Intel To Include Lucent Audio Coder Technology In Its Online Content Security Software
Agreement Will Enable Online Music Distributors to Offer Security and CD-Quality Sound
CANNES, FRANCE, Jan. 24, 2000 - Intel Corporation and Lucent Technologies announced today that Intel has licensed Lucent's audio compression technology for use in the Intel© Software Integrity System.* The announcement, made at the Midem 2000 International Music Market, means Intel will be able to offer developers of e-commerce music distribution platforms a one-stop source for content protection and CD-quality sound.
Under a non-exclusive agreement, Lucent will license its Enhanced Perceptual Audio Coder** (ePAC**) to Intel for incorporation into its Intel Software Integrity System, a solution that features Intel's patented tamper-resistant software technology. Intel's technology hides critical code, keys and other secrets from observation and detects attempts to break security mechanisms.
ePAC is a new version of the Lucent Perceptual Audio Coder (PAC), an audio compression algorithm that offers high-quality audio at the lowest bit rates. At 128 kilobits per second, ePAC offers CD-transparent stereo sound.
The licensing agreement will enable content providers to preserve and protect the highest degree of integrity for recording artists.
"This agreement enables us to integrate the ePAC decoder tightly into the Intel Software Integrity System, thereby enabling more secure playback of music," said Parvinder S. Kohli, general manager of Intel© Internet Security Services. "Lucent's ePAC coder is an ideal embedded solution for our system, offering a level of quality that complements our security technology."
"The integration of ePAC into the Intel Software Integrity System should provide recording artists and publishers with greater confidence that their work is being represented with the highest digital audio quality and is being protected by some of the strongest security technology available," said Joyce Eastman, vice president of Audio Initiatives at Lucent Technologies.
By their integration, Intel and Lucent technologies will enable the more secure playback of high-quality music on the Winamp music player, the Microsoft Windows Media** Player and other music players.
The Intel Software Integrity System is designed to run on Intel Architecture processor-based systems running Windows** 95, Windows 98, Windows NT clients, and Windows NT servers. Additional information is available developer.intel.com.
Developed by Bell Labs, the research and development arm of Lucent Technologies, ePAC uses psychoacoustic modeling - a representation of how humans hear sound - to compress music in a way that is not noticeable to the ear. Music is compressed at a rate of 11 to one, thus reducing the transmission, bandwidth and storage by the same radio, while still retaining its fidelity.
Both Lucent and Intel are members of the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI), the worldwide recording industry's effort to develop an open, secure access system for digital music.
Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., designs, builds and delivers a wide range of public and private networks, communications systems and software, data networking systems, business telephone systems and microelectronic components. For more information on Lucent Technologies, visit the company's Web site at www.Lucent.com.
Intel, the world's largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom. |
