SCIENCE

SoftAtHome and Lantiq has announced that they are collaborating to deliver an integrated platform for advanced Home Gateways (HGW).

Together, SoftAtHome and Lantiq created a ChipSet Support Package (CSSP) that enables SoftAtHome Operating Platform (SOP) to rapidly be deployed on the latest Lantiq XWAY XRX-100 family generation. The CSSP represents a set of drivers adapted to the SoftAtHome Hardware Abstraction Layer and will be made available to Lantiq's licensees providing home gateways to service providers worldwide. It enables home gateway manufacturers to accelerate porting of SOP on their devices. Service providers can thus accelerate time-to-market for delivering advanced triple- play and digital home services to their residential customers.

The SoftAtHome Operating Platform is an open, ubiquitous and carrier-class software platform. Key features of the integrated platform include advanced voice services; DLNA media server capabilities that enable consumers to use, share and enjoy digital photos, music and videos across multiple devices; green services; network attached storage (NAS) functions; and IPTV and Web services support for convergent applications. In addition, the platform supports third-party developed software solutions, such as Wi-Fi scheduling, parental control or remote personal video recorder scheduling.

It leverages the key features of Lantiq's high-performance communications processors. The XWAY ARX182, ARX188 and GRX188 ICs are all based on the same architecture with a 32-bit MIPS CPU core and separate 32-bit Protocol Processor Engine (PPE). The IPv6-ready PPE offloads all data routing from the CPU for optimal throughput at much lower system clock speeds than alternative chips and supports Quality of Service (QoS) features enable smooth handling for concurrent serving of IPTV, voice lines, and data on wired or wireless LANs. Additional common features across the GRX family include integrated data encryption for IPSec and energy savings features that allow designs to meet the recently defined 2011/2012 requirements of the European Union Code of Conduct (CoC) on Energy Consumption of Broadband Equipment. Lantiq's continuous effort to increase energy efficiency will put customers in ideal position to also meet 2013/2014 CoC requirements that are currently under definition. Each IC also features a full suite of device interfaces for memory (DRAM and FLASH), PCI, SDIO and UARTs in support of differentiated applications and end products.

Thanks to the ChipSet Support Package and to the Lantiq UGW suite of drivers, which are common to all of Lantiq SoC family members, the SoftAtHome Operating Platform can seamlessly and rapidly be made available to other Lantiq solutions, for instance to the market-leading VRX200 VDSL2 series or the GRX200 router-on-a-chip series.

"As the range of applications running on or beside residential gateways broadens, system developers are challenged to meet operator requirements and match device functionality to suit specific customer needs within tight time and budget constraints," said Ulrich Huewels, Senior Vice President and Head of the Customer Premises Equipment Business Unit at Lantiq. "Our co-operation with SoftAtHome provides an additional flexibility for our customers to design a range of solutions enabling the digital home experience."

Michel Degland, CEO of SoftAtHome says, "End-users will benefit from this new collaboration between SoftAtHome and Lantiq as it will make it possible to quickly deliver new applications and services that will contribute to increase customers' quality of life. Additionally, service providers can reduce their operational costs and propose value-added services to their subscribers."