EnThink Introduces Robust 5C Digital Content Protection Technology for High Speed 1394 Audio Video Applications.

Business Editors and High-Tech Writers

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 19, 2000

EnThink, a wholly owned subsidiary of Wipro Technologies, today announced a complete encryption and copy protection solution that conforms to the 5C Digital Transmission Content Protection protocol. The technology prevents illegal copying or intercepting of audio and video content as it traverses digital media like the IEEE 1394 high performance serial bus. The IEEE 1394 serial bus is a connectivity standard that is an important enabling technology today, as consumer electronics moves towards becoming all digital, and consumer electronics and personal computing markets converge on a common platform.

"Enthink's content protection solution uniquely positions us to address the concerns of content providers, such as motion picture studios," according to Dr. A.L. Rao, Chief Executive, Global R&D Wipro Technologies. "This core augments our growing family of 1394 product offerings and enables us to provide a complete set of solutions to address the needs for interconnectivity in the consumer electronics and personal computing domains."

The "5C" consortium was formed by five companies who are leaders in the consumer and computer electronics world -- Hitachi, Intel, Matsushita, Sony and Toshiba -- to define a mechanism for secure transmission of copy-protected content between digital devices. This was to address the growing need for protecting copyrighted content, since digital data formats can be easily duplicated without any loss in quality.

EnThink offers a complete 5C solution that includes the crucial M6 Encryption/ Decryption logic in hardware, thus providing a more robust and secure implementation, as well as offering better speed and performance. The software implementation for the Authentication and Key Exchange and System Renewability Message functions ensures greater flexibility for customizing EnThink's content protection solution to third party 1394 Audio/Video Link chips. In order to balance the protection requirements of the film and recording industries with the real-world requirements of PC and CE users, the solution supports two authentication levels - full authentication for all content protected by the system, and restricted authentication which is used for copying devices like D-VHS recorders.

EnThink's Audio/Video (AV) Link Layer Controller is designed as an interconnectivity solution for a wide variety of digital electronic products like DVB/ ATSC digital set-top-boxes, televisions, VCRs, video cameras, DVD players and other consumer applications. In addition to 5C content protection, the 1394.a compliant AV Link supports transmission of digital content across the IEEE 1394 interface at speeds of up to 400 Mbps making it one of the fastest IEEE 1394 devices for audio/video data.

The synthesizable Verilog core includes hardware support for IEC 61883 specifications - a widely agreed upon transmission protocol for transferring audio-video data and control commands over the IEEE 1394 high performance serial bus. The AV interface can process audio-video content transferred in MPEG-2 transport streams, as well as in other AV data formats, for Digital Video (DV) and Digital Satellite System (DSS) applications. The AV Link features a generic 8, 16 or 32-bit host interface that easily supports most microprocessors and micro controllers available today. Offering hot plug-and-play, this core enables devices to be connected without the need to power down equipment or reconfigure the 1394 bus.

The IEC 61883 Audio/Video Link Layer Controller, with 5C Content Protection, adds to EnThink's growing family of IEEE 1394 connectivity solutions that include the 1394.a and the next generation 1394.b Link and Physical Layer Cores, as well as 1394 software stacks.

About EnThink, Inc.

EnThink, Inc. is a leading provider of ready-for-use networking and connectivity technologies, particularly in the 1394 technology domain. The company acts as a one-stop shop for OEM customers, with a comprehensive product portfolio that includes proven Intellectual Property (IP) Cores, firmware, systems software and extensive integration and support services.

EnThink is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wipro Technologies, a global provider of IT services and solutions. These services address the e-business transformation requirements of the enterprise and technology markets. For the technology market, they constitute design realization services in Telecom, Datacom and Embedded Systems. Visit the EnThink website at www.EnThink.com for a complete walk-through of EnThink's array of products.

EnThink is a registered trademark of EnThink, Inc. All other company, brand or product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.