Qualcomm releases universal TV chip

Qualcomm said today it has produced a multi-mode mobile TV chip that supports two competing standards along with its own Forward Link Only (FLO) technology.

Called the Universal Broadcast Modem, the chip supports both the digital video broadcast-handheld (DVB-H) standard, backed by many European and GSM vendors, and integrated services digital broadcasting-terrestrial (ISDB-T), which is being deployed in Japan. The chip, however, is clearly targeted at networks working in the traditional TV bands. Supporting the entire UHF spectrum from 470 to 862 MHz, the chipset operates inside the 700 MHz TV frequencies being used by Qualcomm’s MediaFLO subsidiary and Aloha Partners recently announced DVB-H network, but not Modeo’s 1600 MHz DVB-H deployment or any of carriers launching over their traditional cellular frequencies in other parts of the world.

Qualcomm has been widely promoting its internally developed FLO technology despite several standardization efforts across the world. Promising greater spectral efficiency (i.e. more channels) and less lag-time between channel switching, Qualcomm has emphasized FLO’s technical superiority over DVB-H and other standards, but so far the it’s MediaFLO subsidiary is the only operator committed to deploying the technology and the only publicly announced carrier customer for the service is Verizon Wireless. Many operators in Europe and the U.S. have taken up the DVB-H banner, however, and in Asia operators have been committing to ISDB-T and a video variation of Digital Audio Broadcast technology.