Siano and Cidana launch first CAS enabled Solution for Chinese Mobile TV PC market

SARFT certified CMMB solution enables digital Pay-TV Channels across PC platforms

BEIJING — Leading mobile TV chip-maker Siano Mobile Silicon and leading mobile TV software provider Cidana announced the launch of a CAS (Conditional Access System) solution to receive CMMB broadcast Mobile Digital TV services for PC products in China. The SARFT certified solution, the result of a joint product integration between Siano and Cidana, is based on a ‘Big-Card’ (or CI-Module) component, and marks the first time that CMMB encrypted content can be received and decrypted on a PC platform. The move further strengthens Siano’s and Cidana’s leading role in ramping up the CMMB MDTV market in China.

SARFT (The Chinese State Administration for Radio, Film and Television) requires that all CMMB devices will be equipped with the Conditional Access System (CAS) by the end of 2009. CMMB is now deployed in 150 major cities in China. In 37 of them, including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, most of the channels are still unencrypted (free-to-air) but the gradual transition to encrypted Pay-TV is expected to be completed by end of 2009. Conditional Access System – CAS – is meant to enable pay-TV services that will be added in 2009 to the existing CMMB free-to-air channels.

Based on Siano’s high performing CMMB receiver chip and Cidana’s state-of-the-art CMMB middleware and player, the CAS enabled Big-Card solution enables access to pay and free-to-air TV content across all “PC” devices, including notebooks, netbooks, Ultra-Mobile Devices (UMPCs) and Mobile Internet Devices MIDs), providing first-class video quality, the lowest possible power consumption levels and exceptional reception; including deep indoor locations and while travelling at fast speeds. Cidana’s CMMB PC player can be bundled with Laptop PC or MID which runs Windows XP or Vista, or Linux.

CMMB is a new mobile DTV standard backed by China SARFT. The CMMB spec, based on Chinese homegrown technology known as STiMi (short for Satellite and Terrestrial Interactive Multiservice Infrastructure), operates in the 2.6-GHz frequency range, using 25 MHz of bandwidth to offer 25 TV and 30 radio channels per each RF channel. From 2009 onwards, CMMB will offer broadcasting and data casting for news, entertainment, traffic, weather, education, medical, stock and other information delivery. Nation wide coverage is planned for 2009, via satellite broadcast, combined with the existing terrestrial broadcast.

Alon Ironi, CEO of Siano, commented: “Offering CAS enabled solutions in the growing MDTV market in China will separate the winners from the losers. Players across the CMMB value chain have to legally comply with SARFT’s CAS requirements. We are excited about the market opportunities of being, through our collaboration with Cidana, the first entity to provide such capability. The Mobile TV revolution in China is well underway and we are proud of our growing technology contribution and market cooperation with SARFT in helping it realize its true potential.”

Chinn Chin, CEO from Cidana, added: “The demand for mobile TV keeps growing. We are pleased to work with Siano to offer the first of its kind compliant CMMB CAS solution for the China PC market. We expect the Big-Card CAS CMMB solution to be a sell-out success.”