NXP Integrates NDS's MediaHighway Interactive TV Middleware onto its CX2450x HD DVR SoC

Dutch chip company, NXP Semiconductors, said last week that it has integrated NDS's MediaHighway set-top box software onto its CX2450x system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution for HD set-top boxes. The company says that the integration will reduce time-to-market and integration costs for set-top box operators and OEM's to bring new, interactive TV-enabled pay-TV services to end-users.

According to the company, it collaborated with NDS on the system integration of the NDS CDI system software abstraction layer and the MediaHighway platform, to incorporate them onto the CX2450x SoC. It bills the latter as a highly integrated HD DVR SoC featuring single display and single decode MPEG-2/H.264/VC-1/DirecTV/DVB compliance for markets worldwide. The MediaHighway software running on NXP SoC's supports such advanced services as IP streaming, Web browsers, EPG's, and the ability to access content from the home network, the company says.

NXP says that set-top box OEM's can leverage MediaHighway to customize EPG's and implement other value-added services unique to each operator. According to the company, it enables operators to engage viewers with new digital pay-TV services that offer a range of interactive TV applications, supplementing traditional linear TV with social media functionality and the contextual linking of related content. It combines both broadcast and broadband TV to enhance the TV viewing experience for end-users, the company says. "We are witnessing a growing demand for digital TV services from viewers across the world," Alan Smith, director of NXP's satellite operator product line, said in a prepared statement. "To address this demand, NXP Semiconductors has implemented NDS's set-top box software to enable STB OEM's and operators to offer best-in-class TV viewing experiences to their customers and helping them to accelerate healthy time-to-market at low costs. NXP and NDS are committed to offer a consistent pre-engineering system solution for OEM suppliers and pay-TV operators." Added Peter Yaxley, director of consumer devices for NDS Europe: "NDS MediaHighway provides operators with a unique advantage as it enables them to provide competitive offerings, both in the way of functionality and value-added services. Interactive TV applications, targeted advertising and the delivery of over-the-top content are some of the many mutually beneficial features made possible by NDS MediaHighway. Expanding our relationship with NXP will mean that we are able to extend the reach of the services that we offer to a larger part of the market."

According to NXP, MediaHighway will also be rapidly migrated to the company's next-generation PNX847x/8x/9x SoC, which it says features 3D graphics and advanced power management. The company claims that the CX2450x, in conjunction with its tuner and demodulators, provides a complete silicon solution for HD DVR set-top box applications. A very high level of integration, the company says, enables a low system BoM to support a variety of applications. NXP says that a complete reference platform is available for customer evaluation and development. According to the company, the system implements MediaHighway in an Linux OS environment, with a complete set of low-level set-top box drivers.

In other NDS news: The company's NDS Snowflake product has received the Cable & Satellite International award for "Best Interactive TV Technology or Application" at IBC 2009. NDS bills Snowflake as a high-end, conceptual user interface, based around a minimalist 3D grid overlaid on live TV. It is one of several conceptual UI's that have been developed by NDS's in-house design studios: another such UI, dubbed Master UI, was deployed by Comstar-UTS in March.

According to NDS, Snowflake's full-screen and overlaid TV user experience is controlled by a remote with a minimal set of six keys, and provides the same look-and-feel on any device, including TV's, PC's, iPhones and other mobile devices, and personal media players. The company says that the latest version of Snowflake offers integration of social networking features, branded space and widgets. At the IBC show, NDS demo'd Snowflake Hub, a new central area for all TV applications, and also demo'd the Snowflake UI with stereoscopic content on a 3D TV. "This award validates the importance of design in the TV user experience and recognizes the innovative work of our design team," NDS chief marketing officer, Nigel Smith, said in a prepared statement. "Most of today's digital TV user interfaces were designed and built by engineers and focus on cramming in user functions. NDS next-generation UI's take a different approach--they are developed by graphic designers with a focus on style and ease-of-use."