BridgeCo and HelloSoft Bring VoIP to the Digital Living Room; Reference Design Offers Internet Phone Service for Consumer Electronics.SAN JOSE, Calif. -- BridgeCo (www.bridgeco.net), a leading provider of digital home entertainment networking solutions, announced a new reference design that brings VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) telephone service to consumer electronics in the living room. Working with HelloSoft, a leading provider of communication intellectual property, the BridgeCo reference design enables consumer electronics OEMs and ODMs to quickly develop cost-effective, secure VoIP ATAs (analog telephone adapters). Consumers can plug any type of conventional telephone -- wired or cordless -- into the RJ-11 jack of an ATA (1) (AT Attachment) The specification for IDE drives. See IDE. (2) See analog telephone adapter. ATA - Advanced Technology Attachment to make free and low-cost domestic and international VoIP telephone calls through the Internet to their friends and families. The new BridgeCo reference design is the first comprehensive silicon and software platform targeted at CE (consumer electronics) manufacturers that want to incorporate VoIP capability directly into audio systems, A/V systems, stand-alone digital media players, set-top boxes and other CE devices in the digital living room. The BridgeCo VoIP reference design enables always-on, hands-free VoIP access to consumers through CE products that are connected to a wired or wireless home network. "Consumers spend a significant segment of the day in the living room," explained HelloSoft CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. , Krishna Yarlagadda. "So naturally they will want telephone access -- and VoIP access -- where they spend their evenings in front of the TV or stereo. We have optimized HelloSoft's industry-proven VoIP software suite to run on BridgeCo's processor and firmware platform, offering CE designers the opportunity to combine VoIP capability with audio networking in a single, cost-effective solution." VoIP functionality can be offered by OEMs and ODMs as a cost-effective stand-alone ATA that will operate on any Internet-connected home network, without any PC being required on the network. Designers have the option of integrating a cordless telephone base-station into the VoIP ATA, offering consumers a single handset that includes both conventional PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) The worldwide voice telephone network. Once only an analog system, the heart of most telephone networks today is all digital. In the U.S. and VoIP calling options, and all associated information, in a single user interface. CE OEMs can also use the reference design to embed VoIP functionality directly into next-generation audio and video products. The BridgeCo platform includes a robust encryption engine and a choice of encryption protocols to provide a secure communication channel from handset to Internet. BridgeCo expects that stand-alone ATAs based on the company's reference design will retail at substantially more competitive price points than other ATAs in the market today. Complete Turn-key Reference Design The reference design combines HelloSoft's world-class VoIP software suite with BridgeCo's recently announced DM830 media networking processor and firmware platform. HelloSoft's VoIP software suite, which runs on BridgeCo's DM830 processor, is an enhanced solution that incorporates G.711, G.726, G.723.1 and G.729AB vocoders, G.168-2000 Line Echo Canceller, Voice Activity Detection (VAD (Value Added Dealer) Same as VAR. ), Comfort Noise Generation (CNG), Jitter Buffer, Packet Loss Concealment Packet Loss Concealment (PLC) is a technique to mask the effects of packet loss in VoIP communications. Because the voice signal is sent as packets on a VoIP network, they may travel different routes to get to destination. (PLC), DTMF (Dual-Tone MultiFrequency) The type of audio signals that are generated when you press the buttons on a touch-tone telephone. See also DMTF. DTMF - Dual Tone Multi Frequency Tone Detection and Generation, Call Progressive Tone (CPT CPT See: Carriage Paid To ), SIP/RTP/RTCP Call Signaling and Control, and multi-channel system-level framework. The BridgeCo DM830 processor interfaces directly to a wide variety of PHY-layer network devices, including Ethernet, HomePlug(TM) Powerline and 802.11g wireless devices. The BridgeCo firmware bundle includes a real time operating system A master control program that can provide immediate response to input signals and transactions. See real time system and embedded Linux. that handles TCP/IP TCP/IP in full Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol Standard Internet communications protocols that allow digital computers to communicate over long distances. and USB USB in full Universal Serial Bus Type of serial bus that allows peripheral devices (disks, modems, printers, digitizers, data gloves, etc.) to be easily connected to a computer. networking protocols; MP3, WMA and other audio format decompression; DTCP/IP, Windows Media Connect Media server software from Microsoft that enables Windows Media Player to share multimedia content over the network. Using the UPnP protocol to discover the media files on the network, Windows Media Connect lets users send files and playlists to digital media hubs (digital media and many other popular digital rights management (DRM) encryption/decryption processing and authentication; and UPnP, IR and LCD control functions. Solution Eliminates Software Development and Integration Delay BridgeCo's bundled firmware and HelloSoft's VoIP suite eliminates the need for system OEMs and ODMs to create or integrate third-party operating systems, middleware, application software or complex drivers, making it possible for customers to achieve rapid market entry. An intuitive application programming interface (API) expands flexibility and simplifies the learning curve, enabling OEM and ODM customers to easily customize and differentiate the user interface and other performance parameters. "Our new VoIP reference design allows designers to develop discrete ATA products, or products that integrate VoIP functionality with Internet audio streaming and MP3 file sharing See Napster. ," said BridgeCo's Founder and CTO Christof Heidelberger. "Coupled with BridgeCo's comprehensive SDK and intuitive APIs, designers have enormous flexibility to imagine and implement a range of products for a variety of CE markets and applications." Pricing and Availability BridgeCo VoIP reference design evaluation boards are available for US$499. Evaluation boards come complete with a comprehensive SDK (software developer's kit See SDK. ), a complete bill-of-materials, Gerber files and VoIP software modules. Advanced software modules are available for an additional fee. About BridgeCo BridgeCo is a pioneer of digital entertainment networking solutions. The company's Entertainment Network Adapters(TM) (ENAs) are the world's most comprehensive, cost-effective and highly integrated silicon and software platforms for connecting Internet media sources, PCs and consumer electronics throughout the home. BridgeCo ENAs are used in a wide range of innovative and legacy products produced by the multi-billion dollar global consumer electronics industry, including Digital Media Players, Audio/Video receivers, DVD players, musical instruments and breakout boxes. Underlying all BridgeCo solutions are proprietary, integrated semiconductor and software technologies that network PCs to CE devices via widely-used standards and protocols for network and signal processing, including IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, New York, www.ieee.org) A membership organization that includes engineers, scientists and students in electronics and allied fields. 802.11/WiFi, IEEE 1394 and UPnP. BridgeCo products are designed to be interoperable with a wide variety of consumer devices: they are expected to be based on Digital Living Network Alliance Wikipedia is not the place for advertisement or self-advertising. The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), (formerly: Digital Home Working Group (DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) A coalition of computer and consumer electronics companies that was formed to ensure interoperability in home networks. ) Guidelines in the future, and are compliant with Intel(R) Networked Media Product Requirements (NMPR). BridgeCo is an ISO (1) See ISO speed. (2) (International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland, www.iso.ch) An organization that sets international standards, founded in 1946. The U.S. member body is ANSI. 9001-certified company based in Zurich, Switzerland. Its key investors include Fidelity Ventures, Benchmark Capital, Earlybird, Cipio Partners (formerly Infineon Ventures), and Intel Capital. For more information, please visit www.bridgeco.net. About HelloSoft HelloSoft is a leading provider of high-performance communications Intellectual Property (IP) for next generation VoIP and Wireless devices and equipment. HelloSoft licenses customizable Physical Layer and Networking Protocol IP to semiconductor companies and OEMs for Voice-Over-Packet, Wireless LAN, and 2.5G/3G Wireless. HelloSoft's solutions are provided as a suite of integrated products that include DSP software, Networking software, RTL, a complete reference design and design services to customize these solutions to customer needs. HelloSoft is funded by the leading venture capital firms Name Location Founding date Managing Partners/Directors Specialty Capital managed 5AM Ventures Menlo Park, CA; Waltham, MA 2002 John Diekman, PhD (managing partner), Scott Rocklage, PhD (managing partner), Andrew Schwab (managing partner) life sciences $200M [1] such as Venrock Associates, Sofinnova Ventures, Acer Technology Ventures and JumpStartup Ventures. For more information, please visit www.hellosoft.com. All trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners. |
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