Conexant Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CNXT) has been quiet -- too quiet, really -- about its plans involving chipsets for Wideband and Docsis 3.0 gear.

Last year, the company jumped in with a Wideband chipset for set-tops that bonds up to three downstream channels. The full Docsis 3.0 specs call for the ability to bond at least four channels in the upstream and downstream directions. At the time, the company believed the chip, dubbed the CX2445x, might see some solid demand among MSOs in Europe and Asia. (See Conexant Bonds With Set-Tops .)

Since then, Conexant hasn't had much of anything to say about a full Docsis 3.0 play. Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) already has its platform on the market, and Broadcom Corp. (Nasdaq: BRCM) is expected to have its silicon ready to go later this year. (See TI Chips In and Betting on Broadcom .)

But a decision on whether to challenge TI and Broadcom on the Docsis 3.0 front will soon be out of Conexant's hands. That decision will fall on the shoulders of NXP Semiconductors N.V. (Nasdaq: NXPI), which just put up $145 million for Conexant's Broadband Media Processing (BMP) business unit. That unit happens to be the division that makes Docsis and cable set-top chips. (See Conexant Sheds Line.)

We'll be keeping a closer eye on NXP's cable efforts from here on out. In the meantime, we're told that Lewis Brewster, the EVP and GM of Conexant's BMP biz, is slated to become SVP of the NXP's set-top product line, so it appears that a good chunk of Conexant's Docsis DNA will live on when the deal is done.

— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Cable Digital News