Samsung SMT-H3110 DVR Set Top Box Teardown

Overview / Main Features

The Samsung SMT-H3110 is one of 2 HD set top DVRs offered by Virgin Media for the "V+ cable service. The SMT-H3110 is a DVR set top with a 160GB capacity hard disk drive along with both HDMI and SCART connectivity. This custom configuration is specified by Virgin Media for their HD (720p & 1080i high definition) cable service.

As with other Virgin Media set tops, the SMT-H3110 also offers video on demand (VOD) service with internet connectivity. The set top also supports Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound and outputs via SPDIF.

Samsung SMT-H3110 DVR Set Top Box Main Image

Cable Service Operators (Virgin Media)

Released

August 2009

Samsung SMT-H3110 DVR Set Top Box - Main PCB Top

Pricing - Reference pricing is not available since Virgin Media only leases equipment to subscribers as part in parcel of cable television service package.

Availability - Virgin Media service area (primarily UK)

Volume Estimations

For the purposes of this teardown analysis, we have assumed a lifetime production volume of 2 Million 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.

Samsung SMT-H3110 DVR Set Top Box Cost Analysis

Main Cost Drivers Representing ~60% of total materials cost

Western Digital - WD1600AVJS - Hard Drive - 160GB, 3.5', SATA 3Gb/s, 7200RPM, 8Mb Buffer

ST Microelectronics - STi7109KWD - Set Top Box Decoder - HD/SD, 32-Bit 266MHz ST40 RISC CPU, for H.264 & Microsoft WMA9

HannStar - 4-Layer - FR4, Lead-Free

Shanghai Samsung Vacuum Devices - Alphanumeric Display LED - Vacuum Fluorescent Display, w/ Plastic Mounting

Power Supply Value Line Item - Input: 200-240VAC, 1.0A, Output: 5VSB/0.4A, 3.3V/1.5A, 3.9V/2.5A, 5V/4.0A, 12V/1A, 50W

Conexant - CX24943-17Z - Cable Modem IC - SoC, DOCSIS 1.1, 225MHz System Processor, Integrated IEEE802.3 MAC, MII, USB1.1 Transceiver & Host Interface

Microtune - MT2060F - Broadband Tuner - Multi-Standard, w/ Integrated IF Variable Gain Amplifier (Qty:4)

Infineon - PSB6970HL - Ethernet Switch - 7-Port, 5 10/100M Ports w/ TX/FX Interfaces, 2 TMII/MII MAC Ports

Total BOM Cost $132.20

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 markings, the unit was assembled in Indoneisa. Furthermore, we have assumed that custom mechanicals (plastics, metals, etc.) were also sourced in Indoneisa.

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 Hard Disk Drive), 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.

Samsung SMT-H3110 DVR Set Top Box - Top View w/ Enclosure Main Top Removed

Design for Manufacturing / Device Complexity

The Samsung SMT-H3110 DVR Set Top has an overall component count of 1912 (excluding box contents). This complexity figure is on par with other DVR set top boxes we have previously analyzed.

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 Indoneisa.

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 SMT-H3110 uses a ST Micro Set-Top Box decoder (STi7109KWD) at the core of its design. At the front end, another ST Micro part (STV0297E) handles the QAM Demodulation while a Mircotune MT2060F performs the Broadband Tuning functionalities.

There are a handful of ICs handling the I/O & Interfaces, namely, a Conexant cable modem chip, Infineon Ethernet switch, ST audio/video switch and an Atmel microcontroller.

Majority of the SDRAM memory is provided by Qimonda and likewise, majority of the Flash memory comes from Samsung.

Here is a summary of the major components used in the Samsung SMT-H3110 design:

Main PCB

Audio / Video Processing

Set Top Box Decoder - ST Microelectronics - STi7109KWD

I/O & interface

Cable Modem IC - Conexant - CX24943-17Z

Ethernet Switch - Infineon - PSB6970HL

Audio/Video Switch - ST Microelectronics - STV6417AG

Microcontroller - Atmel - AT89S52-24AU

Memory

SDRAM - Qimonda - HYB25DC512160CE-5, DDR400, 512Mb, 2.5V

SDRAM - Qimonda - HYB25DC256160CE-5, DDR400, 256Mb, 2.5V

Flash - Spansion - S29GL032N90FFIS3, NOR, 32Mb, 90ns, 110nm MirrorBit, 3V

Flash - Samsung Semiconductor - KFG1216U2B-DIB6, OneNAND, SLC, 512Mb, 3.3V, 66MHz

SDRAM - Samsung Semiconductor - K4S641632K-UC60, 64Mb, 3.3V, 166MHz, CL=3

Front End

QAM Demodulator IC - ST Microelectronics - STV0297E

Broadband Tuner - Microtune - MT2060F

Storage

Hard Disk Drive - Western Digital - WD1600AVJS (160GB, 3.5" SATA, 7200 rpm)