Frontier Silicon will introduce a unified digital radio receiver module to work with all existing Band 3 and L-Band digital radio standards for Europe and Asia. The new receiver addresses the market need for a solution that supports all Eureka-147 based standards, including DAB and DAB+ and DMB-Audio.

With more countries announcing frameworks for digital radio by the month, the new module reaches the market in time for manufacturers to realise significant economies of scale, enhanced functionality and rationalised international distribution for new and existing audio products.

Frontier believes that globally, the market has now entered a phase where flexibility is required to address the diverse standards requirements of each country -- for example, the UK is driven by enhanced audio content delivered through DAB, whereas rich media content based on DMB is a priority for France, and Australia requires bandwidth optimisation using DAB+. With a unified receiver solution available to enable these Eureka-147 implementations in their products, manufacturers will be strongly placed to address broadcasters' needs in each country, regardless of any variant chosen, with a single low-cost module from Frontier Silicon.

Frontier Silicon's unified digital radio module will be based on the Venice 5.1 receiver unveiled earlier this year in Australia. The new module is a low cost receiver for DMB-Audio, DAB, DAB+ and FM-RDS, and is a drop-in replacement, both electrically and mechanically, for existing products designed using the company's successful Venice 5 module range, which already provides a basis for the vast majority of digital radio products shipped in 2007 and 2008.  MPEG-4 HE-AAC audio coding technology is licensed by Fraunhofer IIS.

As with all Frontier Silicon audio modules, the unified digital radio module will include all interfaces necessary for a fully-functional product, needing only power supply, display, keypad, audio amplifier and speakers to complete a radio. It will start sampling in Q3 2008, and be available for volume production by the end of 2008.

Established in 2001 as a privately funded fabless semiconductor company, Frontier Silicon has over 140 employees. The company is based in Watford, England, with design centres in Cambridge, Dublin and Shannon. Frontier Silicon also has branch offices and technical support representation in Hong Kong, China and Japan. Products include complete solutions for digital audio systems and mobile TV, from silicon through software to production-ready platform designs. Customers include Alba, Bang & Olufsen, Bose, Bush, Denon, Cyrus, Goodmans, Grundig, harman/kardon, Hitachi, JVC, Magic Box, Ministry of Sound, Onkyo, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Pure, Revo, Roberts, Samsung, Sanyo, Sharp, Sony, TEAC, Tivoli Audio and Yamaha.

Contact:
Steve Evans, VP of sales and marketing, www.frontier-silicon.com