AzureWave selects Mirics' FlexiTV™ technology for multi-standard PCTV receivers

Combination of Mirics FlexiTV™ technology and AzureWave PC engineering expertise brings next generation global broadcast TV and radio content to notebooks

FLEET, UK — AzureWave Technologies, the leading provider of PC TV receiver solutions, has selected Mirics FlexiTV™ for the development of a new generation of PC TV receivers. Using Mirics’ unique multi-standard hardware and software-based demodulation technology, reception of DVB-T, DAB and FM content will now be possible on notebooks using a receiver with both a lower cost and smaller size than current single-standard PC TV solutions. AzureWave’s Mirics FlexiTV™-based embedded PC TV solution will be available on consumer notebooks in 2009.

AzureWave has many years of experience in developing PC TV receivers for multiple TV standards in all regions of the globe. With its track record of success in wireless and PC technologies, AzureWave is ideally placed to roll out TV and radio reception on a broad range of consumer notebooks.

Mirics Semiconductor is the leading provider of global broadcast silicon and software receiver solutions. By implementing software demodulation running on a host processor, Mirics FlexiTV™ leverages the power and system memory of today’s PC platforms. This allows nomadic reception of global broadcasts without multiple silicon-based demodulators or additional system memory. Mirics FlexiTV also provides a simple standards upgrade path via software re-configurability, thereby enabling future-proofing against emerging or variant broadcast standards.

Patrick Lin, Engineering Director at AzureWave commented: “Many geographical regions require reception of multiple TV and radio standards, which can increase the cost of adding TV and radio on notebooks. But making use of the host CPU, which is otherwise idling, greatly reduces the system cost and form factor. It also substantially widens the number of standards that can be supported with just one hardware platform, bringing economy of scale to our customers.”

“We are delighted to be working with AzureWave, a highly successful provider of PC TV solutions,” said Chris Cytera, Mirics FlexiTV Product Line Director. “AzureWave has a reputation for innovation and embracing new technology in order to bring the best possible user experience to consumers at an attractive price point. Mirics FlexiTV will enable AzurWave to raise the bar for multi-standard broadcast reception on notebooks, increasing their appeal as consumer-centric products.”