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Renesas's COMET Program Provides Vertically Integrated
Hardware Reference Platforms for Automotive Customers,
Accelerating Development of Next-Generation Telematics Systems
Members of the partnership program leverage
Renesas's SH-4 based automotive-grade
platforms to address the needs of telematics and CIS system
manufacturers for comprehensive,
one-box development solutions enabled with appropriate software
and middleware capabilities
Detroit, Mich., October 21, 2002:
Renesas (formerly Hitachi) today announced the formation of
the Community Enabling Telematics (COMET™) partnership program.
The new cooperative association allows Renesas and member
companies -- leading software and middleware providers in
the telematics market space -- to make comprehensive and vertically
integrated, one-box system development solutions available
to system engineers designing telematics and Car Infotainment
System (CIS) products. The ten industry-leading companies
in the program have fine-tuned their products for automotive-grade
reference platforms that use Renesas SuperH® RISC processors
and chipsets.
As a result of the COMET initiative, system engineers can
now more easily evaluate multiple software and middleware
products running concurrently on a single hardware platform.
This helps them jump-start development projects, maximizing
the resources and time needed to implement telematics and
CIS products for the North American market.
Members of the COMET program
The companies participating in the COMET program include Clarity
LLC; Extended Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: XTND); Fonix® Corporation
(OTC BB: FONX); IBM Corporation (NYSE: IBM); QNX® Software
Systems Ltd.; SiRF Technology, Inc.; SignalWorks, Inc.; Stonestreet
One, Inc.; and Wavemakers Inc. All of the participating members
have proactive working relationships with Renesas (formerly
Hitachi) and provide key enabling software and middleware
technology such as Real Time Operating Systems (RTOS), speech
recognition algorithms, Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC) and
noise suppression software, Bluetooth™ application stacks,
GPS software, chipsets and more.
"The COMET initiative is in many ways a reflection of Renesas's
confidence and commitment to the telematics and CIS market,"
said Tatsuo Yamamoto, vice president of CIS/Telematics business
unit of Hitachi Semiconductor (America) Inc. "The companies
in the COMET program are outstanding partners. We work closely
with them to ensure interoperability, maximize system performance,
and help provide our customers with the best possible application
experience. The COMET partners get early access to our technology
and product roadmap, and can participate in our automotive-focused
marketing activities.
"Renesas (formerly Hitachi) may expand the COMET program in
the future. As conditions warrant, we will evaluate and select
other partners that can offer proven products and services
needed by system engineers in the telematics design environment."
How COMET benefits system engineers
Because Renesas and the members of the COMET program have
set up and debugged key development system configurations
for various telematics and CIS applications, system engineers
in automotive equipment manufacturers can rapidly and accurately
analyze entire solutions rather than just individual software
and middleware pieces.
For example, the engineers can use a reference platform to
evaluate resource requirements as a congregate of middleware
products running on a specific Renesas chipset at a specific
clock speed. Also, they can determine aspects such as memory
size requirements, maximum application performance, real-time
performance and utilization of system resources such as bus
bandwidth. The program will also provide greater flexibility
during evaluation processes. The engineers can use various
proprietary software provided by multiple sources to evaluate
system level performance. Design analysis and decision making
processes that might otherwise take weeks to complete can
be performed with the integrated hardware/software solutions
in days.
Target hardware for the COMET program
In the first phase of the COMET initiative, the participating
members have ported their respective software and middleware
onto the CIS development platform (US7751R-HRP10D), which
has a 240MHz SH7751R (SH-4 series) processor and an HD64404
SuperH CIS companion chip. The next phase will involve porting
to the "Biscayne TM" platform (US7760-HRP13E), which uses
a system-on-a-chip (SoC) device (code-named "Camelot TM"):
the 200MHz, 360 MIPS SH7760 SuperH RISC processor.
The CIS and Biscayne/Camelot reference platforms are now being
used by all major telematics/CIS OEMs for software development.
In fact, some Renesas customers are already transitioning
their designs from these platforms to their production intent
hardware.
Partner Quotes:
Clarity LLC
"As automotive customers consider Renesas's SuperH RISC with
SoC their new go-to solution, it just made sense for Clarity
to have our CVC solution ready, tested and immediately demonstrable
for their applications. We are pleased to have satisfied the
rigorous development requirements and to continue to work
closely with each of these select partners that make up the
Renesas COMET program. This further distinguishes Clarity
as a primary software solution, chosen by this world-class
hardware provider", said Fred Nussbaum, evp, sales and marketing
for Clarity.
Extended Systems Inc.
"As the leading Bluetooth software provider for telematics,
it made good business sense for Extended Systems to partner
with Renesas (formerly Hitachi), another recognized leader
in automotive telematics," said Don Baumgartner, Extended
Systems' vice president of worldwide marketing. "With Bluetooth
support for the Hands-Free Profile, already ported and proven
on Renesas's SuperH processor, the COMET platform provides
a comprehensive solution that allows auto companies to quickly
and cost-effectively implement broad, in-car Bluetooth support."
Fonix Corporation
"We are very excited about being a founding member of the
Renesas COMET program. The Renesas (formerly Hitachi) high-performance,
automotive-grade SuperH RISC processors, combined with Fonix
high-quality text-to-speech and automatic speech recognition,
will provide a powerful platform that will give customers
the most advanced speech applications available. Developers
can now integrate high noise-tolerant speech recognition and
natural-sounding text-to-speech capabilities into their automotive
products," said Kurt W. Flygare, Fonix vice president of sales.
"The COMET program will allow us and our customers to develop
best-in-class automotive solutions."
IBM Corporation
"Open standards are critical to the continued rapid advancement
of telematics technology," said IBM's Raj Desai, director
of automotive and telematics solutions. "The combination of
IBM's award-winning offerings such as Embedded ViaVoice, Java
virtual machine and its OSGi-compliant infrastructure and
set of tools, along with Renesas's automotive-grade SuperH
microprocessor delivers critical value to making it easier
for customers to focus on applications rather than the integration
of multiple components."
QNX Software Systems Ltd.
"The QNX Neutrino RTOS's fault-tolerant architecture and field-proven
performance provide COMET boards with the reliability OEMs
require to quickly design, test, and deploy next-generation
telematics systems," said Linda Campbell, vice president of
strategic alliances at QNX Software Systems. "We're very excited
to play a key role in the COMET initiative and embrace its
vision of providing comprehensive, yet highly integrated solutions
for automotive OEMs."
SiRF Technology, Inc.
"Both SiRF and Renesas (formerly Hitachi) have established
strong market positions in the telematics and CIS markets
based on outstanding product performance, differentiated features
and customer service," said Kanwar Chadha, founder and vice
president of sales and business development at SiRF Technology,
Inc. "We expect that the combination of leading GPS location
technology for automotive applications and a versatile multimedia
platform will provide a great jump start for automotive electronics
designers aiming to bring competitive Telematics and CIS products
to life."
SignalWorks, Inc.
"Utilizing the COMET platform, SignalWorks can fully implement
its acoustic echo cancellation and noise reduction technology
to provide a no compromise full-duplex speakerphone solution
previously only available in high-end, stationary audio conferencing
speakerphones," said Brian Underwood, vice president of marketing
at SignalWorks. "This results in pleasant, full-duplex phone
conversations free from clipping of words, echoes, or annoying
dead periods in the middle of sentences, regardless of the
vehicle's interior design or external conditions such as wind
and road noise."
Stonestreet One, Inc.
"We are excited about the unique way the COMET program allows
the partners to leverage the strengths of each of the other
partners, while creating a platform that will speed development
of telematics solutions for the automotive market" said Tim
Reilly, founder, and chief technology officer at Stonestreet
One. "We were especially pleased to have been chosen by Renesas
to provide Bluetopia®, our Bluetooth protocol stack, to enable
Bluetooth functionality on the platform."
Wavemakers Inc.
"Wavemakers' entire Waveware library is now available on the
Biscayne and BigSur platforms," said Richard Sones, director
of sales and marketing. "We are very focused on delivering
to automotive Tier Ones the best software to provide high
quality voice applications with our ClearStream (noise cancellation),
EchoBlock (echo cancellation) and WaveBeam (dual element)
solutions. The code itself is optimized to take advantage
of the on-board floating-point unit and ensures maximum performance
and minimum MIP requirements while giving the OEMs a tightly
integrated, adaptive and robust system."
For more information about the software and middleware products
offered by the members of the COMET program, readers can visit
the respective Web sites or contact the companies directly.
For more information on the COMET program, readers can visit
Renesas Web site at www.renesas.com
Renesas (formerly Hitachi), a leading supplier of automotive
system solution, combines a cutting-edge technology based
around the SuperH 32-bit RISC architecture and automotive
market expertise earned over the last 15 years to deliver
products that suit individual applications at a system level.
The Renesas system architecture is also supported by an established
third party network, providing a reliable and flexible development
environment for CIS and telematics applications. Renesas is
continuously developing new products with increased performance
and advanced peripheral functions, supporting the evolution
of in-vehicle computing systems.
About Renesas (formerly Hitachi Semiconductor (America)
Inc.)
Renesas supports the requirements of the North American marketplace
with a broad range of standard and low-power semiconductor
solutions. Offering some of the industry's most popular RF
and memory components, microcontrollers and microprocessors,
among other semiconductor solutions, Renesas provides chips
to the world's leading device manufacturers within industrial,
consumer and emerging market applications. Renesas's substantial
design engineering, research and development facilities in
the United States help bring the world's best technology to
U.S. customers. For more information, visit: www.renesas.com
Renesas (NYSE: HIT), markets and manufactures a broad range
of electronics, computer systems and products, consumer electronics
and semiconductors, and provides industrial equipment and
services throughout North America. For more information, visit:
www.renesas.com.
Renesas, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global
electronics company, with approximately 320,000 employees
worldwide. Fiscal 2001(ended March 31, 2002) consolidated
sales totaled 7,994 billion yen ($60.1 billion). The company
offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market
sectors, including information systems, electronic devices,
power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials
and financial services. For more information on Renesas, please
visit the company's web site at http://www.renesas.com.
Editorial Contact:
Akiko Ishiyama
Renesas Technology America Inc.
Phone: (408) 456-2180
Email: akiko.ishiyama@hsa.hitachi.com
COMET, Biscayne
and Camelot are U.S. trademarks of Renesas Technology America
Inc.
SuperH is a registered U.S. trademark of Renesas Technology
America Inc.
All other registered or non-registered trademarks are the
properties of their respective owners.
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