Sagem ITD81 SD Set-Top Box Teardown

Overview / Main Features

The Sagem ITD81 SD is a low-cost focused digital set-top box featuring Standard Definition (SD) TV capability. Sagem also offers a HD version of this device which includes more features. The main interfaces are SCART connectors for video and RCA connectors for audio and RF Connectors for input. It supports transmission standards for DVB-T MPEG2 and MPEG4 (H.264). It also features conditional access by NDS and middleware is Sagem MHEG-5, and has 7-Day EPG.

Sagem ITD81 SD Set-Top Box Main Image

Consumers with digital terrestrial access.

Released

The release date of this device is unknown ?however press release references from Sagem in July 2006 were found suggesting this is a 2 year old or more box.

Sagem ITD81 SD Set-Top Box - Enclosure Disassembly

Pricing for this kind of product (at the consumer level) is typically meaningless as it is often part of a completely subsidized part of a package from service providers.

But cecause this is digital terrestrial, however, it is possible to ascertain pricing for consumers, though none was found for this standard definition version of the ITD81 (the ITD81-HD, was found, for example for around 170 Euros).

Volume Estimations

For the purposes of this teardown analysis, we have assumed that 2.5 M units of this STB will be produced during the product lifetime. This volume estimate is in line with our previous estimations for similar types of cable STB.

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 increment by an order of magnitude. Minor changes in volume (say 1 million vs. 2) rarely have a large net effect on our final analysis.

Function / Performance

No performance testing was performed.

Sagem ITD81 SD Set-Top Box Cost Analysis

Major Cost Drivers ~ $33.6 (Representing ~79% of Total Materials Costs)

ST Microelectronics - STi5200NWBE - Set Top Box Decoder - ED/SD, Dual 400MHz CPU Cores for AV Processing, Single ST40 266MHz CPU Core, H.264/AVC & MPEG-2 Decoding

Tsuding Global Electronics - 4 Layer - FR4

NXP Semiconductors - TDA10048HN - DVB-T / H Channel Decoder

Samsung Electro-Mechanics - DTOS444IV282A - Tuner Module Value Line Item

Nanya - NT5DS16M16CS-5T - SDRAM - DDR, 256Mb (16Mx16) (Qty:2)

Remote Control Unit w/ Plastic Bag Packaging

Elpida - EDD1216AJTA-5B-E - SDRAM - DDR, 128Mb (8M x 16) (Qty:2)

Enclosure, Main, Bottom - Injection Molded ABS

M29W640CS - Flash - NOR, 64Mb, 3V

Enclosure, Main, Top - Injection Molded ABS

AC Power Adaptor - Input 200-240V, 50/60Hz, Output 12V, 1.5A, w/ Paper Box

ST Microelectronics - L5973D - Regulator - Switching, Step-Down, 2.5A (Qty:2)

SCART Cable

Epcos - B39361X7350P200 - IF SAW Filter - Bandpass

Enclosure, Main, Back Panel - Stamped / Formed Paint-Loc Steel

LiteOn - LTC-4781AKF - LED - 7-Segment Display Array (4x1), Orage

AKM Semiconductor - AK4702EQ - DAC - 2-Ch, w/ AV SCART Switch

Total BOM & Manufacturing Costs (Direct Materials + Conversion Costs) - $45.35

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?E 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 iSuppli?E assumptions, the unit was manufactured in China as does many low-end set-top boxes. Furthermore, we have assumed that custom mechanicals (plastics, metals, etc.) were also sourced in China to take advantage of lower cost structures there.

Country of origin assumptions relate directly to the associated cost of manufacturing, where calculated by iSuppli. In the cases of inished?sub-assemblies (such as can tuners), 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. ?uto?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

We tend to use component counts as the one measurable and clearly defined etric?by which we can compare and judge the relative complexity of devices and comment as to where a given device fits in the spectrum of overall manufacturing cost and complexity between devices.

The Sagem ITD81 SD Set-Top Box has an approximate total component count of 659 (when itemizing the tuner can assembly) of which 19 are mechanical components. Due to the common form factor of DVR Set Tops, the components count relates closely to its feature set. The ITD81 SD is no exception and the component count (both mechanical and electronic) is inline relative to other STBs we have already 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 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 core chipset is an off the shelf application specific IC from ST Microelectronics which was designed for low-cost SDTV Set-Top Boxes?video processing/decoding. It is worth noting that this device is now obsolete (and the box deisgn also seems obsolete).

In the front end section it features a DVB-T/H channel decoder from NXP responsible for COFDM demodulation. A Samsung Tuner Can with an Infineon Tuner RF IC for administering signal reception. There are 3 memory chips on the board with SDRAMs from Elpida and Nanya and NOR Flash from Numonyx. These are all used associated with the ST Microelectronics?video processing/decoding IC. An AKM 2-channel Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) can be located in the I/O & Interface section and it is also responsible for interfacing the SCART connector. A smart card connector was also found in this device as does many Set-Top Boxes and is interfaced by a NXP Smart Card Interface IC previously seen in multiple Set-Top Boxes. Overall, the Sagem ITD81 SD is a typical Low-Cost STB design with front end, processing and I/O devices.

Major Components in the ITD81-SD Design

Main PCB

Audio/Video Processing

ST Microelectronics - STi5200NWBE - Set Top Box Decoder - VC-1/MPEG-2/MPEG-4 (Obsolete)

Front End

NXP Semiconductors - TDA10048HN - DVB-T / H Channel Decoder - Single-Chip

Infineon - TUA6034T - Tuner IC - Tri-Band Digital TV/ Set-Top-Box

I/O & Interface

AKM Semiconductor - AK4702EQ - DAC - 2-Ch, w/ AV SCART Switch

Memory

Elpida - EDD1216AJTA-5B-E - SDRAM - DDR, 128Mb (8M x 16)

Nanya - NT5DS16M16CS-5T - SDRAM - DDR, 256Mb (16Mx16)

Numonyx - M29W640CS - Flash - NOR, 64Mb, Boot Block, 3V

Sagem ITD81 SD Set-Top Box - Box Contents