eDevice And Philips Semiconductors to Offer Easy, Economical Solution for Remote Updating of Firmware
SAN JOSE, Calif.----Sept. 28, 2000--
eDevice(TM), Inc., a developer of Internet-enabling solutions, and
Philips Semiconductors, an affiliate of Royal Philips Electronics,
have announced a joint solution for the most highly integrated, lowest
cost Internet connectivity technology available.
This new solution, announced here at the Embedded Systems
Conference, booth No. 5021, combines the Philips Semiconductors'
XA-G49, a 16-bit microcontroller with an 80C51 eXtended Architecture,
with the space-saving design of eDevice's SmartStack(TM) technology,
which incorporates all Internet-enabling functions and soft-modem
capability on a single digital signal processing (DSP) chip. The
solution's cost and space savings make Internet-enabling practical for
more products.
Specifically, the XA-G49 and SmartStack allow original equipment
manufacturers (OEMs) to update firmware globally using the Internet,
so that for the first time, they can have complete remote control,
command and service of equipment. Applications for which this
technology is appropriate include power monitoring, vending systems,
industrial lightning and factory automation.
``This new partnership of Philips Semiconductors and eDevice
leverages the use of the XA-G49 in a whole new way, with one example
being that OEMs can, for the first time, update firmware via the
Internet affordably and simply,'' said Alex Guillot, director of sales
and co-founder, eDevice. ``The Philips and eDevice technology together
create a truly complementary Internet connectivity solution that will
allow design engineers as well as industrial and appliance equipment
manufacturers to create a new way to differentiate their products in
the marketplace.''
SmartStack, the first technology of its kind, allows users to
connect office, household or industrial equipment to the Internet to
transmit and receive information, remotely access and interact with
equipment and send and receive e-mail without a personal computer. All
software protocols necessary to perform Internet transactions (e-mail
sending or retrieving, FTP file transfer, single-page Web server) are
integrated into a single DSP chip, which also contains the modem
required for the physical connection to the Internet.
SmartStack performs the real-time integration between the modem
and the Internet protocol stack, and offers standard interfaces to
connect the client application to the Internet protocols. A complete
reference design, including everything from the Direct Access
Arrangement (DAA) telephone line interface to the upper Internet
protocol layers, can dramatically reduce development efforts. eDevice
provides connectivity tools for integrating the chips or porting
applications on the DSP used for SmartStack.
``The XA-G49 provides an ideal environment in which to employ
SmartStack's advantages of efficient Internet enabling, while
SmartStack is able to help expand the XA-G49's range of
functionality,'' added Mr. Guillot. ``This combination of SmartStack's
connection capabilities and the high performance of Philips
Semiconductors' solution makes Internet connectivity efficient and
affordable for an enormous range of appliances and equipment and gives
design engineers their choice of methods for updating firmware
remotely.''
The XA-G49 incorporates the 16-bit XA high-performance
architecture for multi-tasking and for efficient programming in C
language. This microcontroller has 64 KB of IAP (in-application
programming) Flash program memory, which allows modification of code
while an application is running, and 2 KB of Static Random Access
Memory (SRAM). The device simplifies 16-bit upgrading from the popular
8-bit 80C51 architecture. Pin-for-pin compatible with the XA-G3 (the
first XA family device), and with all existing XA devices, the XA-G49
is available in 44-pin PLCC and PQFP packages. For more information,
contact: eDevice - Barbara Lipke at (212) 856-0000 ext. 23, via e-mail
at blipke@edevice.com or visit the company's Web site at
www.edevice.com; Philips Semiconductors - www.semiconductors.com or
(408) 991-6000 or micro.support@philips.com.
About Philips Semiconductors
Philips Semiconductors is the world's leading supplier of the most
popular 8-bit microcontroller architecture, the 80C51, offering more
than 100 derivatives. The company has extended this successful
architecture into its low-power, small-footprint, and low-system-cost
51LPC family, and its high-performance XA family. This enables
customers to preserve their software, development tools, and
technology investment in the 80C51, while capitalizing on low-power,
small-footprint, and 16-bit performance. With the introduction of the
80C51MX Memory eXtension, Philips Semiconductors has extended the
80C51 architecture to support more than 64 KB of on-chip memory.
Philips Semiconductors, which has annual revenues of approximately
$5 billion, designs and manufactures semiconductors and silicon
systems platforms. Philips Semiconductors is spearheading the emerging
field of systems on silicon solutions with the innovative Nexperia(TM)
platform and VLSI Velocity(TM) tool set. The company's Sea-of-IP(TM)
design methodology allows plug and play intellectual property block
for easily customizable products. The company is a leader in
communications, consumer, PC peripherals and automotive
semiconductors, which are key applications for convergence in end-user
products. Philips Semiconductors is headquartered in Eindhoven, The
Netherlands, and has operations throughout the world. For more
information: www.philips.semiconductors.com.
About eDevice
eDevice, Inc. markets SmartStack, a new technology that allows any
office or industrial equipment, consumer electronics device or
household appliance or system to access the Internet at low cost and
without the use of a personal computer or an external modem.
SmartStack is the first technology of its kind in the new Light
Internet Device segment. The company is based in New York with
research and development facilities in Bordeaux, France.
eDevice and SmartStack are trademarks of eDevice, Inc. All other
trade names are properties of their owners. This press release is
available on the KCSA Worldwide Web site at www.kcsa.com.
Contact:
KCSA Worldwide
Yin Chang/Michael Kniat
212/896-1228/896-1238
ychang@kcsa.com/mkniat@kcsa.com
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