STMicroelectronics, a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, announced what is claimed to be the world’s first 500 Mbaud High-Symbol-Rate (HSR) satellite demodulator chip. The STiD135 enables significantly more efficient bandwidth usage and increased throughput in satellite Internet provisioning when deployed with transponders aimed at using the higher frequency bands to send data via Ka-band communication satellites. The STiD135 is currently sampling.
Compliant with DVB-S2, DVB-S2X and DVB-S2 Annex-M1, this chip has been designed as part of the French Space Agency (CNES) THD-SAT 2 program, fostering the development of cost-efficient, fast broadband Internet access via High Throughput Satellite (HTS) at a performance equivalent to fiber-optic, ADSL, and 4G networks, taking advantage of the universal accessibility of satellite signals.
“The digital divide has been clearly identified as an important-to-address societal problem by National and Regional studies such as the European Union’s Digital Agenda 3,” said Eric Benoit, head of product line, headed platforms, consumer product division, STMicroelectronics. “A fruit of our collaboration with CNES, the new satellite demodulator chip can deliver useful data throughput of up to 600 megabits per second in the Ka-band. This represents a valuable step change to what has been available, while simultaneously optimizing the bandwidth efficiency that can be achieved in the lower-frequency Ku-band. Together, this will help pave the way towards our common goal of ‘broadband for all’.”
“With THD-SAT our ambition is to bring a 10 times cost reduction of bandwidth with high-throughput Ka-Band satellite to distribute fast Internet services at 100/10 Mbps downlink/uplink that would complement, in a cost-efficient way, Fiber To The Home (FTTH) deployment outside densely populated areas,” said Jean-Philippe Taisant, telecommunication senior project manager, CNES. “The availability of STMicroelectronics’ STiD135 demodulator chip is key to enabling the development of affordable satellite broadband modems.”