News

Entropic, Avtrex Demo Advanced Digital Entertainment Networking (4/1/2005)

Entropic's Coax Network and Avtrex's Software Handle Simultaneous Streaming of Multiple High-Def Videos

A demonstration of flawlessly networked high-definition video over standard home coaxial cable will be shown at next month's CES by Entropic Communications in its show booth 26815, and Avtrex, Inc. in its nearby hospitality suite.

Entropic Communications, a semiconductor company providing technologies that enable home networking for digital entertainment via coax, and Avtrex, Inc., a Silicon Valley-based software startup focused on advanced technologies for digital video recording, digital television, and home media distribution, will show two Proton Communications HD-PVRs connected by everyday coax simultaneously streaming HD video between them while also sharing music and photos from a PC.

"Homes are flooded with digital content," according to Avtrex CEO Steve Francis. "The challenge has been how to take all that great stuff stored on hard drives, and move it around so everybody else can enjoy it. Finding a way to do this on reliable, everyday coax is great because it requires no new wires, and its simplicity makes it the obvious choice for the consumer."

Avtrex has created core software components for digital home entertainment devices. These applications can be customized and integrated into televisions, set-top-boxes, DVD players, DVD recorders, home media servers, network gateways, and more. The Avtrex PVR application is a 3rd-generation solution offering plug-and-go setup, a fast and responsive user interface, simplified recording and filing, support for multiple televisions and viewers.

"Putting entertainment content into a digital format makes it easy to store and easy to share," said Entropic president and CEO Patrick Henry. "Entropic's technology allows digital entertainment to be shared throughout the home using the exiting coax cables already in the house. Our goal is to make sharing digital entertainment as simple as using a remote control to change channels today."

Entropic's c.LINK-270 chipset, when built into a variety of consumer electronics such as set-top boxes, digital video recorders, and televisions permits seamless networking over the existing coaxial cable infrastructure at speeds as high as 270Mbps. The high speed and reliability of coax make it the ideal medium for networking high-bandwidth applications such as video.

Entropic is a founding member of the Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA(TM)), formed to standardize technologies for linking consumer entertainment devices over existing coax cabling. Other members include Cisco Systems, Comcast, EchoStar, Matsushita Electric (Panasonic), Motorola, RadioShack Corporation, and Toshiba.

www.avtrex.com
www.entropic.com