Microtune’s Groundbreaking DTV Chipset Delivers Highest-Quality Reception to China’s Television Manufacturers

BEIJING & PLANO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Microtune^®, Inc. (NASDAQ: TUNE) today announces a cost-effective digital television (DTV) receiver chipset, targeted for the China market, that enables China’s TV manufacturers to deliver superior broadcast and cable reception across TVs of any size, model or price point. When implemented in televisions, the highly integrated DTV chipset allows China’s domestic electronics manufacturers to simplify TV front-end designs, reduce costs and increase reliability.

“TV manufacturers are now searching for the latest technology to support the complete range of China’s TV broadcast signals and operating modes—while minimizing production cost and time-to-market”

Microtune’s high-performance receiver chipset consists of the MT3141 multi-standard radio frequency (RF) receiver and one of the ICs from Microtune’s new MT886x family of demodulators. Based on Microtune’s market-proven technologies, the chipset is engineered to be compliant with China’s GB20600-2006 National Standard for DTV broadcast, also known as the China Terrestrial Television Broadcast (CTTB) or the Digital Television Multimedia Broadcast (DTMB) standard. It is also designed to reliably exceed the radio frequency (RF) and channel decoding requirements of the China Electronics Standardization Institute (CESI), also referred to as the Beijing Lab 4 test specifications.

The DTV chipset offers a single receiver solution designed to comply with all of China’s legacy analog/digital and terrestrial/cable standards and is engineered to deliver industry-leading performance, low cost of goods and the smallest receiver footprint.

CTTB is the most technically advanced DTV broadcast standard in the world, supporting both fixed and mobile systems, single- and multiple-carrier transport and more than 300 operating modes. The Chinese government, through the Beijing Lab 4 test specifications, has established a minimum performance bar that China’s TV manufacturers must meet in future digital television sets. The Chinese government is aggressively driving the transition to digital TV broadcasting and is expected to mandate a national plan for the analog-to-digital conversion.

“TV manufacturers are now searching for the latest technology to support the complete range of China’s TV broadcast signals and operating modes—while minimizing production cost and time-to-market,” said James A. Fontaine, President and CEO of Microtune. “Our low-cost DTV receiver chipset is designed not only to surpass the Beijing Lab 4 benchmarks with significant margin, but also to deliver the highest grade of receiver performance across the real-world off-air and cable signal conditions of China’s emerging digital broadcast environment.”

RECEIVER CHIPSET: ENGINEERED FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE AND LOW COST

The chipset is anchored by Microtune’s new MT3141 receiver, a complete RF-to-baseband single chip. It is a multi-standard (terrestrial and cable) tuner with integrated PAL/SECAM/NTSC analog demodulator and is engineered to exceed the RF requirements of China’s CTTB, DVB-C and PAL standards. The MT3141 chip is designed to deliver excellent sensitivity and superior adjacent channel rejection, these technical metrics that directly translate into an increase in digital TV signal coverage for broadcasters and high-quality, stable TV reception for TV viewers. The MT3141 also offers a world-standard receiver solution for those Chinese manufacturers building televisions for export.

The DTV chipset also incorporates one of four new CTTB-compliant demodulators from the MT886x series of channel decoders. The products are based on Microtune’s patented Fully Adaptive Demodulation and Equalization (FADE™) architecture, which enables the demodulators to provide “best in class” performance to significantly improve end user TV reception. The MT886x products are designed to offer the lowest external bill of materials. Each of the MT886x products is a true system-on-a-chip (SOC) that integrates the memory required to support all CTTB operating modes in China and Hong Kong. By integrating the memory on die, Microtune lowers the bill of materials. It also insulates TV manufacturers from the price fluctuations in the DRAM market, which may impact suppliers whose products use alternative system-in-package (SIP) or multi-chip-module (MCM) approaches.

The MT886x demodulators are available in two package options (64- and 80-pin LQFP), and both packages are offered with or without optional DVB-C support. The 80-pin products are pin-compatible with Microtune’s existing AU88xx family of CTTB demodulator products, allowing a streamlined migration to new designs with higher performance.

PRICE AND AVAILABILITY

Microtune is engaged with early adopter partners on the chipset, with samples expected to be available to the wider market in Q2 2010. The MT3141 + MT886x CTTB receiver chipset is priced under $7.00 to high-volume customers for both ICs. To simplify evaluation and design and to accelerate time-to-market, Microtune plans to offer a fully validated, ready-to-implement Manufacturing Reference Kit.

MICROTUNE AT CCBN

Microtune will showcase its digital TV receiver chipset and reference design, as well as demonstrate its other solutions for the Chinese cable, consumer electronics and automotive markets at the 18th China Content Broadcasting Network Expo (CCBN2010) taking place March 23 - 25, 2010 in the China International Exhibition Center in Beijing. At Hall 1B, Booth 1B705, Microtune will highlight its cost-effective, high-performance tuner, demodulator and integrated receiver solutions as well as customer products. For more information about Microtune’s products or to arrange a meeting during CCBN2010, please contact Microtune.

CAUTIONARY LANGUAGE

This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on Microtune’s current expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. A number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. For a discussion of described factors that could impact Microtune’s financial results and cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, please refer to Microtune’s filings with the SEC. Microtune disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

ABOUT MICROTUNE

Microtune, Inc. is a receiver solutions company that designs and markets advanced radio frequency (RF) and demodulator electronics for worldwide customers. Its products, targeted to the cable, digital television and automotive entertainment markets, are engineered to deliver high-performance and reliable video, voice and data signals across a diverse range of end products, from HDTVs, set-top boxes and cable modems to car radios. Microtune is headquartered in Plano, Texas, with key design and sales centers located around the world. The website is www.microtune.com.

TRANSLATIONS

Microtune has only reviewed the English-language version of this press release for accuracy and is not responsible for the accuracy of statements in subsequently translated versions of this document. Readers are strongly advised to review the English-language version of this press release.

EDITOR’S NOTE:

Microtune is a registered trademark, and MicroCeiver is a trademark of Microtune, Inc. Copyright © 2010 Microtune, Inc. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.

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