Philips Semiconductors Enhances TwoChipPIC Plus with AltoCom’s SoftModem Technology
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — June 9, 1997 — AltoCom Inc. today announced that Philips Semiconductors has acquired a license to AltoCom's v.34 software modem technology, SoftModem 2.0, and incorporated it into the TwoChipPIC Plus chipset unveiled earlier this year.
The integration of SoftModem into the TwoChipPIC Plus enables manufacturers to create products with fax and modem capabilities without the need for dedicated digital signal processors and thereby reduce the cost, complexity, and size of communications devices such as handheld personal computers, personal digital assistants, personal intelligence communicators, smart mobile phones, Webphones or handheld devices running the Windows+ CE operating system.
"The use of SoftModem in the TwoChipPIC Plus makes possible an array of smaller, faster, and less expensive communications products," said Zarko Draganic, AltoCom's president and CEO. "The selection of AltoCom's technology by Philips Semiconductor validates SoftModem as the high-performance value leader for software modem technology."
"AltoCom's SoftModem technology complements our systems-on-a-chip strategy of providing our customers powerful solutions that integrate hardware and software," said Stefan Braken-Guelke, General Manager, Handheld Computing Group at Philips Semiconductors. "SoftModem's high-performance and compact size make it ideal for enhancing the communications capabilities of chipsets such as the TwoChipPIC Plus."
About SoftModem
SoftModem is high-performance software capable of performing a full suite of data and fax modem functions on general-purpose microprocessors. SoftModem can share a single CPU with client applications, thus eliminating the need for dedicated digital signal processors in communications products SoftModem enables manufacturers of computers, set-top boxes, and other communications devices to both reduce the cost, size, and complexity of their products as well as to allow in-the-field upgrades of their products' communications capabilities.
SoftModem is available in V.32 (14.4 kilobits-per-second modem) and V.34 (33.6 kbps modem) implementations, with a 56 kbps version expected later this year. Because the SoftModem code is written entirely in C using fixed-point vector processing, SoftModem is operating-system independent and can be ported to any processor capable of meeting the real-time requirements. For licensing terms or more information, contact AltoCom at 415/691-4500 or www.altocom.com .
Philips Semiconductors, a division of Philips Electronics NV, headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, is the ninth largest semiconductor supplier in the world. Philips Semiconductors' innovations in digital audio, video, and mobile technology position the company as a leader in the consumer, multimedia and wireless communications markets. Sales offices are located in all major markets around the world and are supported by systems labs.
AltoCom, Inc. was founded in 1997 and provides leading signal processing technology for computer and electronic device manufacturers. AltoCom is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif. For more information on AltoCom, visit the company's Web site at http://www.altocom.com .
CONTACT:
AltoCom Inc., Mountain View
Tom Hershenson, 415/824-6572 (Press inquiries)
[email protected]
or
Rainer Kunz, 415/691-4500 (Sales inquiries)
[email protected]