Fraunhofer IIS and STMicroelectronics Team to Enable Dedicated Solution for Digital Radio Mondiale |
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STMicroelectronics
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Press release date: March 28, 2007
GENEVA, March 28 - STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM), a leader in technologies for digital radio, today announced the signing of an agreement with the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS to jointly develop a dedicated low-power Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) for Digital Radio Mondiale(TM) (DRM(TM)) applications such as fixed and portable radios, car receivers, software receivers, and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). Allowing listeners to set their radio using station names or IDs, the ASIC will offer excellent audio quality and integration of sound with data and text.
Standardized by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), Digital Radio Mondiale is a universal, open standard digital radio system with FM-like sound quality available to markets worldwide for long-wave (LW), medium-wave (MW), and short-wave (SW) frequencies. In addition to providing substantially better audio quality and interference-free reception, the DRM system benefits listeners with new multimedia content such as track title, artist name and station name, which can be displayed on DRM receivers to enhance the listening experience.
Unlike digital radio systems that require a new frequency allocation, DRM uses the existing Amplitude Modulation (AM) broadcast frequency bands (below 30MHz) more efficiently. The DRM signal fits into the AM broadcast-band plan and can be easily carried by many existing AM transmitters, resulting in a simple, inexpensive upgrade to the previous transmission infrastructure.
"Radio makers, broadcasters, and listeners can benefit from Fraunhofer's collaboration with an industry-leading company like STMicroelectronics. Using our DRM receiver technology and the Audio Coding Library provided by Coding Technologies, ST can deliver all of the components to produce a complete solution for DRM," said Michael Schlicht, Group Manager Integrated Circuits for Communication Systems and Program Manager Digital Broadcast Systems, Fraunhofer IIS.
"By combining Fraunhofer IIS's technologies and intellectual-property rights on DRM base-band processing into a final dedicated platform of integrated circuits, STMicroelectronics, supported in system's validation by Tele Diffusion de France (TDF), will provide leading-edge infotainment solutions able to excite the radio market in the upcoming years," said Riccardo Ferrari, General Manager Digital Broadcasting Radio Division of ST's Automotive Product Group.
"We are pleased that these DRM members have agreed to combine their complementary competencies to develop products that help drive new innovations in technology," said Peter Senger, Chairman of the Digital Radio Mondiale Consortium. "DRM's capabilities for both audio and data will give new life to the traditional radio market, opening up the world of wide-area data-casting of news, weather, traffic, and other information, as well as high-quality audio broadcasting."
Further information on Digital Radio Mondiale is available at http://www.drm.org/.
About Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and Fraunhofer IIS
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is the largest organization for applied research in Europe. With 56 Institutes throughout Germany as well as numerous international research centers and liaison offices in Europe, USA and Asia, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft has an established reputation for excellence at the front rank of applied research and development. A staff of some 12,500, predominantly qualified scientists and engineers, works with an annual research budget of over one billion euros.
Founded in 1985, the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS in Erlangen, ranks first in employees and revenues among the Fraunhofer Institutes with its 480 staff members. Fraunhofer IIS has achieved worldwide recognition for the development of the audio coding method mp3.
Fraunhofer IIS provides research services on a contract basis and licenses technology in the areas of audio and video source coding, multimedia realtime systems, digital radio broadcasting and digital cinema systems, integrated circuits and sensor systems, design automation, wireless, wired and optical networks, localization and navigation, imaging systems and nanofocus X-ray technology, high-speed cameras, medical sensor solutions, and communications technology in transport and logistics.
Its budget of 58 million Euro is financed primarily by projects from industry and public institutions, with less than 20 percent subsidized by state and federal funds.
About STMicroelectronics
STMicroelectronics is a global leader in developing and delivering semiconductor solutions across the spectrum of microelectronics applications. An unrivalled combination of silicon and system expertise, manufacturing strength, Intellectual Property (IP) portfolio and strategic partners positions the Company at the forefront of System-on-Chip (SoC) technology and its products play a key role in enabling today's convergence markets. The Company's shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, on Euronext Paris and on the Milan Stock Exchange. In 2006, the Company's net revenues were $9.85 billion and net earnings were $782 million. Further information on ST can be found at http://www.st.com/.
Source: STMicroelectronics
CONTACT: Michael Markowitz of STMicroelectronics, +1-212-821-8959, michael.markowitz@st.com
Web site: http://www.st.com/ http://www.drm.org.
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