The folks at Harvard Centro in the U.K. sent in this news item:

AMINO OFFERS FUTURE-PROOF FLEXIBILITY IN RESIDENTIAL GATEWAY REFERENCE DESIGN

Gateway is a Core Building-Block for the networked House of the Future

21 May 2001: Amino Communications, a leading enabler of network appliance technology, today unveiled its Residential Gateway Reference Design with a unique security architecture. The reference design will to appeal to OEMs who need comprehensive flexibility and future-proof capabilities as well as a framework for the secure delivery of services, thereby protecting the revenue stream of services enabled by Gateways. The licensable reference design is suitable for the delivery of almost any on-line service.

Residential Gateways provide the launch pad for delivering a range of services to the home - from video-on-demand and broadband Internet access, through multi-player gaming, security services, predictive maintenance and videoconferencing to home shopping and online banking.

Flexibility played an essential role in the specification of the Amino Residential Gateway Reference Design. It is also essential to offer low-entry cost coupled with strong service revenue growth. The Gateway is located unobtrusively in a garage or under the stairs and comprises self-contained modules which simply 'clip-fix' together to build a Gateway of the required configuration.

The system is easy to expand or adapt in the home by adding modules to the based product via a hot-plug connection, enabled by Amino's IntAct technology. Further functionality is provided without having to replace the original unit and services delivered that were never envisaged when the Gateway was designed.

In-built Security
"It is essential that the Gateway - the bridge between the home and external communications - is totally trustworthy and reliable," said Martyn Gilbert, CEO, Amino Communications. "The Gateway concept will be still-born unless the offerings of first market entrants are inherently trustable. Protection against breaches of home security and spurious credit card charges is vital as Gateways will often be provided at no charge as part of the service."

The Amino Residential Gateway Reference Design offers totally integrated security with a patent-pending multi-level cryptography developed to handle both low volume, high value transactions and high volume low-cost services. The Amino cryptosystem integrates in-house and third party security technologies, allowing the appropriate level of protection to be selected "on-the-fly" - an approach that conserves precious connection bandwidth.

The core Gateway comprises an intelligent power supply linked to modules providing networking, application processing, smart card interface, and graphics functionality. The modules support any external connectivity - PSTN, cable, wireless or DSL - as well as any domestic network system - Powerline (mains cable), wireless, Ethernet, IEEE802.11b or Bluetooth. Enabled by Amino's proprietary technologies, the Reference Design is uniquely able to accept multiple network interfaces without re-design for those bandwidth-hungry installations.

"We are entering the Digital Home era where digital technologies and services will start to pervade the home," continued Gilbert. "As a technology enabler, Amino is providing the infrastructure required for everyone to have access to these digital services."

IntAct comprises a group of technologies including an ATM-like switch, protocols and device drivers that enable data packets to be sent between intelligent sub-systems. These sub-systems may be on one piece of silicon, a single printed circuit board or distributed across a number of boards. In the case of the Gateway, communication is between modules, each a circuit board providing a particular set of functions.

About Amino

Amino is a leading developer and licensor of technologies for the secure and rapid deployment of networked, multimedia solutions. The company has assembled a world class team to develop technologies exploiting the world-wide market growth in digital, online markets and provides consultancy services to help clients exploit fully the business opportunities that the technology facilitates.

Amino brings together best-of-breed modular Intellectual Property (IP) so manufacturers can start production with conventional, low risk circuit board level solutions in a fraction of the traditional time. Licensees then enjoy dramatic cost savings as they migrate to System-on-Chip (SoC) when they need high volume production.

For further information, please contact:
Sarah Keefe
Amino Communications
01954 784526
skeefe@aminocom.com
Ben Taylor
Harvard Centro
020 7494 6104
bent@harvard.co.uk

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