Torrent Q8 and Q8e 8 Channel PCI/PCIe RF QAMs

Home » Torrent Q8 and Q8e 8 Channel PCI/PCIe RF QAMs

Torrent Q8 8 Channel PCI QAMThe Q8 PCI and Q8e PCI Express Quadrature Amplitude Modulator (QAM) Host Bus Adapters (HBA) are member of the Company's Torrent family of high performance, low cost per stream MPEG QAM transmission devices .

The VideoPropulsion Q8 and Q8e provide 8 QAM outputs in two sets of 4 adjacent channels. Each channel is capable of up to ten 3.8 Mbps SDTV, three 12.9 Mbps EDTV, or two 19.4Mbps HDTV streams when configured to use Annex B. Integral upconversion to RF output provides the ultimate in flexibility. Software drivers are available for the Sun Solaris, Windows, FreeBSD, and Linux operating systems.

Product Highlights

 

  • Eight RF QAM channels with 6, 7, or 8 MHz bandwidth
  • User selectable 16QAM, 32QAM, 64QAM, 128QAM, and 256QAM modes
  • Upconversion to 50 - 860 MHz RF output (also available without upconversion)
  • API compatible with VDOPro DVB-ASI multiplexing products
  • Supported in VideoPropulsion Maelstrom scalable VoD server
  • Patented JAVA micro-engine architecture
  • Two PCI short form factor variants available
    • Q8: PCI Version 2.2, compatible with 32 bit and 64 bit PCI systems
    • Q8e: PCI Express Version 1.0a
  • Full power-up and service diagnostics

VideoPropulsion engineers, specialists in delivering supercomputer quality, high speed, high density, storage and networking solutions, have created a matchless product to meet requirements for the next generation of digital video deployments.

The Q8 and Q8e hardware and device drivers collect and multiplex MPEG-2 transport streams directly from host memory. The resulting multiple program transport streams are modulated and transmitted with upconversion. The Q8 supports 16QAM, 32QAM, 64QAM, 128QAM, and 256QAM with variable symbol rates up to 7 Msymbols/second. Forward Error Correcting (FEC) encoding complies with ITU-T J.83 Annex A (DVB/DAVIC/EuroDOCSIS/IEEE802.14), Annex B (DigiCipherII/SCTE/DOCSIS/IEEE802.14), and Annex C (Japan).

VPiTVTM Libraries, VideoPropulsion's standardized application interfacing software, enables developers to build interactive VoD applications across a multi-vendor server environment. Customers can select from a broad range of interconnect hardware and use a common application program interface (API) which supports a fully heterogeneous server environment for the most popular operating systems: Linux, Windows (2003/XP), Solaris (SPARC, x86), and FreeBSD.

  • Features
  • Specifications

Functional Specifications

Input:

  • MPEG-2 Transport streams collected by the card from host memory
  • Data can be any combinations of single program transport streams (SPTS)

Output:

  • MPEG-2 multiple program transport stream (MPTS)
  • Modulated with 16QAM, 32QAM, 64QAM, 128QAM, or 256QAM
  • Variable symbol rates up to 7 Msymbols/second
  • ITU-T J.83 FEC encoder
    • Annex A (DVB/DAVIC/EuroDOCSIS/IEEE802.14)
    • Annex B (DigiCipherII/SCTE/DOCSIS/IEEE802.14)
    • Annex C (Japan)
  • Output carrier: 50 - 860 MHz RF with 12.5KHz resolution
  • Ouput impedance: 75 Ohms
  • Output connector: F connector (2)

Primitives:

  • Mux initialization, open, close
  • Program stream initialization, open, close, stop immediately or stop after stream rundown
  • Output stream priming
  • PAT/PMT/SDT/NIT/SID table support
  • PID remapping and PID drop support
  • PCR restamping
  • Bandwidth management
  • Packet size support: 188 byte (204 byte support on request)
  • Dynamic Buffer Control

Driver Support

The VideoPropulsion Mux Drivers for the Q8 and Q8e use a highly efficient patent pending architecture for precise timing. Designed to automatically detect and configure to the hardware, these drivers offer numerous options to users. The driver accepts any combination of single program transport streams (SPTS) and multiplexes them into a single, multiple program transport stream (MPTS). The streams must be Constant Bit Rate (CBR) encoded and may contain embedded PAT, PMT and PCR data. The product is capable of remapping PIDs and restamping PCRs as needed for the multiplexing. Included with the driver are sample programs and their sources for guidance in using the API to interface with higher level applications. The Q8 API is compatible with the API used on other VideoPropulsion products providing integrators with the flexibility to solve a myriad of customer needs with a minimum of effort.

PCI Bus: Q8:
      PCI-64/66
      PCI Version 2.2
Q8e:
      PCI Express Version 1.0a
Environmental: 5C to 60C Operating Temperature Range
0% to 95% Humidity, non-condensing
Device Drivers and API: Linux
Solaris on SPARC
Solaris x86 on Intel
Windows 2000/XP
FreeBSD
Power Requirements: Q8:
      3.3V @ 1.5 Amps
      5 Volts @ 2 Amps
      12 Volts @ 0.5 Amps
Q8e:
      3.3V @ 2 Amps
      12 Volts @ 1 Amps
Output carrier frequency range: 50 MHz to 860 MHz
Channel plan: Any
      Tuned by center frequency, not channel number
      12.5KHz resolution
Frequency stability: ±12 ppm
      0-60 degrees C
RF Output Level (Min/Max): 45 dBmV min, >55 dBmV Max
Output level accuracy: ±1 dB
      Based on internal power detector's accuracy
      Pout = 45 dBmV to 61 dBmV
      Fout = 50 MHz to 860 MHz
Output Level Step Size: 0.1 dB typical, 0.3 dB Max
Output Impedance: 75 Ohms
Output Connectors: F type RF connector (2)
RF Output Return Loss: 14 dB Min, 16 dB typical
      50 MHz to 860 MHz
In-band Spurious Outputs: -48 dBc Max
      Fout ±3 MHz
      Pout = 58 dBmV
      Noise within ±50 kHz of the carrier is excluded
Broadband noise: -12 dBmV Typical, -10 dBmV Max
      47 MHz to 860 MHz
      Pout = 58 dBmV
      Integrated over 6 MHz
Phase noise: 0 kHz offset
  50 MHz = Fout < 100 MHz:   -90 dBc/Hz Typical, -85 dBc/Hz Max
  100 MHz < Fout < 400 MHz:   -91 dBc/Hz Typical, -85 dBc/Hz Max
  400 MHz < Fout < 800 MHz:   -90 dBc/Hz Typical, -85 dBc/Hz Max
  800 MHz < Fout = 860 MHz:   -88 dBc/Hz Typical, -85 dBc/Hz Max