It is rare for an integrated circuit (IC) to change a network but that is what startup BroadLogic aims to do. The company's BL80000 TeraPIX video processor - described as a "head-end on a chip" - seeks to reshape the cable network on both sides of the home.
The chip is claimed to be able to release precious cable bandwidth - up to 450MHz out of a total of 750MHz - by sending analogue TV channels digitally and using the chip to decode them at the home. This means that the 500MHz RF spectrum currently used for the some 80 analogue channels can be collapsed into 50MHz.
This turns cable operator economics on its head. Instead of undergoing the huge cost of expanding their network bandwidth from 750MHz to 1GHz to add new services, suddenly they have a spare 450MHz for new digital services.
The chip also reshapes the network model in the home. Instead of a set-top box, the home-gateway-located chip does the video decoding.
Could one chip undermine the set-top box industry, with all the rich peripherals and services that it continues to be added? Doubtful. Certainly, that is the view of Andrew Schmitt. But the start-up has impressive backers including those knowing a thing or two about cable - Time Warner and Cisco - and they must have thought about these issues.
What other IC examples are changing networks?
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