Pace Americas Announces Family of Next-Generation MPEG-4 Set-Top Boxes for Cable

Pace’s Apache, Aspen, and Denali Advanced Video Compression Boxes to Deliver HD Content and Other High-Bandwidth Applications for the Cable Industry

BOCA RATON, Fla. & NEW ORLEANS — NCTA The Cable Show 2008 — Pace Micro Technology plc (LSE:PIC), the leading independent developer of digital TV technologies for the global payTV industry, today announced a new family of next-generation MPEG-4 advanced video compression set-top boxes for cable operators in North and South America. The announcement was made at the cable industry’s premier convention, The Cable Show – ’08, being held May 18-20 at The Ernest Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.

The Pace family of MPEG-4 set-top boxes provides cable system operators with solutions to meet their subscribers’ increasing demand for both linear HD (high definition) channels and bandwidth intensive HD VOD (video on demand). These next generation set-tops support numerous video compression formats including MPEG-2 and MPEG-4, while enabling operators to deliver content via SDV (switched digital video), ADS (all digital simulcast) or a pure all-digital network.

Embedded support for IP content delivery using DOCSIS channel bonding future proofs these new platforms. With operators in various stages of readiness for tru2way™ (OCAP), Pace has developed these units to provide cable systems with the flexibility to deploy into either a tru2way network or a traditional cable network with existing native applications like TVGuide, Aptiv, etc.

Pace’s new family of products will be a welcome addition to any operator’s video product. With a new sleek look and feel, these units provide subscribers with a device that easily fits into the modern home entertainment center. The units all have an industry-leading micro-footprint and advanced thermal control design to keep energy usage and heat to a minimum. Subscribers and cable company installers will find all of the connectors they are looking for on these boxes including a working external SATA port for hard drive expansion, audio ports to support Dolby Digital, HDMI, and external IR receiver input, to name a few.

Pace Micro Technology Americas’ VP of Product Development, Bruce Gureck commented, “Available for deployment later this year, our Pace MPEG-4 family of boxes enables cable operators to effectively manage the transition from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 originated content delivery and prepares them for the increasing demand of high-bandwidth programming and services that are experiencing rapid growth today, including HD, SDV and VOD.”

The all-digital, MPEG-4 Advanced Video Compression series includes:

• Aspen – dual-tuner, high-definition DVR CableCARD host set-top
• Apache – high-definition CableCARD host set-top
• Denali – standard-definition CableCARD host set-top

Key features of Pace’s MPEG-4 family of set-top boxes include:

• MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 capable
• OCAP™/tru2way support
• Full proven compatibility with existing networks, encryption, out of band signaling, VOD, SVOD, switched digital video, and billing systems
• Ready to deploy with commonly used interactive cable television applications from TVGuide, Aptiv, GuideWorks, TVA, Seachange, Arris, Concurrent, Tandberg, Integra 5, and others
• Advanced DSG capable with downstream channel bonding to handle next generation applications and two way messaging
• Next generation front end tuning technology for up to 1 Gigahertz of range

[On the 19th May 2008 Pace Micro Technology changed its name to Pace plc]