The Pune-based engineering team of Pace Soft Silicon has
released their first VoIP based systems in conjunction with Parthus
Technologies, Dublin, one of the world' leading mobile platform vendors. Neil
Salvi, MD, Pace Soft Silicon called this the first step in their strategy of
building software-based IP components for System On-a-Chip (SOC) implementations
in the consumer and communications segments.
"Over the next year we will be working closely with
our development partners and their OEM customers to understand what consumers
want and to deliver wireless voice and video systems accordingly," he told
the CNS. Salve was in Pune to oversee the company operations.
Pace Soft Silicon was founded in April 2000 to develop
software silicon intellectual property for wireless multimedia applications. The
parent company has been operating from Europe and India for two years now. It is
focused on solutions targeted for applications such as Voice Over IP, Video,
Cryptographic systems and Bluetooth.
The company has optimized its software for the TI, ARM
and Motorola platforms. Interestingly, the company finds a mention among the top
33 quality emerging technology companies in Ireland at the SummIT2001.
Pace has also optimized their software to run on
emergent type of silicon architecture. Salvi believed that this could prove to
be a huge opportunity for the company. Cradle Technologies, a US start-up have
developed their Universal Microsystem (UMS) chip based on this architecture.
This new architecture is based on generic silicon with
most of the functionality implemented through custom written software. The
emergence of this new silicon architecture is expected to alter the way in which
value can be added to semiconductor solutions. These software solutions will be
offered to companies as an alternative to using custom built Application
Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs).
The silicon will become more of a commodity while the
real value of the solution will be added through custom written software.
Companies that get an early lead in creating value added IP around this software
will stand to benefit significantly as the market for this type of software
grows.
Pace already has a considerable first mover advantage in
the UMS platform of the knowledge it has gained through their design services
through Cradle. Salvi believed that this advantage would be key as more
companies began developing software for the platform.
On their new product, Salvi revealed that the company
had already developed their first generation software for coding/decoding
Voice-over-IP and had licensed it to Parthus Technologies to use in their
MediaStream platform. "We are currently developing a H.263 video decoder
which will initially be targeted for TI's and Motorola's wireless
platforms," Apte said.
Today a large number of companies are involved in the
development of coders/decoders for voice and video applications--from large EDA
companies such as Mentor Graphics to other more focused semiconductor IP
companies such as Amphion. According to Salvi, Pace would be attempting to
compete with these companies through their technologies. The advantage would be
key as more companies begin developing software for the platform.
Pace uses a standard IP licensing model with initial
up-front license fees, license fees for each end-customer and per-unit royalty
fees based on the number of devices shipped. The company currently earns about
70 per cent of its revenues from IP licensing and 30 per cent from services. The
company has been working on the product for the last six months. The first demo
will be held sometime in June.