Date: 15/09/2010

ROBUST Electronics selects Entropic's silicon tuner for its products in Europe

Entropic's EN4020 multi-mode hybrid radio frequency (RF) complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) silicon tuner has been deployed by ROBUST Electronics to provide solutions that addresses multiple analog and digital standards for the European terrestrial and cable markets.

ROBUST Electronics has selected Entropic's EN4020 for a built-in silicon solution for the Company's MINERVA television product line. The EN4020 allows the complete lineup of MINERVA televisions to operate regardless of broadcast service such as digital video broadcast terrestrial (DVB-T), digital video broadcast cable (DVB-C) or analog.

"The market opportunity for silicon tuner deployments to replace their traditional CAN counterparts will continue to grow internationally," said Hiroko Ishii, Analyst at Techno Systems Research, Inc. "In fact, we estimated the demand for silicon tuners will grow 18.3 percent from 2007-2014, yielding a revenue base that would exceed $350 million USD and grow by 90 percent compared to 2009. We believe ROBUST's move to deploy Entropic's silicon tuner technology enables both companies to emerge as leaders in their competitive industries."

"European broadcast television is rapidly transitioning from analog to digital, yet multiple broadcast standards will continue to be in use for years to come," said Thomas Voegerle, ROBUST Electronics. "Entropic's EN4020 digital cable tuner delivers high-performance signal reception and provides ready-to-manufacture design, which shortens our time-to-market. With Entropic's silicon tuner designed into our family of television products, we now have the flexible solution needed to address the changing landscape of the European market, and can deliver the best quality of experience regardless of the available broadcast service."

Entropic's hybrid silicon tuner is suitable for emerging digital networks where excessive interference from legacy analog signal and terrestrial signal leakage into the cable can cause performance limitations that can degrade picture quality. The Entropic's technology allows key characteristics of the tuner to be programmed using software to optimize front-end performance for different environmental conditions, requiring no external SAW (surface acoustic wave) filters or amplifiers.

"The market for multi-mode and hybrid silicon tuners as a high-quality, economical option for television and set-top-box manufacturers continues to grow worldwide," said Vinay Gokhale, senior vice president marketing and business development at Entropic Communications. "The on-board design of Entropic's EN4020 hybrid silicon tuner gives ROBUST Electronics a dynamic solution for digital signal processing in a cost-effective chip, capable of terrestrial, cable or analog distribution. This partnership and technology deployment marks another strong milestone in Entropic's effort to deliver the most advanced home entertainment solutions to consumers worldwide."

Availability: Scheduled to start delivering in late 2010.