New Broadcom SoC's Support tru2way, CableCard, 3D UI's, Whole-Home HD DVR, and More

Semiconductor company, Broadcom, on Tuesday announced two new Multimedia over Coax Alliance system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions--the BCM7125 and the BCM7119--which it claims support tru2way, CableCard and a range of other technologies and standards, and which it promises will "enable manufacturers and cable operators to cost-effectively offer the latest in interactive HDTV programming, connectivity, whole-home media distribution [including multiroom HD DVR] and advanced 3D user interfaces to the North American market."

According to the company, key features of the new SoC's include:

• Flexible software support for new subscriber applications that use Native UI, OCAP/tru2way, Adobe Flash Platform for the Digital Home, Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) and DTCP-IP. This "unique and flexible" software support, the company says, "enables appealing interactive digital television, networked DVR functionality and IP video over DOCSIS applications."
• An integrated Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) 1.1 interface (note: this feature is only available on the BCM7125), which Broadcom bills as enabling service providers to offer "innovative whole-home digital media distribution services over coax, which in turn, enables subscribers to securely access, store and share a wide array of digital media content including HDTV programs, video-on-demand (VOD), DVR
• recordings, Internet content, video, music, photos and voice over IP (VoIP)."
• DLNA support, in order to facilitate sharing of digital content between DLNA-enabled devices in the home.
• 3D graphics support, in order to enable dynamic user interfaces for flipping, rotating and moving images.
• Dynamic power management controllers that are billed as providing "a very efficient power management system, capable of managing and shutting down unused system components in real-time. Even in the lowest power modes," Broadcom says, "the BCM7119 and BCM7125 can continue to remain aware of network events both in the home and from multiple service operators' (MSO) headends, enabling these SoC's to quickly respond to network and user inputs. Both chips offer support for Energy Star," the company adds.
• Dual integrated 1GHz cable tuners and DOCSIS 2.0-compatible modems with channel-bonding support.

According to Broadcom, which says that pricing information for the BCM7125 and BCM7119 is "available upon request," both SoC's are now sampling to set-top box manufacturers.