Entropic and Silicon Labs, a provider of analog-intensive, mixed-signal ICs, have developed a joint reference design for TVs. The reference design marries expertise in MoCA (Multimedia over Coax Alliance) home networking from Entropic and silicon tuners from Silicon Labs to bring broadband directly to the TV, via a single coaxial cable in the home. The design leverages Entropic's EN258x solution, a MoCA 1.1-based chip offering 275 Mbps PHY and 175 Mbps MAC throughput that can be upgraded to Entropic's EN285x MoCA 2.0 chip supporting up to 500Mbps as well as the Silicon Labs Si2177 Hybrid TV tuner with an analog TV demodulator.

With the MoCA backbone, the new reference design enables a higher-quality connection, Quality of Service (QoS), and immunity to noise and interference from wireless networks and devices, which is necessary for advanced 4K/Ultra High Definition (UHD), over-the-top (OTT) and TV/Internet interactivity. In addition, by using Silicon Labs' fifth-generation universal hybrid tuner, TV manufacturers can leverage the flexibility that MoCA enables across all TV segments - digital and analog alike.