Are those guys still in business?
New ASIC Supplier
Business Wire - February 11, 1998 08:46
%INNOVACOM MPEG %CALIFORNIA %COMPUTERS %ELECTRONICS %COMED
%TELECOMMUNICATIONS %INTERACTIVE %MULTIMEDIA %INTERNET %PRODUCT V%BW
P%BW
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 11, 1998--InnovaCom, Inc.,
(OTC/BB:MPEG) today will deliver the final Netlist containing the full functionality of its
DVImpact fully integrated MPEG-2 single-chip encoder to its new ASIC designer, Cadence
Design Systems, Inc.- Spectrum division, the final step before the physical implementation of
the chip. The company had previously engaged TriTech Microelectronics, Inc., a unit of
Singapore Technologies, as its sole ASIC supplier. In order to accelerate the time to
production of the silicon chip, InnovaCom has also engaged Cadence Spectrum to perform
certain tasks in series to others performed by TriTech. InnovaCom anticipates that
Cadence-Spectrum will deliver the final tape to its foundry, Chartered Semiconductors,
another unit of Singapore Technologies, during the first half of March 1998. As a result,
InnovaCom expects to have sufficient DVImpact chips available for sampling to alpha
customers during the month of April 1998. "InnovaCom is pleased to be adding Cadence to
the physical implementation team for the DVImpact," stated Mark Koz, InnovaCom's
President and CEO. "The involvement of Cadence significantly raises the level of assurance
that the chip will be completed within the expected time parameters. "Because the highest
degree of functionality is hard wired in the DVImpact architecture, it will deliver the
compression horsepower in a single chip that will easily exceed the performance and
functionality capabilities of current competitive microcode-intensive MPEG-2 encoding
solutions," continued Mr. Koz. "We believe it will set the standard for present and future
digital video broadcast, DBS and DVD applications, as well as for high resolution video
conferencing for corporate, medical and other markets." Due to the MPEG-2 specific
architecture of the DVImpact and its high degree of integration, InnovaCom's chip customers
will have the highest quality video output and smallest space requirements to look forward to,
as well as a microcode adaptation turnaround time for specific applications measurable in days
rather than months or years. "Certain InnovaCom competitors are reluctant to permit
customers to write or modify encoder microcode independently for their specific purposes, an
approach that favors internal distribution over customers' needs. InnovaCom's goal is to
provide open access to the tools to quickly write the relatively thin layer of microcode that will
provide customers with competitive advantages in their own respective marketplaces," Mr.
Koz said. The DVImpact's 256 parallel processors, along with its 128 bit wide internal data
bus, assures complete compression search. The motion estimation in the chip is performed up
to a rate of 500 billion arithmetic operations per second (GOPS), over 250 times the speed of
a conventional processor. Combined with InnovaCom's proprietary compression algorithms,
this motion estimator assures the most comprehensive search for intra-frame and inter-frame
redundancies of any MPEG-2 encoding solution available. The resultant video output benefits
from minimized tilting and artifact problems normally associated with current truncated search,
microcode-intensive solutions from competitors. InnovaCom's DVImpact has also been
developed to integrate high quality filtering, even from multiple video sources. It supports main
level at main profile encoding and will accept inputs from PAL, NTSC, film, CCIR 601 or
656. Extending its goal of providing complete and enabling solutions, InnovaCom is
developing various board and system level products to incorporate the DVImpact, as well as
software tools for application development, user interface and datastream diagnostics.
Ancillary products in the video server and digital set-top box markets have also been
developed for various applications including telemedicine and are expected to be ready
shortly. Key elements of the DVImpact architecture, including its advanced motion estimation
and field/frame adaptation, are protected by patents. InnovaCom also holds other key patents
in the video compression field, including a recently issued patent for the interactive digital
set-top box. InnovaCom believes that to be competitive, virtually all future set-top boxes will
have to offer features similar to those specified in the patent. Kaushik Banerjee, InnovaCom's
director of ASIC design, said "The finalization of the Netlist for the DVImpact is a major step
in bringing to market InnovaCom's first generation of turnkey MPEG-2 encoding solutions.
The DVImpact will set the tone for present professional and future consumer applications in
digital video where encoding is required." In late December InnovaCom completed a $5
million, 7% convertible debenture pursuant to Regulation D of the Securities Act of 1933. The
debenture was issued to institutional investors. On February 10, 1998, the Company's
registration statement on Form 10SB became effective. Consequently, InnovaCom is now a
"reporting issuer" with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and, pursuant
to federal law, is now exempt from state regulation requiring registration or qualification for
secondary trading in its securities. The effectiveness of the registration statement is a condition
to the acceptance of an application with the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc.
("NASD") for the trading of InnovaCom's common stock on the NASDAQ Stock Market.
Provided that all other conditions have been met, the Company intends to file an application
with the NASDAQ Stock Market to list its common stock on the small cap market as soon
as practical. InnovaCom, Inc. is a leading developer of MPEG-2 products for broadcast
quality video compression and digital video communication. Visit InnovaCom's web site at
innovacom-mpeg2.com. InnovaCom is located at 2855 Kifer Road, Suite 100,
Santa Clara, Calif. 95051. Telephone is 408/727-2774 (CHIP) and Fax is 408/727-6625.
Investor Relations contact is Ben Gibson. Press Relations contact is Carter Elliott at
408/997-9660.
CONTACT: InnovaCom, Inc.
Ben Gibson, 408/727-2774 (investor relations)
or
Carter Elliott Public Relations
Carter Elliott, 408/997-9660 (press relations) |
