Fraunhofer IIS Audio Decoder in Frontier Silicon's Radio Module Powers REVO DAB+...

Fraunhofer IIS Audio Decoder in Frontier Silicon's Radio Module Powers REVO DAB+ Radio

ERLANGEN, Germany--(Business Wire)--
Frontier Silicon has partnered up with REVO to deliver the world's
first radio that combines DAB/DAB+ and Internet streaming. Revo's Blik
Radiostation, containing Frontier Silicon's Venice 6 multi-standard
module, is the first digital radio on the market using Fraunhofer's
DAB+ audio decoder and framework. The Blik offers native DAB+ support
without the need for further upgrades.

The HE-AAC v2 codec specified in DAB+ delivers exceptional audio
quality at about one third of the sub-channel bitrate used in regular
DAB broadcasts. More radio stations broadcasting on one multiplex
leads to a greater station choice for consumers, while the more
efficient use of the radio spectrum lowers the transmission costs for
broadcasters.

Steve Evans, VP, Sales and Marketing, Frontier Silicon said:
"Considering the efficient use of the available bandwidth in DAB+
broadcast, Fraunhofer's decoder offers an amazing sound experience to
the consumer. We expect our DAB+ radio modules to have particular
appeal in key markets rolling out DAB+ services in the near future
such as Australia and Switzerland."

"We are pleased to see our audio decoder solution help speed the
market introduction of DAB+ radios powered by Frontier Silicon chips.
That way, both consumers and broadcasters will benefit from receivers
available as soon as the first DAB+ station goes on-air," said Harald
Popp, head of the Multimedia Realtime Systems department of Fraunhofer
IIS.

Fraunhofer offers complete DAB and DAB+ audio decoder
implementations on many embedded platforms, including microprocessors
or DSPs from ARM, MIPS, Texas Instruments, Analog Devices, Intel, AMD
and IBM. Broadcasters can license Fraunhofer's DAB+ encoder modules
individually or as part of the professional DAB/DAB+/DRM broadcast
server solutions.

The uniqueness of the Frontier Silicon DAB+ solution lies in its
hardware-assisted DSP core architecture, which coupled with
Fraunhofer's efficient MPEG-4 HE-AAC v2 audio IP, enables complex
broadcast streams to be decoded while keeping power consumption low.
Venice 6 is the world's first digital module capable of receiving
Internet radio via Wi-Fi, DAB/DAB+, FM and music streamed from a
network server.

Visit Fraunhofer IIS this week at NAB Show booth SL7424 in Las
Vegas and Frontier Silicon at Hong Kong Show.

About Fraunhofer IIS

Founded in 1985 the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits
IIS in Erlangen, today with 520 staff members, ranks first among the
Fraunhofer Institutes concerning headcount and revenues. As the
inventor of mp3 and co-inventor of the MPEG AAC audio coding standard,
Fraunhofer IIS has reached worldwide recognition.

It provides research services on contract basis and technology
licensing.

The research topics are: 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.

The budget of 61 million Euro is mainly financed by projects from
industry, the service sector and public authorities. Less than 20
percent of the budget is subsidized by federal and state funds.

For more information, visit www.iis.fraunhofer.de.

About Frontier Silicon

Frontier Silicon is the leading supplier of digital and RF
integrated circuits and modules for digital audio products and mobile
digital TV. Established in 2001 as a privately funded fabless
semiconductor company, it has over 160 employees and is headquartered
in Watford, England, with design centres in Cambridge and Dublin, and
branch offices and technical support representatives in Hong Kong,
China, Korea and Japan. Products include audio processors for digital
radio and network streaming, and receiver solutions for mobile TV.

* Fraunhofer USA Digital Media Technologies, a division of
Fraunhofer USA, Inc., promotes and supports the products of Fraunhofer
IIS in the U.S.

Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS
Matthias Rose
Phone +49 9131 776-6175
Fax +49 9131 776-6099
amm-info@iis.fraunhofer.de
or
Fraunhofer USA, Inc.
Digital Media Technologies*
Jan Nordmann
Phone +1 408 573 9900
press@dmt.fraunhofer.org
www.dmt.fraunhofer.org

Copyright Business Wire 2008