DVB-H chip leader DiBcom added two new devices at 3GSM, effectively two versions of the same chip, one which is pure DVB-H and one which offers multi-standard TV support using DVB-T, DVB-H, DAB and T-DMB, in all of the major spectrum bands (VHF, UHF and L-Band)
The chips are confusingly called the DIB908x-H and the DIB1908x-H, the important difference being the number 1 in the middle, and they are pin-compatible, so that manufacturers can use the same phone base for multi-standard mobile TV phones.
This is DiBcom changing tack slightly and CEO Yannick Levy explained that he didn’t really think there was much call for multi-standard devices, he said, ‘We think that there will be one standard per market, because one standard is cheaper. Handset makers (and chip makers) don’t want to pay two royalties, and buy in two software stacks, and we think that the DVB-H only chip will be 80% of our business.’
But there is enough doubt in Levy’s mind, created by rivals that have offered multi-standard chips, including Qualcomm and Siano, that he feels DiBcom has to at least cover the multi-standard market and anyway this gives it a chip for attacking Korea and other non-DVB-H markets.
This is DiBcom’s second generation device fabricated in 90 nanometer geometry and we asked if perhaps there wasn’t one standard missing, in the form of MediaFLO, to which Levy scowled and replied, ‘We are talking to Qualcomm right now about that,’ but it didn’t seem to be a conversation that he was enjoying.
The DIB908x-H integrates a demodulator, a second generation multi-band RF tuner, an amplifier, and all filters in half the size of its predecessor. The DIB908x-H samples are available now, while samples of the DIB1908x-H will be available in Q2 2007.
Meanwhile rival Siano Mobile Silicon announced a deal with Italy’s Onda Communication, which has co-designed a handset with China’s ZTE and based on the multi-standard receiver chip from Siano.
The new phone, the N7100 is the first product from Onda’s Brionvega line and will be made by ZTE and is understood to have landed a deal in Italy with Telecom Italia Mobile.
The N7100 it includes a 240 by 320 pixel color screen, 2-megapixel camera and 3.6-Mbps HSDPA modem plus the SMS1000 chipset from Siano.