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The Digital Drive: ST’s solutions for car infotainment and navigation5 d& e: c e: P; \8 T$ r
$ n w3 A* @7 T( DST’s car infotainment and navigation portfolio includes complete turnkey solutions for digital radio and multimedia, navigation and telematics, and wireless connectivity in the car. Combining its expertise and extensive IP portfolio in Automotive, Multimedia, and Communications, the Company supports all current and future integrated services that improve the driving experience.
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Digital radio transmissions permit more stations to be broadcast by using the spectrum more efficiently; allow improved reception and ease of use; and give possibility to transmit audio with video and data services. % m7 }9 \% v! _0 R8 g. m7 Q4 j3 H
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ST is the world’s leading supplier for digital broadcasting radio and is ready to support all major international standards for terrestrial and satellite digital radio, including DAB/DMB, Digital Radio Mondiale, HD Radio, XM Radio, Sirius, and WorldSpace (see Appendix). The Company produces all components for car radios, from the antenna and tuner through the baseband to multimedia processing and playback. ST’s car radio systems are optimized for harsh reception environments and minimized power consumption.
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& [' n3 ?1 J, h4 ^# xST is at the forefront of the development of next-generation digital broadcasting services in the car. During the world’s first implementation of in-car mobile TV in Germany in June 2006, ST’s T-DMB (Terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) solution proved its exceptional video and audio quality, scalable performance, and ultra-low power consumption at cruising speeds of over 200 km/h.
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M7 f- a0 j- F! i. w3 bFocusing on the system level, ST's NaviFlex program, a comprehensive hardware and software platform for navigation and infotainment applications, offers a high-performance and cost-effective solution for the In-Vehicle digital convergence. NaviFlex’s turnkey solutions address car-radio navigation and telematics, in-car connectivity (hands-free/audio streaming), media devices for audio and video playback, mobile TV, and rear-seat entertainment. The main hardware building blocks are ST’s Nomadik Multimedia application processors and GPS receivers.
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* e3 f& u/ z6 U" zST’s multi-core application processors with smart accelerators ensure unsurpassed audio, video and imaging quality in automotive multimedia applications. The Nomadik SoC boasts the industry’s lowest power consumption, exceptional multimedia performance, and features a rich security framework and set of peripheral interfaces for seamless connection to the external components, including the car radio, digital-to-analog converters for top-quality audio and video playback, memory cards (SD/MMC), or USB.
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ST’s GPS devices combine accurate positioning with low power consumption. Due to its minimal number of external components, ST’s single-chip GPS solution helps make applications simpler and more space-efficient. In conjunction with a host processor, such as Nomadik, ST’s GPS devices are ideal for use in telematics and navigation platforms, (in-built and portable}, GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) toll collection, car-radio control and mobile computing applications.# U* A5 p, }) j
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STMicroelectronics is the leading semiconductor partner of GR-Poster Consortium, constituted to develop a terminal receiver for Galileo, the European navigation system complementary to GPS.
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With its complete Galileo roadmap, ST is well positioned to anticipate future developments, such as eCall, a pan-European initiative to integrate an on-board emergency call and location system in every new vehicle by 2009.
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ST’s in-car connectivity solutions include High-Speed USB, Bluetooth, and Data Short Range Communication (DSRC).
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Appendix: Digital radio technologies
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The three major international standards for Terrestrial digital radio are
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1. DAB/DMB' t) u/ [$ [; Q$ E0 b
2. DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale)/ v" {: a' B: L
3. HD Radio F! v1 k# k2 s9 m
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DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) is already on air in many countries, mostly European, and there are a large number of DAB radio models on the market. Aside from distortion-free reception and CD-quality sound, DAB’s audio encoding allows for transmission of multiple digital radio and video channels using the same transmitter. Over 500 million people around the world can now receive nearly 1,000 different DAB services.
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+ L3 Y$ C" h3 K- vDigital Multimedia Broadcast (DMB) has evolved from DAB and uses the existing DAB infrastructure. DMB permits an increase in the number of channels that can operate in the same spectrum space and offers new services like video and data file transfer. The first commercial DMB service is already up and running in South Korea and trials are underway in Europe. : N) G( I; ~& Y8 G
4 v7 {; o% S W& Q5 XDRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) is a new, open broadcasting standard, which has been recently developed to allow digital broadcasting in the long-, medium- and short-wave frequencies. Unlike digital radio systems that require a new frequency allocation, DRM uses the existing Amplitude Modulation (AM) bands (below 30MHz) more efficiently. DRM employs an in-band on-channel (IBOC) technology that enables simulcasting of analog and digital signal on the same frequency.3 {7 w% F$ R* ?
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DRM broadcasts are already available in most European countries as well as outside Europe and first DRM receivers have already arrived to the market.
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/ @, m5 c' E( v' eAnother IBOC technology, the HD Radio, allows both AM and FM stations to broadcast digital signals in tandem with their analog signals, providing broadcasters with a platform to offer multiple channels of programming on the same frequency (multicasting); crystal-clear, CD-quality sound; services such as real-time weather and traffic updates; and scrolling text and graphics content. # ]1 g/ B3 |: p- Y8 E* }' X. H
! H* h2 E3 g9 Z) Y) V/ d2 pOver 1,000 HD Radio stations are on air in the U.S., available to 90% of Americans, and the technology is now being tested in several countries around the world.! S4 ~3 k3 b2 R$ f, [
% x4 @& l% n3 M; |, D1 R7 A2 nSatellite
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: M& \0 c U! XSatellite radio technology uses commercial communications satellites for propagating digital radio signals over a continent-wide range. Currently, the main satellite radio providers are WorldSpace in Africa, Asia and parts of Europe, and Sirius and XM Radio in North America. All are proprietary and mostly subscription-based services, requiring proprietary hardware for decoding and playback.
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3 {3 P5 D' o& F+ n7 `+ THousehold penetration of satellite radio worldwide reached 10% in early 2006, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. |
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