Entropic Unveils 800 Mbps Ethernet-over-Coax Broadband Access Solution for China Market

This week at the China Content Broadcasting Network Exhibition in Beijing, Entropic (News - Alert), a semiconductor supplier for the connected home, is demonstrating the company's newest generation of c.LINK 1.1+ Ethernet-over-Coax (EoC) broadband access solutions.

Comprising network controller EN3681 and the customer premises equipment (CPE) EN3690, the latest c.LINK 1.1+ is the first multichannel EoC solution that can deliver up to 800 Mbps of aggregated throughput, according to CNBC.

Entropic ensures the bandwidth and flexibility needed to meet China's next-generation broadcasting (NGB) requirements. The company said China MSOs are looking for high throughput broadband access solutions to reliably drive more entertainment services and applications to their subscribers.

Entropic said that EN3681 NC and EN3690 CPE together delivers the industry's highest performance, highest density EoC solution in the smallest form factor. Plus, it employs the first ever multichannel solution to bring 800 Mbps of aggregated throughput to MSOs' networks.

It also operates across a wide frequency range, making it easy to coexist with both low and high RF solutions.

This new generation of the EoC solution is reportedly backward compatible with Entropic's c.LINK 1.1 install base, protecting MSOs investments while providing an upgrade path over their existing services.

In a statement, Entropic’s, vice president for Connectivity Group, Al Servati said, "We continue our commitment and innovation in the EoC Broadband Access market with the introduction of our latest c.LINK EoC solution."  He added, "Chinese MSOs are looking for EoC solutions that are powerful, scalable, cost-effective and can deliver quality triple-play services. Our technology leads the industry with the first-ever multiple-channel EoC system; giving MSOs a cost-optimized architecture that enables the delivery of higher data rates for more HD video viewing experiences across the multiscreen environment."

Incorporating 40-nm CMOS process technology, the chips are based on fourth-generation Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) technology, and come in 225-PBGA packages.

EN3681 and EN3690 chips, the manufacturer said, will begin sampling to early access customers in Q3 2013, with full production-ready silicon available in Q4 2013.