Digital Television Receiver Module Development
Each generation of new consumer digital television products must incorporate cutting-edge technology combined with state of the art performance. DTV performance is under constant improvement and the aspect that receives the most scrutiny is the terrestrial digital broadcast signal reception capability. This part of the DTV system for receiving the digital signal is called the "front end," consisting of a tuner and a demodulator. MERL's contribution is in the design, evaluation, and field-testing of the front end culminating to a successful mass production of the DTV receiver module.
Technical Discussion: The tuner and the demodulator, each supplied by a different manufacturer, need to be integrated and optimized to form a complete front end. Both components are critically chosen and meticulously engineered to function in concert to receive both terrestrial and cable broadcast of digital TV signals. The signal reception performance is evaluated in the laboratory and also through field-testing. While the data gathered is compared against historical as well as competitor's performance levels. Measurements of units from engineering trial production show improvement in all aspects of the front end.
Contact: Kent Wittenburg
Technology Area: Advanced Digital Television
Modification Date: September 12, 2007
