1999-09-27 , S/IC-2081/34
Product News From Philips Semiconductors

Total solution supports home networking protocols and reduces developers' time to market

Philips Semiconductors, a leading provider of 1394 technologies, today announced its partnership with Zayante, the world leader in 1394 software. Through licensing Zayante's TNF™ software, Philips Semiconductors becomes the first company to offer developers a complete, integrated, commercial quality solution of 1394 hardware and software components, fully compliant with the IEEE 1394-1995 and 1394a standards for a high performance serial bus. With this complete solution, time-to-market is significantly reduced and a truly connected home (computer, peripherals and Consumer Electronics (CE) devices) is enabled.

Written in ANSI 'C' and designed for embedded systems, the Philips Semiconductors' communications driver and protocol stack are highly portable, with versions that will soon be available for all major Real Time Operating Systems (RTOS). The AV/C protocol, used in camcorders and other audio/video devices, is the first of many home networking protocols the Philips Semiconductors solution will support. Philips Semiconductors' solution will soon support all protocols that connect computers and CE devices, such as SBP-2, used in mass storage devices; DPP, used in printers and IP/1394, for networking connectivity. The Philips Semiconductors 1394 solution will also support a content protection standard for protecting digital content between devices linked using the 1394 digital interface. Utilizing proven cryptographic technology, the Philips Semiconductors 1394 solution will help prevent illegal intercepting, copying or tampering of digital content. Additionally, developers gain unprecedented flexibility through Philips Semiconductors' 1394 solution, due to its ability to configure products with the protocols that suit the needs of the device, as well as the freedom to select the processor and operating system that meet the requirements of the applications.

As the distinction between computer and consumer electronics markets blur, there is a greater need for 1394 interconnectivity in the home, as well as faster development time of evolving 1394 technology. 1394 connectivity is essential for allowing computer users to maximize applications that move large volumes of data between computers and peripherals, such as the digital, audio, and visual transfer between computers and digital camcorders.

"We are pleased that Philips Semiconductors licensed Zayante's TNF (Thirteen Ninety Four) software after its detailed analysis of competitive products on the market", said James Navarro, Zayante's CEO. "It is a clear endorsement of the value of our architecture, and represents a significant step in Zayante's strategy of providing truly interoperable solutions to the 1394 marketplace by partnering with the world's top semiconductor and consumer electronics companies."

"By partnering with Zayante, Philips Semiconductors furthers its commitment to the home networking market. We not only provide the best and most complete 1394 technology available today, we also offer one-stop shopping for a 1394 solution, and greatly enhance the developer's time to market", said Tom Barber, international product marketing manager, interconnectivity, Philips Semiconductors. "This is a significant milestone for 1394 developers, because the software complexity necessary for connecting computing and consumer electronics equipment had previously been an obstacle in getting product to market quickly."

Philips Semiconductors' participation in the 1394 Trade Association, and the HAVi™ consortium, combined with Zayante's participation in the 1394 standards committees and unparalleled expertise in 1394 software development, positions Philips Semiconductors at the forefront of defining how 1394 will work and perform. Philips Semiconductors facilitates the development of 1394 products by porting to a variety of RTOS and CPU combinations. Additionally, Philips Semiconductors now has access to technologies from some of the best 1394 engineers available. This means that any 1394 product purchased from Philips Semiconductors is of the highest quality.

Zayante, Inc., is dedicated to being the full-service leader in providing 1394 silicon and software products and services to manufacturers of computing and consumer electronics devices and related semiconductor chips. Based in Scotts Valley, California (USA), the company was founded in 1996 by the visionaries and primary developers of 1394 technology from Apple Computer Inc. It is a privately held company supported by venture capital from Sigma Partners. Zayante's complete architectural approach, encompassing BridgeWise silicon technologies and its Radically Distributed Network Architecture (R/DNA) software implementations, together with its unrivaled 1394 technology expertise, puts the company in a class of its own. More information is available at  http://www.zayante.com/.

Philips Semiconductors, a division of Royal Philips Electronics, headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, is the eighth largest semiconductor supplier based on Dataquest's 1998 report*. Philips Semiconductors' innovations in digital audio, video, and mobile technology position the company as a leader in the consumer, multimedia and wireless communications markets. Sales offices are located in all major markets around the world and are supported by systems labs. Additional information on Philips Semiconductors can be obtained by accessing its home page at  http://cdrom.semiconductors.com/.

*Based on Vendor Revenue from Shipments of Total Semiconductors Worldwide according to Dataquest's 1998 Worldwide Semiconductor Market Share report published in May, 1999.

Zayante, TNF, BridgeWise, Radically Distributed Network Architecture and R/DNA are trademarks of Zayante, Inc.
HAVi is a trademark of GRUNDIG AG, Hitachi, Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Royal Philips Electronics N.V., Sharp Corporation, Sony Corporation, Thomson multimedia S.A. and Toshiba Corporation