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MaxLinear MxL603 Tuner Selected by Top-Tier Set-Top Box Manufacturers

July 23, 2012
  • More than 40 confirmed design wins for pure-play or hybrid set-top boxes with DVB-T2, DVB-T, ATSC, DTMB, ISDB-T or DVB-C tuners

MaxLinear Inc., (NYSE: MXL), a leading provider of integrated radio frequency (RF) and mixed-signal integrated circuits for broadband communications applications, today announced that it has more than 40 confirmed design wins for its latest generation silicon TV tuner, the MxL603. The MxL603 meets all worldwide cable and terrestrial broadcast specifications, making it the ideal solution for a wide variety of cable and terrestrial set-top box products.

"The MxL603 has been a huge success in the marketplace," said Brian Sprague, vice president and general manager at MaxLinear. "It's the ultimate combination of best-in-class performance with ultra-low power, design flexibility and very competitive pricing that makes the MxL603 extremely attractive to our set-top box customer base."

Because of its ability to support all worldwide digital cable and terrestrial broadcast standards, the MxL603 has been rapidly adopted by virtually all leading set-top box manufacturers, across a variety of market segments including DVB-T2, DVB-T, ATSC, DTMB, ISDB-T and DVB-C.

Next-generation set-top boxes based on MaxLinear's new MxL603 silicon tuner are already under development and will enable manufacturers to achieve a level of RF performance that was previously unobtainable. In typical emerging DVB-T2 markets, field reception issues are common due to the presence of multiple RF interference signals and a crowded analog TV spectrum. The MxL603 is able to operate in this type of difficult reception environment without any external LNA or additional on-board filtering.

The MxL603 performance also provides protection against interference from future LTE/4G handset and base-station transmissions, which are known to cause severe reception issues in set-top boxes with low-performance tuners.

"Our digital CMOS technology is the key to delivering the low power consumption, high performance and small size that are major reasons we've had such great success in DVB-T2 set-top boxes," Sprague said. "Our tuner technology enables consumer products to be smaller, more environmentally friendly and more robust in the very difficult reception environments typical in emerging market countries."

Mx603 Technical Highlights

Based on low-power 65-nm digital CMOS process technology, the MxL603 silicon tuner supports all global digital cable and terrestrial television reception standards, including: DVB-T/T2, ISDB-T, ATSC, ATSC M/H, DTMB, ITU J.83 Annex A/B/C, DVB-C2, DOCSIS and EuroDOCSIS. The device is software-configurable for any of these standards, allowing manufacturers to re-use designs in multiple markets.

The MxL603 tuner features an integrated LNA, on-chip loop-through and exceptional sensitivity performance that enables robust reception of weak signals even in the presence of multiple strong interferers such as LTE/4G, WiFi or adjacent analog and digital channels.

The MxL603 delivers an unprecedented noise figure of 3.8 decibels (dB) and includes MaxLinear's leading-edge blocker immunity technology for advanced filtering of strong signals from adjacent channels. The combination of superior sensitivity and linearity performance provides assurance to set-top box manufacturers that current products will meet future tuner specifications as they evolve.

MxL603 is available in a tiny 4 mm x 4 mm 24-pin QFN package and consumes approximately 400 milliwatts (mW) in digital terrestrial mode. The low power consumption and small footprint enable low-cost, two-layer PCB implementations and ultra-small form factor tuner modules without the need for an expensive heat sink or fan.

About MaxLinear, Inc.

MaxLinear, Inc. is a leading provider of radio-frequency and mixed-signal semiconductor solutions for broadband communications applications. MaxLinear is located in Carlsbad, California, and its address on the Internet is www.maxlinear.com.

MxL and the MaxLinear logo are trademarks of MaxLinear, Inc. Other trademarks appearing herein are the property of their respective owners.

Cautionary Note About Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, among others, statements concerning or implying future financial performance or trends and opportunities affecting MaxLinear, in particular statements relating to the selection of MaxLinear's MxL603 silicon tuner for a wide variety of cable and terrestrial set-top box products. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. MaxLinear cannot predict its future rates of revenue growth, if any, including the extent to which the selection of MaxLinear's MxL603 silicon tuner may affect future revenues, if any, and whether or to what extent the design wins may result in actual orders and related revenues. MaxLinear's business, revenues, and operating results are and will be subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including (among others) uncertainties concerning how end user markets for its products will develop; its dependence on a limited number of customers for a substantial portion of revenues; its ability to continue to develop and introduce new and enhanced products on a timely basis; and potential decreases in average selling prices for its products. In addition to these risks and uncertainties, investors should review the risks and uncertainties contained in MaxLinear's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including risks and uncertainties identified in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011 and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2012. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. MaxLinear is providing this information as of the date of this release and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.