PCMCIA CableCARD CEA-679C Description, PC Card Pinout and Signal Names

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CableCard CEA-679C Description

A CableCARD is a PCMCIA, Type II PC Card. The CableCARD is used in place of a set top cable decoder box, and plugs into the HD TV to provide the cable decoder function.
CEA-679C is a pinout variant of CableCARD [Consumer Electronic Association].
Other terms include M-Card [Multi-Stream CableCard] or Digital Cable Ready [DCR]. The PC Card PCMCIA specification defines both the Electrical and Physical specifications for a 68 pin interface residing in one of 3 form factors, which differ only in thickness;
Type I: dimensions 3.3mm x 85.6mm x 54.0mm (TxLxW), Version 2.1 allows the length to increase 50mm to 135mm
Type II: dimensions 5.0mm x 85.6mm x 54.0mm (TxLxW), Version 2.1 allows the length to increase 50mm to 135mm
Type III: dimensions 10.5mm x 85.6mm x 54.0mm (Tall x Length x Width)

The implementation of this spec based on the ISA bus is termed the PC Card with a 8/16 bit data bus, 26 address lines, and no bus mastering. PC Card-16 cards use an 8-bit or 16-bit interface that operates at ISA bus speeds (10 MHz) using an ISA-like asynchronous protocol. All of the PCMCIA implementations use Plug and Play and have Hot Swapping capabilities. The 16-bit PCMCIA 'PC Card' will operate up to a maximum of 20MBps, or 160Mbps. The actual throughput will depend on the minimum cycle time and the transfer mode and will never reach the maximum throughput rates. Back to the main PCMCIA Bus page.

Flash memory cards vs. PC Card format.

CableCard is a PCMCIA slot and PCMCIA card, a tuner card that can be inserted into a slot in the TV to replace a cable set-top box.

Some TV descriptions indicate the term CableCard, while others indicate Digital Cable Ready [see below]. I was only able to find a few HDTV units from Hitachi which came with a CableCard slot. I see a few from Sony too. The CableCard allows the user to plug cable directly into a TV set without the need for a set-top box [STB]. CableCard slots may also be found on Divigal Video Recorders [DVR]

Version 1 of CableCard was 'one-way' only so with out the cable decoder box things like 'pay-per-view' was unavailable. Version 2 released in June of 2007 should be fixing this problem [I have not yet reviewed it]. As of July 07 according to an FCC ruling; cable companies now have to supply set-top boxes that come with a removable CableCard. The ruling may bring CableCard back from the dead.

Digital Cable Ready [DCR], this attribute describes a TV that incorporates a CableCARD slot to facilitate the reception of one-way digital cable content (which may include analog, digital, high-definition and/or premium programming) without the need for a set-top box. A CableCARD is typically provided for a nominal monthly fee by the cable provider. Sets may also use the term Digital Cable Turner.

{PC Card CableCARD Index}

CableCARD Standard Organizations

The PC Card specification was released in 2001; version 8.0

CableCARD™ Interface 1.0 Specification, OC-SP-CC-IF-C01-050331; March 2005
CableCARD™ Interface 2.0 Specification, OC-SP-CCIF2.0-I11-070615; June 2007

PCMCIA {PCMCIA.org, Personal Computer Memory Card International Association}

OpenCable

{PC Card Index}

PCMCIA Bus Interface ICs

STMicroelectronics {Multi-Stream CableCARD interface, DOCSIS 2.0+ cable modem chip with channel bonding}

IC Manufacturers {All other types}

{PCMCIA CableCARD Index}

PCMCIA Connector Manufacturers

The PC Card uses a 68 pin connector, with two rows of 34 pins, with 0.05 inch spacing [1.27mm]. Female pins are used on the card side, male pins on the system end.
The power and ground pins are longer than the signal lines, allowing them to make connect first.

Refer to the main CableCARD page for connector manufacturers;
PC Card Mode

{PC Card Index}

CEA-679 part B, Pin Out

The table provides the pinout for the 16-bit PC Card.

**PCMCIA 68-pin Connector Pin Out And Signal Names**
Pin #	Signal Name	Pin #	Signal Name	Pin #	Signal Name	Pin #	Signal Name	Pin #	Signal Name
1	Ground	15	WE	29	A0	43	VS1/RFSH	57	MCLKO
2	D3	16	IREQ#	30	D0	44	IORD#	58	Reset
3	D4	17	Vcc	31	D1	45	IOWR#	59	Wait
4	D5	18	Vpp1	32	D2	46	MISTRT	60	INPACK#
5	D6	19	MIVAL	33	IOIS16#	47	MDI0	61	Reg
6	D7	20	MCLKI	34	GND	48	MDI1	62	MOVAL
7	CE1	21	A12	35	GND	49	MDI3	63	MOSTRT
8	A10	22	A7	36	CD1	50	MDI3	64	MDO0
9	OE	23	A6	37	MDO3	51	Vcc	65	MDO1
10	A11	24	A5	38	MDO4	52	Vpp2	66	MDO2
11	A9	25	A4	39	MDO5	53	MDI4	67	CD2
12	A8	26	A3	40	MDO6	54	MDI5	68	GND
13	A13	27	A2	41	MDO7	55	MDI6	--	---
14	A14	28	A1	42	CE2	56	MDI7	--	---

There are three other card interface pin assignments that are used that differ from the PC Card Mode shown above;
PC Card Mode
S-Mode Single-Mode CableCard
M-Mode Multi-Mode CableCard

{PCMCIA PC Card Index}

Engineering Design Key words: CableCARD, HD, HDTV, Cable TV, PCMCIA, Personal Computer Memory Card International Association, PC Card, PCcard, Interconnect, Electrical layer, Standard, Interface Standard Data Bus, Standard, Specification, Spec, Interface, IC, Physical Interface, Socket Services, Description, Manufacturer, Personal Computer, PC, Pin-out, Pinout, Connector Pins, Small Form Factor, Peripheral


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