| Toshiba unveils Linux-based home entertainment gateway platform |
Sep. 30, 2002
San Jose, CA -- (press release excerpt) -- Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC) today disclosed details of a complete integrated TX49 Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) processor-based reference platform for entertainment home gateway applications. Five leading companies joined with TAEC and cooperated in the development of the reference platform: Lineo, Systemonic, Sigma Designs, Vweb, and Wipro. The first demonstration of the reference platform will take place at CEATEC in Japan on October 1, 2002.
"Toshiba Corporation (Toshiba) expects the entertainment gateway to be the center of the home of the future," said Farhad Mafie, vice president of the ASSP Business Unit at TAEC.
Toshiba's modular and configurable entertainment gateway reference platform incorporates the features and functions needed to build an entertainment gateway or add connectivity to products including televisions, personal computers, digital video recorders, personal video recorders, game consoles, etc. Various configurations are supported and new functions for emerging vertical markets can be added. Integrating both hardware and software on a Linux operating system platform, the entertainment home gateway reference solution includes: - Toshiba's TX49 64-bit RISC processor, which includes an integrated memory controller, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) controller, Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitters, timers, a serial peripheral interface, an Audio Codec '97 interface and a triple Data Encryption Standard engine.
- Toshiba's recently announced TC86C001FG companion chip, which supports the PCI interface, the Inter-IC bus, Universal Serial Bus (USB) hosts, USB devices, Integrated Drive Electronics Ultra-DMA mode 4 interface, general parallel input/output (I/O) and serial I/O.
- Sigma Designs' DVD/MPEG-4 decoder with full-screen MPEG-4 playback.
- Systemonic's programmable Tondelayo silicon solution for 802.11a+b W-LAN communication with "detect and connect" capability.
- Vweb's MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 codec, MPEG-2 and -4 transcoding on the fly, D1 size (720 x 486 pixels) MPEG-4 and a video streaming engine.
- Lineo and Wipro's communications, virtual private network engine and voice over IP on embedded Linux.
The platform can also be used for other emerging market applications such as an MPEG-4 camera and surveillance system.
While the definition of an entertainment home gateway is still emerging, conceptually, it will serve as the pivotal point between public and home networks. It will connect the public packet network to the residential network. Incoming broadband data may be delivered via cable or DSL modem but in all cases will pass through the entertainment home gateway. Most likely implemented as a single box, the entertainment gateway will route the data, audio and video via a wired or wireless connection to a client product, such as a telephone, PC, TV, VCR or game console. The gateway server is also responsible for secure routing and switching, including content protection.
TAEC will make the entertainment reference platform available to customers at no cost upon request starting in the third quarter of 2002. Interested customers should contact TAEC directly. TAEC is an independent operating company owned by Toshiba America, Inc., a subsidiary of Toshiba, the second largest semiconductor company worldwide in terms of global sales for the year 2001 according to Gartner/Dataquest's Worldwide Semiconductor Market Share Ranking.
(Click here for further information)
|
|
|
FUEL Database on MontaVista Linux
Whether building a mobile handset, a car navigation system, a package tracking device, or a home entertainment console, developers need capable software systems, including an operating system, development tools, and supporting libraries, to gain maximum benefit from their hardware platform and to meet aggressive time-to-market goals.
Breaking New Ground: The Evolution of Linux Clustering
With a platform comprising a complete Linux distribution, enhanced for clustering, and tailored for HPC, Penguin Computing¿s Scyld Software provides the building blocks for organizations from enterprises to workgroups to deploy, manage, and maintain Linux clusters, regardless of their size.
Data Monitoring with NightStar LX
Unlike ordinary debuggers, NightStar LX doesn¿t leave you stranded in the dark. It¿s more than just a debugger, it¿s a whole suite of integrated diagnostic tools designed for time-critical Linux applications to reduce test time, increase productivity and lower costs. You can debug, monitor, analyze and tune with minimal intrusion, so you see real execution behavior. And that¿s positively illuminating.
Virtualizing Service Provider Networks with Vyatta
This paper highlights Vyatta's unique ability to virtualize networking functions using Vyatta's secure routing software in service provider environments.
High Availability Messaging Solution Using AXIGEN, Heartbeat and DRBD
This white paper discusses a high-availability messaging solution relying on the AXIGEN Mail Server, Heartbeat and DRBD. Solution architecture and implementation, as well as benefits of using AXIGEN for this setup are all presented in detail.
Understanding the Financial Benefits of Open Source
Will open source pay off? Open source is becoming standard within enterprises, often because of cost savings. Find out how much of a financial impact it can have on your organization. Get this methodology and calculator now, compliments of JBoss.
Embedded Hardware and OS Technology Empower PC-Based Platforms
The modern embedded computer is the jack of all trades appearing in many forms.
Data Management for Real-Time Distributed Systems
This paper provides an overview of the network-centric computing model, data distribution services, and distributed data management. It then describes how the SkyBoard integration and synchronization service, coupled with an implementation of the OMG¿s Data Distribution Service (DDS) standard, can be used to create an efficient data distribution, storage, and retrieval system.
7 Advantages of D2D Backup
For decades, tape has been the backup medium of choice. But, now, disk-to-disk (D2D) backup is gaining in favor. Learn why you should make the move in this whitepaper.
|
|
|
|
|
news feed