In-Room Entertainment Without Ethernet

Entropic Communications Inc. is teaming with P&F USA, the exclusive licensee for Philips Hospitality in North America, to combine Philips hospitality TVs with Entropic’s Broadband Access silicon solution, thus allowing broadband service to be delivered to hotel rooms where there is no dedicated Ethernet broadband infrastructure wire to each room.

Instead, this combination enables both TV and broadband services to hotel rooms over existing coaxial cable, allowing guests to take advantage of new infotainment and over-the-top (OTT) video services via the hotel-room TV.

The integrated solution will be available in both 32-in. and 40-in. screen sizes sometime during the second half of this year.

By adding Entropic’s Broadband Access solution (based on the Multimedia over Coax standard, and comprised of EN3011 Access NC and EN3230 Access Client silicon) to the P&F TVs, guests can access such advanced IP-based services as broadband access and streamed IP video. Hotel owners benefit because they can deliver these services over existing coax.

Notes Todd Richardson, senior vice president/Sales and Marketing at P&F USA, “We found Entropic’s silicon solution appealing, as it is a high-RF implementation and can co-exist with existing cable-TV transmission. The throughput for broadband and the video co-existence make it an attractive solution for the hospitality market."