Continuing to pioneer technological advancements by providing developers the flexible and extensive development foundation they need to grow their market presence, Texas Instruments Incorporated will demonstrate at the International Broadcasters Conference (IBC) in Amsterdam, September 8 - 12, a converged platform running on a single digital signal processor and targeting multiple end equipments including video telephony, internet protocol set-top boxes (IP-STB), media centers and portable multimedia players. For more information, see http://www.ti.com/convergedplatform.

Converging different applications into one product usually requires additional silicon even though much of the technology and protocols are shared. Leveraging TI's digital video software development kit based on DaVinci technology enables developers to extend the functionality of existing hardware designs to integrate entirely new applications without adding to the bill of materials (BOM).

"TI provides the flexible platform upon which these converged applications can be explored and then cost-effectively be deployed," said Charlie Gonsalves, digital video new business development manager, TI. "We can now take the converged home network out of the 'Future Pavilion,' so to speak, and into the marketplace."

TI has extended application programming interfaces (APIs) to allow converged functionality by offering access into the framework to enable, for example, an existing set-top box application to provide video telephony functionality without requiring another processor. As a result, other than the addition of a camera and microphone, designing a converged internet protocol television (IPTV) set-top box with video telephony functionality becomes a matter of introducing new software.

Coupled with core functionality, the use of extended APIs and frameworks shifts development towards a component-based approach. In this way, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are able to easily explore integrating multiple applications using the same cost-effective base hardware architecture to create a wide family of converged devices including IP-STBs coupled with video telephony, broadcast TV, video answering machines and home security systems that can then stream content to digital media adaptors and 3G handsets over IP networks and portable multimedia players, to name a few. With this technology OEMs can offer affordable, advanced digital video services to consumers such as video telephony and video answering machines with IP-STBs.

TI Leverages Full Eco-system to Develop Converged Platform

To demonstrate the effectiveness of its converged development framework, TI collaborated with several industry leaders to create a platform based on a single DSP processor that provides IP-STB and video telephony functionality. TI's digital media processors based on DaVinci technology provide the flexible hardware foundation capable of supporting multiple codecs such as MPEG-2, H.264, DivX and Windows Media Video (WMV). Software from ANT, a leading provider of software and solutions for the IPTV, hybrid TV and consumer electronics industries, enables interactive content applications that control everything from video-on-demand (VoD) interfaces to dynamic news, information and communication applications.

"ANT Galio is compact and highly responsive, making it ideal for embedded applications," said Simon Woodward, CEO, ANT. "The availability of the ANT Galio on TI's converged platform will allow OEMs to quickly deliver sophisticated combinations of digital TV programming with interactive content and services to the customer. Using the very latest industry content programming standards, OEMs can easily improve the consumer interaction with their product, significantly enhancing the end-user experience."

RADVISION supplied its Multimedia Terminal Framework, including best-of- class, fully-interoperable session initiation protocol (SIP) stack and call control management.

"Leveraging our extensive know-how in the SIP stacks' development, the powerful and inherent flexibility of DaVinci technology will allow us to drive video telephony capabilities into next-generation connected media devices, such as IP-STBs, portable multimedia players, media centers and more," said Adi Paz, senior marketing and product management director, RADVISION. "In addition, the integration of our 3G-324M stack into the converged platform will enable the IPTV world to truly address interoperability with 3G mobile phones."

The converged platform demonstration can be viewed at TI's booth 1.410 at IBC. To further showcase the convergence of video telephony and set-top box functionality using DaVinci technology, TI has also collaborated with Ittiam, a technology company specializing in digital media applications.

"The ease and speed with which we could transform our high performance video telephony into a converged application on an IP-STB emphasizes the power of DaVinci technology," said Sattam Dasgupta, vice president, Media Streaming business, Ittiam. "Video conferencing will now move from boardrooms to living rooms at affordable prices."

This demonstration, located in Hall 1, Suite B5, will feature TI's real- time set-top box functionality integrated with Ittiam's video telephony.

TI's DaVinci technology is an integrated offering of processors, software, tools and support, addressing digital video requirements across a range of applications. For more information on TI's DaVinci technology, please see http://www.thedavincieffect.com.