ASICs for digital TV distribution through SMATV channels

The goal of this project was to design and develop ASICs for distributing satellite digital TV signals through collective antenna systems (SMATV) including the receiver for final users. Specifically, the project was focused on the design of the Transparent Digital Transmodulator (TDT), which performs transmodulation of the signal received at the head-end from QPSK to 64-QAM; as well as for the Integrated Receiver Decoder (IRD), which includes blind equalization of the SMATV channel, demodulation and decoding. The design and specifications provided by the GTAS group were used by the Microelectronics group of the University of Cantabria to develop VHDL specifications and to develop the final ASICs.