Kontron and Voiceage Networks First to Demo AdvancedTCA-based Real-Time Audio and Video Transcoding Solution at 3GSM

Collaboration between Kontron and VoiceAge Networks generates first ever

Eching (Germany) / Barcelona (Spain), Feb 13, 2006 − Kontron, a market leader in embedded computer technology, and VoiceAge Networks, a recognized global leader in mobile multimedia content adaptation, revealed at 3GSM today their demonstration of the market’s first ever open modular, carrier-grade real-time audio and video content adaptation solution for the mobile market.

The joint demonstration displayed the seamless real-time transcoding of audio and video streams to different mobile devices, performed by VoiceAge Networks real-time multimedia content adaptation platform, SPOTxde® Live, pre-integrated onto a Kontron open modular system. This collaborative endeavor is expected to accelerate the commercial development of a total carrier-grade solution geared towards network equipment manufacturers (NEM), mobile network operators (MNO) and content service providers (CSP).

SPOTxde Live addresses the barriers to the seamless real-time delivery of mobile rich-media data services, and ensures interoperability between the source of the live feed and receiving devices (mobile phones, PDAs, and IP terminals), and across networks that adhere to different standards. It also enables numerous simultaneous sessions running in parallel, unprecedented rapid session setup, minimal latency, real-time throughput, and error resilience while maintaining the fidelity and integrity of the original media. This ensures that each subscriber's experience is notably enhanced for applications such as video mail, video chat, videoconferencing, video telephony, and mobile TV—on any device!

“The timing to develop this solution with Kontron is exceptional,” says Jean Mayrand, CEO of VoiceAge Networks. “Network equipment manufacturers and service provider customers seek to keep up with demand for seamless real-time adaptation of quality multimedia, and for that they need the best-of-breed carrier-grade, real-time transcoding platform designed on an open hardware platform. This will offer them greater flexibility to ramp-up next generation services faster and realize additional revenues.”

“The technological venture between Kontron and VoiceAge Networks is yet another major milestone for the acceptance of AdvancedTCA as an open hardware standard for IMS-based network elements,” says Robert Courteau, Kontron General Manager, Canada. “This positions Kontron at the leading-edge of network communications solutions that will enable service providers to quickly deliver exciting new subscriber services. We surely look forward to further development and collaboration with VoiceAge Networks in the coming months.”

Global growth for mobile video
Multimedia mobile messaging along with streaming video is expected to undergo tremendous worldwide growth. The mobile market research firm Ovum predicts that mobile video will show significant growth in 2007 and 2008; by then, one in four users will be sending video messages.

Other research firms studying the mobile market, such as Strategy Analytics, estimate that by 2008 over 150 million wireless users worldwide will be accessing video clips including sports, movies, and adult entertainment, generating revenues of just under $4.7 billion. Other figures worth noting include:

• Multimedia phones will represent 88% of all phones sold in 2009 (Gartner 2005)
• MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) revenues are estimated at US$50B by 2010, driven by 2.38 trillion messages (Portio Research 2005)
• US Mobile TV revenues could reach US$1.9B by 2010 (Business Week 2005)
• Mobile downloads will reach US$9B by June 2006 (International Research 2005)

Transcoding live streaming audio and video – a carrier-grade solution
The Kontron – VoiceAge Networks solution will be shown at the Intel Communications Alliance (ICA) section of the Intel booth at 3GSM, booth C49 in Hall 1. Kontron is a Premier Member of the ICA program and possesses years of experience in designing Intel-based advanced computing solutions.

The joint demo illustrates how SPOTxde Live provides real-time, high-density transcoding capabilities for an ever expanding set of audio and video codecs, formats and protocols, including H.263, H.264, MPEG-4, AMR, G.711, and AAC, to name a few. The flexible and extensible architecture of SPOTxde Live facilitates its integration and allows future support of new emerging standards and proprietary formats. SPOTxde Live is powered by an Open Modular Communications System using Kontron AdvancedTCA (Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture) building blocks that provide real-time transcoding capabilities. SPOTxde Live can also be used as the real-time transcoding component for a Multimedia Resource Function Processor (MRFP) for an IMS network infrastructure.

For Service Providers, there are numerous advantages to deploy services on standards-based communications solutions using Kontron AdvancedTCA building blocks. Such benefits include improved flexibility and scalability of networks to “swap in – swap out” new and exciting services with no network down time and without the huge expense of forklift upgrades. Likewise, network operators can dramatically reduce operating costs (OPEX) and shrink “real estate” requirements, making it considerably easier to maintain and coordinate inventories for greater economies of scale.

The combined efforts of both firms have produced a best-of-breed integrated hardware/software solution that is highly scalable, delivers unmatched performance, and supports the broadest spectrum of audio and video codecs.

Demo Information: Please visit www.kontron.com/atca and download the Kontron-VoiceAge Networks Live Streaming Transcoding brochure.