Frontier Silicon module world’s first combined Internet radio, DAB and FM receiver to achieve IMDA profile 1 certification

IFA, BERLIN, GERMANY: Frontier Silicon, the leading supplier of connected audio technology, has announced that its Venice 6.2 module and Jupiter 6.2 reference platform are the first combined DAB, FM and Internet radio products to become IMDA (Internet Media Device Alliance) profile 1 certified.

This means that any radio products being developed by Frontier Silicon’s customers incorporating these modules or platforms also benefit from this approval, providing a faster time for achieving certification of their final end product to consumers.

The role of the IMDA is to define a series of end-to-end technical standards, functions and profiles, which will encourage the development of a wide range of compelling mainstream Internet media devices with a degree of consistency and interoperability for consumers, while enabling differentiation for manufacturers and broadcasters. Its certification program was rolled out yesterday at a half-day IMDA Summit at the IFA conference in Berlin.

IMDA profile 1 certification defines an IP radio receiver specification that maximises interoperability between broadcasters and content providers. Hence manufacturers that develop their products to this specification can be confident that the maximum number of services will be able to run on their products.

Frontier Silicon is the first to have a certified receiver product that combines internet radio, connected home audio streaming, DAB/DAB+ digital radio and FM radio – in a single device. This in turn provides radio manufacturers with a turnkey IMDA profile 1 certified internet radio product for fast-track certification of their own end products offering these features.

A number of lead customers already benefiting from Frontier Silicon’s IMDA profile 1 certification – including Roberts Radio, Revo Technologies, and M3 (the leading internet radio manufacturer in Germany) –- also showed their certified end products at the IMDA Summit at IFA.

The cost-optimized Venice 6.2 hardware module and accompanying IR2.0 Software Development Kit (SDK) enable the industry’s most comprehensive and versatile Internet radio, DAB and FM solution available, offering a complete hardware and software package for consumer electronics manufacturers looking to deliver products enabling multiple content streams, Internet radio, DAB/DAB+, FM, home networked audio, USB and premium music services.

The Venice 6.2/IR2.0 solution provides one-stop shopping for consumer electronics (CE) brands and their ODM (original device manufacturer) partners wanting to offer digital music services on their home audio devices.

The feature-customizable software stack enables easy integration into CE home devices, and the module provides access to over 12,000 Internet radio stations via the Frontier Silicon web portal, together with the listener’s own digital music library using UPnP. Also available are a comprehensive choice of premium streaming music services, including Pandora, Last.fm and SiriusXM.

The Venice 6.2 module is also available as part of Jupiter 6.2, a fully-qualified reference platform that provides a complete Internet radio reference design, with DAB/DAB+ capability and an LCD graphic display supporting Frontier Silicon’s enhanced user interface.

The Jupiter 6.2 platform is fully tested to conform to wireless network connectivity and will include wireless certifications as well as interoperability certification programs. Comprehensive certification support enables customers wishing using the Venice 6.2 module to certify their products with minimal time-to-market and cost.

Frontier Silicon launches world's first DMB-Radio profile one compliant tuner

BERLIN, GERMANY: Frontier Silicon, the leading supplier of connected audio technology, will be showing at IFA in Berlin this week the world’'s first mass production receiver module solution for DAB, DAB+ and DMB-Radio, which is fully compliant with the WorldDMB receiver profile 1 standard.

This provides a significant step forward in meeting the needs of manufacturers seeking to deliver a single mass market low power unified digital radio for Europe and Australia thus enabling countries to achieve their plans for digital radio switchover.

The availability of DMB-Radio on Venice 7 is especially significant for France, where the government has mandated that all radio receivers, including car radios, must be equipped with a DMB-Radio tuner by September 2013. As part of the digital radio switchover in France, broadcasters are planning to launch DMB-Radio this year in Paris, Nice and Marseille.

Anthony Sethill, CEO of Frontier Silicon, said: “France is the next major market to drive the switch to digital radio. It is anticipated the French market will represent a sizable opportunity for receiver manufacturers from 2010 with Frontier Silicon’s trusted digital tuner technology at the heart.”

Frontier Silicon was the first company to introduce a mass market solution for DAB+ and is still the only technology provider today shipping DAB+ in volume in Australia and Switzerland.

The Venice 7 module supports DAB, DAB+, DMB-Radio and FM without the additional cost of external SDRAM memory. It includes all interfaces necessary for a fully functional radio, needing only power supply, display, keypad, audio amplifier and speakers to complete a product.

The module is footprint compatible with the world’s best selling DAB/DAB+ solutions Venice 5 and Venice 5.1 – this means radio manufacturers have a fast-to-market upgrade path to offer all major digital radio standards without the need to redesign their product.

The software on Venice 7 provides full flexibility to allow radio manufacturers a high degree of product differentiation through UI customization. Software features include multi-language support, iPod docking with secondary display for artist and track name, power saving features, and an in-the-field firmware upgrade facility via USB.

A fully-qualified radio platform including iPod and iPhone docking support is also available with the Jupiter 7 production-ready reference platform. Compliant with WorldDMB’s Profile 1 specification and low power directives for European and the UK ‘Energy Saving Recommended’ scheme, Jupiter 7 is the leading reference design to drive switchover from FM to digital radio throughout Europe and Australia.