs’ SDR technology was the logical basis for our ATSC 3.0 receiver development program, enabling us to deliver the full enjoyability of UHD HDR TV broadcasts via compact and user-friendly devices, while retaining ATSC 1.0 HD and SD program compatibility,” said Alex Day, Vice President, Tolka.tv. “We were impressed by the excellence of Saankhya Labs’ documentation, and the high standard of support offered by their engineering team, whenever called upon during the development process.”
Saankhya Labs also has another variant of the chip – the SL4000, designed specifically for mobile devices. SL4000 integrates a tuner and demodulator in a single package and is optimized for integration into mobile platforms such as smartphones, tablets, and PCs enabling datacasting and Direct-to-Mobile DTV services on mobile platforms.
At the recently held India Mobile Congress, Saankhya Labs showcased a first-of-its-kind 4G/LTE Android smartphone with in-built ATSC 3.0 DTV reception capability. The smartphone, powered by Saankhya’s SL4000 chipset, enables consumers to watch DTV broadcasts in Full HD quality, without any subscription to data plans, Wi-Fi/internet connection.
In the US, South Korea, Canada, Brazil, Mexico and Jamaica, efforts are underway to adopt ATSC 3.0 for a variety of applications ranging from advanced emergency messaging to datacasting (remote learning, IoT, vehicular etc). To address some of these emerging market requirements, Saankhya Labs is committed to bring-to-market more innovative solutions in partnership with its customers.
