[Satellite TODAY 04-22-13] SES, Inverto, Abilis and MaxLinear have been jointly designing the first low-noise block down-converter (LNB) that will incorporate eight-channel satellite-to-IP bridging technology for cost-effective IP distribution of satellite television to the home.

 

    The IP-LNB is a prototype device that will deliver eight concurrent channels from any of the transponders of a satellite orbital position. These channels may be forwarded via IP unicast or multicast to fixed and portable devices, and satellite signals distributed via Ethernet, power-line communications (PLC) or a Wi-Fi local area network (LAN). The technology can be used for free-to-air (FTA) or pay TV applications.

 

    By locating the satellite reception and the IP bridging functions in the antenna, the IP-LNB is designed to enable satellite content distribution to homes over a single Ethernet cable. The IP-LNB may be powered over that same cable through Power over Ethernet (PoE) technology, reducing the overall system cost and power consumption.

 

    This new technology enables the satellite signal to be sampled digitally directly at the antenna, making the satellite spectrum data and other link-quality metrics accessible over LAN, simplifying the dish installation and enable remote monitoring. The new low-power eight-channel IP-LNB will combine SES’ SAT>IP protocol innovations, MaxLinear’s Full-Spectrum Capture (FSC) DVB-S2 receiver IC, Abilis’ TB101 Broadcast to Broadband Bridge (B3) SoC, and Inverto’s software stacks and a new high-performance LNB product design.