Thomson Consumer Electronics and Scientific-Atlanta collaborate on bid to produce HFC Digital set-tops for Time Warner Cable.INDIANAPOLIS and ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 29, 1996-- Thomson Consumer Electronics, Indianapolis, and Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. announced today that they will collaborate on the development of an advanced Digital Video Home Communication Terminal for digital Hybrid Fiber Coax (networking) Hybrid Fiber Coax - (HFC) A kind of physical connection used in networks for audio, video, and data. DVB (Digital Video Broadcast) is used in Europe and DOCSIS is used in N America. (HFC 1. (networking) HFC - Hybrid Fiber Coax. 2. (hardware) HFC - hydrofluorocarbon. ) networks and have proposed this terminal as part of a bid to Time Warner Cable This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. for its latest digital set-top terminal. In the proposal, Thomson Consumer Electronics will manufacture the HFC Digital Video Home Communications Terminal that is being jointly developed by TCE TCE trichloroethylene. TCE Environment A volatile chlorinated hydrocarbon that boils at 88ºC and is highly soluble–1000 ppm in water, with various industrial uses Toxicity Peripheral neuropathy, carcinogenic. and S-A S-A abbr. sinoatrial S-A, SA sinoatrial. and will be based on MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group) An ISO/ITU standard for compressing digital video. Pronounced "em-peg," it is the universal standard for digital terrestrial, cable and satellite TV, DVDs and digital video recorders (DVRs). 2 and DAVIC DAVIC Digital Audio-Visual Council DAVIC Digital Audio Video Council standards. Also, the proposal offers OpenTV software from the Thomson-Sun Alliance as the authoring and run-time engine and the PowerTV operating system developed by PowerTV, Inc. Scientific-Atlanta will supply the Digital Broadband Media System which includes headend hardware and software, the PowerKey Conditional Access System A conditional access system (CAS) is a system by which electronic transmission of digital media, especially satellite television signals through cable, is limited to subscribed clients. This is called conditional access. and several key components for the terminals. Joseph P. Clayton, Executive Vice President of Thomson Consumer Electronics, said, "Thomson Consumer Electronics and Scientific-Atlanta are uniquely qualified to deliver digital Hybrid Fiber Coax systems and terminals that will provide subscribers with the most advanced digital video services in this increasingly challenging communications marketplace." He added, "Scientific-Atlanta has made major investments in HFC over the past several years and we see this partnership as a natural complement to Thomson's digital leadership position already established in the areas of DBS (Direct Broadcast Satellite) A one-way TV broadcast service from a communications satellite to a small round or oval dish antenna no larger than 20" in diameter. and MMDS (Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service or Microwave Multipoint Distribution Service) A digital wireless transmission system that works in the 2.2-2.4 GHz range. ." Scientific-Atlanta 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. and President, James F. McDonald, said, "We believe that combining the strengths and leadership positions of our two companies in digital video delivery systems and terminals will provide Time Warner Cable with the most advanced digital video technology and the most rugged and efficient implementation." Scientific-Atlanta is a world leader in both analog and digital broadband systems including security and conditional access equipment. The Company provided Time Warner Cable with much of the digital network, including digital video set-tops, for their Full Service Network in Orlando, Florida, the world's first Interactive Digital Video System over a broadband Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC) network. This full service digital video network delivers movies on demand, video games, home shopping and other multi-media interactive video services to 4,000 subscribers in the Orlando area. The largest manufacturer of digital receiver terminals in the world, Thomson Consumer Electronics holds the no. 1 market share in television receivers and VCRs in the United States with its highly recognized consumer brand names...RCA See RCA connector and video/TV history. , GE and ProScan. Thomson has achieved a leadership position in MPEG2 digital video technology through its work in development, manufacturing and retail distribution of RCA and GE DBS consumer receivers. Since the successful launch in June, 1994, Thomson has produced and delivered over 2 million digital receivers through more than 15,000 retail outlets. The parties are in the process of negotiating licensing agreements to use the PowerKEY Conditional Access System and other S-A technology in the Digital Broadband Media System for digital HFC networks. The PowerTV Operating System provides cross-platform software support, high performance and state-of-the-art features and functionality. Unlike other operating systems, PowerTV is specifically designed for set-top units. The new software is intended to make it much easier for network providers, authors and programmers to deliver interactive, multi-media programming to consumers. PowerTV can be used in cable television, telephone and satellite environments. PowerTV's architecture is scaleable across platforms of differing capabilities so that additional features can be added as more complex applications evolve. By using this architecture in these digital terminals, customers will have the ability to make the transition from today's broadcast to switched interactive services. Thomson is negotiating a licensing agreement to use the PowerTV Operating System with PowerTV, Inc., a subsidiary of Scientific-Atlanta. Scientific-Atlanta's PowerKEY digital conditional access system uses both public and private key cryptography Typically refers to secret key cryptography, which uses the same secret key. However, the use of the term "private" is confusing, because in public key cryptography (a different architecture), a "private key" is used. See cryptography. for support of advanced two-way applications. PowerKEY employs RSA encryption algorithms to provide content protection, privacy, digital signature and message authentication. Supporting two-way applications will be critical for future growth when offering advanced services such as Internet access, video on demand, and home shopping. With PowerKEY, theft of services Theft of services is the legal term for a crime which is committed when a person obtains valuable services — as opposed to goods — by deception, force, threat or other unlawful means, i.e., without lawfully compensating the provider of said services. , falsified orders, and vandalism of software and databases can be curtailed. Sensitive information, such as credit card numbers can be encrypted and exchanged. In addition, the identity of the sender and the message content can be authenticated -- an important capability for multi-provider authorization environments and for validation of orders from subscribers. In addition to the digital video set-top units, the Scientific-Atlanta/Thomson proposal includes a total network solution comprised of Scientific-Atlanta's digital broadband media system which includes MPEG2 encoders, Broadband Integrated Gateways, DAVIC-1.0/DVD compliant QAM modulators, DAVIC 1.0 compliant QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) A phase modulation technique that transmits two bits in four modulation states. See PSK and phase modulation. modulators and demodulators and Digital Network Control System. Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :SFA)(http://www.sciatl.com) is a leading supplier of broadband communications systems, satellite-based video, voice and data communications networks, and worldwide customer service support. The Company is the Official Broadband Video Distribution Sponsor of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. Thomson Consumer Electronics is a subsidiary of THOMSON multimedia, the world's fourth largest consumer electronics firm. -0- PowerKEY is a trademark of Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. PowerTV is a trademark of PowerTV, Inc., a subsidiary primarily owned by Scientific-Atlanta. EDITORS NOTE: There is a double slash following "http:" in the World Wide Web address referenced in the text above. There is also an "at" symbol between "bill.brobst" and "sciatl.com" and between "HarperJ" and "indy.tce.com" in the E-mail addresses below. These symbols may not appear properly in some systems. CONTACT: Scientific-Atlanta, Atlanta Bill Brobst, 770/903-6306 (Office) 770/449-3939 (Home) bill.brobst@sciatl.com or Thomson Consumer Electronics, Indianapolis James Harper, 317/587-4347 HarperJ@indy.tce.com |
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