Amstrad DRX895-C DVR Set Top Box Teardown

Overview / Main Features

The Amstrad DRX895-C is a HD DVR set top box designed for the BSkyB satellite network in Europe. The Amstrad set top box comes equipped with a 1.5TB hard disk storage device and a primarily Broadcom chip solution featuring the BCM7335 A/V Processor and the BCM3445 RF LNA/Splitter at the front end. Also, a Silicon Lab ISO modem solution is used for remote access functionalities.

Amstrad DRX895-C DVR Set Top Box Main Image

Satellite Operators

Released

Unknown

Amstrad DRX895-C DVR Set Top Box - Main PCB Top

Pricing - Typically, set top boxes are not sold directly to consumers but offered as part in parcel of an overall service contract. With that said, we were able to obtain one reference pricing of approximately $570.

Availability - Europe (BSkyB)

Volume Estimations

For the purposes of this teardown analysis, we have applied a lifetime production volume of approximately 500,000 units.

As a reminder, teardown volume production assumptions are primarily used for our cost analysis in terms of amortized NRE and tooling costs, especially for custom components specific to the model being analyzed (mechanical components especially). Unless assumed volumes are different by an order of magnitude, minor changes in volume (say 1 million vs. 2) rarely have a large net effect on our final analysis because of this.

Amstrad DRX895-C DVR Set Top Box Cost Analysis

Cost Notes

Main Cost Drivers ~70% of Total Materials Cost

Western Digital - WD15EVDS - Hard Drive - 1.5TB, 3.5', SATA 3Gb/s, 5400-7200RPM, 32MB Buffer

Broadcom - BCM7335QKFSBA1G - Audio / Video Processor - SoC, High Definition PVR Satellite, DVB-S2, 8PSK/QPSK, 405MHz Dual-Threaded MIPS CPU Core, 65nm Process, w/ 1 Integrated Tuner / Demodulator

Wu Zhou Circuit Group - 4-Layer - FR4, Lead-Free

Spansion - S29GL512P10FFCR1 - Flash - NOR, 512Mb, 3V, MirrorBit

Wu Zhou Circuit Group - 2-Layer - FR4, Lead-Free

Sunon - HA60251V4-0000-999 - Fan - DC Brushless, 12VDC, 60mA, 0.7W, 60mm x 60mm 25mm, 13.8CFM, w/ Integral 2-Wire Harness & 2-Position Pin Socket Connector

Elpida - EDE1116AEBG-8E-F - SDRAM - DDR2-800, 1Gb, 64Mx16, 1.8V (Qty:2)

Silicon Laboratories - Si2457-C-FS - ISOmodem - V.90, 56Kbps, w/ DAA, 3.3V

Direct Materials + Manufacturing $158.20

What Is Not Included in our Cost Analysis

The total materials and manufacturing costs reported in this analysis reflect ONLY the direct materials cost (from component vendors and assorted EMS providers), AND manufacturing with basic test. Not included in this analysis are costs above and beyond the material manufacture of the core device itself - cost of intellectual property, royalties and licensing fees (those not already included into the per component price), software, software loading and test, shipping, logistics marketing and other channel costs including not only EMS provider and the OEM's margin, but that of other resellers. Our cost analysis is meant to focus on those costs incurred in the manufacture of the core device and exceptionally in some circumstances the packaging and literature as well.

Manufacturing Notes

Country of Origin / Volume Assumptions

Based on device markings, we've based our analysis with the final assembly in China. Furthermore, we have assumed that custom mechanicals (plastics, metals, etc.) were also sourced in China.

Country of origin assumptions relate directly to the associated cost of manufacturing, where calculated by iSuppli. In the cases of 'finished' sub-assemblies (such as USB connector), we do not calculate internal manufacturing costs, but rather assess the market price of the finished product in which case country of origin assumptions may or may not have a direct effect on pricing.

Remember also that labor rates are applied directly only to hand inserted components and systems in our bill of materials, and although regional assumptions do, these new rates do not have a direct effect on our modeled calculations of placement costs for automated SMD assembly lines. "Auto inserted components (such as SMT components) placement costs are calculated by an iSuppli algorithm which allocates a cost per component based on the size and pincount of the device. This calculation is affected by country or region of origin as well.

Design for Manufacturing / Device Complexity

The Amstrad DRX895-C has an overall component count of 1296 parts (excluding box contents). In comparison, past DVR set top boxes range from complexities of 970 to over 2000 components.

Component counts have a direct bearing on the overall manufacturing cycle times and costs, and also can increase or decrease overall yields and re-work. Our calculations of manufacturing costs factor counts and more qualitative complexities in the design. The cost of manufacturing is also, to some extent, decreased in this case because of assumed labor rate applied for China.

Note that manual labor has a much smaller effect on auto-insertion assembly lines (for the Main PCB, for example), where manufacturing costs are much more capital equipment intensive and driven by these investment costs.

Design Notes

Here is a summary of the major components used in the Amstrad DRX895-C design:

Storage

• Hard Drive - Western Digital - WD15EVDS, 1.5TB, 3.5', SATA 3Gb/s, 5400-7200RPM, 32MB Buffer

Main PCB

A/V Processing

• Audio / Video Processor - Broadcom - BCM7335QKFSBA1G

Memory

• SDRAM - Elpida - EDE1116AEBG-8E-F, DDR2-800, 1Gb, 64Mx16, 1.8V
• SDRAM - Elpida - EDE5116AJBG-8E-E, DDR2-800, 512Mb, 32Mx16, 1.8V
• Flash - Spansion - S29GL512P10FFCR1, NOR, 512Mb, 3V, MirrorBit

I/O & Interface

• Interface IC - On Semiconductor - CM2020-00TR, HDMI 1.3, w/ Level Shifter, & ESD Protection
• RS-232 Driver/ Receiver - Texas Instruments - MAX3238CDB, 5 Drivers, 3 Receivers, w/ 15kV ESD Protection
• LNB Supply & Control IC - Allegro Microsystems - A8292SETTR-T, Dual, w/ Step-Up Converter, 500mA/Channel, 2-Wire Serial Interface, I2C Compatible

Front End

• RF LNA / Splitter - Broadcom - BCM3445KMLGP11

Amstrad DRX895-C DVR Set Top Box - Disassembly View 1