Pace DC758D HD Set-Top Box Teardown

Overview / Main Features

The Pace DC758D Set-top Box under analysis here is a DOCSIS 2.0/DSG HD cable box with dual QAM video tuners that support MPEG-4 / MPEG-2 encoding schemes marketed for the Canada and Latin America markets. The DC758D features provisions for conditional access modules (i.e. CableCards) and an eSATA port for attaching an external hard drive for DVR functionality. The exclusion of an integrated hard drive was likely to meet a particular market price point.

Pace DC758D HD Set-Top Box Main Image

Cable Service Providers

Released

Unknown

Pace DC758D HD Set-Top Box - Main PCB Top

Pricing - unknown

Availability Canadian & Latin American Cable Service Providers

Volume Estimations

For the purposes of this teardown analysis, we have assumed a lifetime production volume of 750K 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.

Pace DC758D HD Set-Top Box Cost Analysis

Main Cost Drivers Representing ~75% of total materials cost

Broadcom - BCM7403ZKPB1G - Audio / Video Processor - 300MHz MIPS32 Architecture, PCI 2.3, w/ HD AVC/MPEG2/VC-1 Decoder, HD Analog Video Encoder, & 64-Bit Memory/Ethernet/IEEE1394/HDMI/SATA/Dual USB2.0 Controller

Broadcom - BCM3255KPBG - Front End - Single Chip Solution, QAMLink, DOCSIS 2.0, for HD DVR Set Top Box

Jiangmen Glory Faith PCB Co. - 4-Layer - FR4, Lead Free

Power Supply Value Line Item - Input: 110-240VAC, 50/60Hz

Promos Technologies - V58C2512164SAI5 - SDRAM - DDR, 512Mb (32M x 16), 2.6V, 200MHz@CL3 (Qty:4)

Broadcom - BCM3418KQTEG - Tuner - Hybrid, DOCSIS 1.1/2.0, QAM 64/256, PAL / NTSC, w/ Built-In AGC (Qty:3)

Remote Control Unit

Enclosure, Main, Bottom - Stamped / Formed Galvanized Steel, 2-Piece, 5 Rivets, 4 Pressed-In Threaded Stand Off, Printed

Enclosure, Main, Top - Stamped / Formed Galvanized Steel, Painted

Infrared Reciever Unit w/ PSA

Epcos - B39438X6964N201 - IF SAW Filter - Bandpass, 43.75MHz (Qty:3)

Numonyx - NAND256W3A2BN6 - Flash - NAND, 256Mb, SLC, 3V

Marvell Technology - 88SM4140-LAD1 - SATA-II Host Controller - 1:4 Port Multiplier, 1.5/3.0 Gbps PHY Operation

BGI Technology - HDMI Cable - w/ 2 Plastic Caps

Enclosure, Main, Front Panel - Injection Molded ABS, Printed, Painted

Box - Corrugated Cardboard, Full Color, Printed, 432 x 417 x 71 (17' x 16.4' x 2.8')

Quad Digit Display - 7-Segment, Green, w/ Plastic Housing

Hynix - HY5DU561622ETP-D43 - SDRAM - DDR, 256Mb (16M x 16), 2.6V, 200MHz@CL3

Broadcom - BCM3405KQTEG - RF LNA / Splitter - 5-Channel

Total BOM Cost $108.07

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 markings, the unit was assembled 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 RJ45 connectors), 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.

Pace DC758D HD Set-Top Box - Enclosure Disassembly

Design for Manufacturing / Device Complexity

The Pace DC758D Set-top Box as an overall component count of 1768 (excluding box contents), of which, 121 are mechanical in nature.

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

The Pace DC758D is primarily a Broadcom design (as with most modern set-top boxes we have analyzed). The primary AV processor is the BCM7403 with a BCM3255 front end chip. We have also encountered BCM74xx AV processors in the past within Motorola, BSkyB and AT&T set top boxes in the past year.

Also, there are Broadcom solutions in the tuner (BCM3418) and RF LNA / Splitter (BCM3405). Marvell provides the SATA-II host controller for the external hard drive support functionalities via the eSATA port and SDRAM is supplied primarily by Promos.

Here is a summary of the major components used in the Pace DC758D Set-top Box design:

Main PCB

Audio / Video Processing

• Audio / Video Processor - Broadcom - BCM7403ZKPB1G

Front End

• Front End - Broadcom - BCM3255KPBG
• Tuner - Broadcom - BCM3418KQTEG
• RF LNA / Splitter- Broadcom - BCM3405KQTEG

I/O & Interface

• SATA-II Host Controller - Marvell Technology - 88SM4140-LAD1
• Microcontroller - Freescale - SCF80003AE
• HDMI Transmitter Port Protection and Interface Device - California Micro Devices - CM2020-00TR

Memory

• SDRAM - Promos Technologies - V58C2512164SAI5
• SDRAM - Hynix - HY5DU561622ETP-D43
• Flash - Numonyx - NAND256W3A2BN6

Pace DC758D HD Set-Top Box - Box Contents