Commsonic Launches Advanced Broadcast Modulator IP

Cambridge, England -- February 18, 2007 -- Commsonic has announced an update to its family of digital broadcast modulators with new and enhanced cores for ATSC terrestrial and DVB-S2 satellite applications respectively.

The new core, designated the CMS0033, is compatible with the ATSC 8-VSB terrestrial Standard A/53 and has been designed for use in single and multi-channel applications employing asynchronous (e.g. ASI) or synchronous (e.g. SMPTE) transport stream interfaces. A flexible clocking scheme and various build options ensure efficient use of resources on a wide range of FPGA platforms. For example, a typical configuration of the core with ASI interface and rate adaptation requires an FPGA with the resources of an Altera EP3C10.

The enhanced DVB-S2 modulator, the CMS0025, features a number of enhancements over its predecessor including reduced latency and a 50% increase in throughput.

The throughput increase allows the modulator to support the full range of DVB-S2 modulation schemes, FEC code rates and CCM/VCM/ACM profiles at baud rates up to 45MHz on the low-cost Altera Cyclone2/3 and Xilinx Spartan3 FPGA families.

Both cores offer comprehensive radio interface options including baseband I/Q and low intermediate frequency (IF) as well as high IF through DDS DACs such as the Analog Devices AD9957.

The cores will be available for licence in March.