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| Consumer Electronic Solutions Phoenix Technologies has spent two decades making our BIOS for consumer devices “just work.” Our quick boot, which delivers the fastest POST in the industry at 85ms, combined with our expertise in power management ensures that the Phoenix BIOS solutions allows OEMs to deliver first-class consumer electronic devices. Examples of some of Phoenix’s BIOS implementations include: | |
| | Set Top Box | | Media Centre PC | | IPTV |
|  | Set top boxes (STBs) and set top units (STUs) receive signals from a variety of sources, including RF, cable, and even Ethernet, and then provide content that is displayed on television screens. STBs commonly boot an operating system to host applications that offer features like a program guide or TV setup.
Because of their consumer nature, STBs need instant-on (quick boot) capability and cannot crash or “lock up.” Monitoring of the OS at run-time is necessary to ensure up-time. Another requirement is field-upgradability—the cost to send out a technician to replace a unit with one containing updated firmware is high, whereas sending the same firmware over the signal network is inexpensive. When the STB can automatically query the network to determine if better firmware is available, these per-STB costs are eliminated, and a simple posting of the firmware to an FTP server can be made by the cable operator.
Firmbase® Technology’s High Availability Monitoring solution maximizes up-time and increases customer satisfaction. In addition, Firmbase Technology’s Platform Update Facility provides the TCP/IP-compatible, over-network provisioning that can contain firmware deployment costs and further increase customer satisfaction.
| The Media Center PCs (MCPC) is an evolution of DVRs, adding the ability to play and manage not only video, but audio, and static pictures.
The single most important factor influencing adoption of MCPC is boot time. MCPCs boot like a PC, rather than a Set Top Box or radio receiver. They load an operating system like Windows XP Media Center Edition, and without special considerations at the firmware level, the device can take so long to boot that the user may give up entirely on the device.
Using Phoenix BIOS solutions, MCPCs can POST in under one second. Additionally, high-bandwidth disk I/O can boot the operating system and applications at full UDMA speeds, minimizing boot time, and dramatically increasing adoption by the customer.
| IP TVs integrate all the capabilities of MCPCs with the idea that the content arrives from the content provider over an IP network. As such, boot time performance is critical and Phoenix BIOS solutions can help to enhance the user experience.
Additionally, thermal management is paramount to IP TVs. Not only does it allow systems to run quieter and cooler, but it also allows designs to be aesthetically pleasing. By allowing the OEM / ODM to tailor the power/performance operating envelope of the system, Phoenix BIOS solutions ensures that performance and style can be maintained.
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