THOMSON'S Universal Serial Bus (USB) Modem And Second Generation Design Win CableLabsÆ Certification

THOMSON multimedia continues to demonstrate its leading position in digital cable modem development with the announcement that CableLabsÆ has certified two additional RCA Digital Cable Modems based on the company's second-generation platform design.""This achievement validates Thomson's continued commitment to its broadband data strategy and investment in digital cable talent. Our state of the art CableLabs-certified products are continually designed to support national CableLabs Standards, provide for the potential of retail and allow for faster customer installation,"" said Enrique Rodriguez, Senior Vice President, Multimedia Products. ""Today's approval positions Thomson as the unquestioned leader in DOCSIS certification results,"" said Rodriguez.""Thomson was one of three companies globally to successfully obtain certification for USB equipped cable modems. The USB interface is the key enabling year 2000 feature that will accelerate High Speed Data Cable Service penetration, enable retail sales and provide a major step towards consumer self installation,"" said Rodriguez.RCA Digital Cable Modems are designed to provide two-way, high-speed Internet access to PCs used in home, small office, and educational environments at speeds up to 100 times faster than a conventional 28.8 kbps telephone modem.The latest CableLabs-certified models include:- RCA DCM215, a DOCSIS 1.1 based modem (fully upgradable to the DOCSIS 1.1 standard) that provides advanced features such as quality of service to guarantee data rates and an advanced privacy standard to further enable secure communications between the cable modem and the cable company's head-end equipment. The DCM215 includes features that address easier installation and faster response and connects to the computer via Ethernet 10/100Base-T with auto sensing.- RCA DCM225, another DOCSIS 1.1 based modem that includes all features of the DCM215 (including Ethernet 10/100Base-T) and adds a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port enabling simple installation with WINDOWS 98 and newer PCs supporting USB.Both models (RCA DCM215 and DCM225) are successor models to the DCM205 but are built off the second-generation digital cable platform now in production, thus enabling rapid production ramp-up. The RCA DCM205 currently in production was Thomson's first model off its second-generation digital cable platform to gain concurrent CableLabs certification and Excite@Home Level 2 approval in December 1999.The second-generation modems feature greatly improved throughput speeds up to 10Mbps (UDO) and 6+ Mbps (TCP). Additional improvements are a CPU more than twice the speed of the predecessor platform and a direct-memory access co-processor. Enhanced security for control and data transmissions is provided by a 168-bit triple DES (Data Encryption Standard) baseline privacy and an IP security model and silicon.Incorporating all the user features and security protection of the DCM215, the DCM225 offers the additional advantage of the USB port which should dramatically simplify the cable modem installation process.""We are especially pleased that the RCA DCM225 won certification and applaud our engineering team for achieving USB functionality on our first submission for a modem with this feature. USB-enabled modems have the potential to quickly build consumer and commercial acceptance of digital cable modem technology through greatly reduced installation time,"" said Rodriguez. ""The USB port on the DCM225 is designed to cut installation time significantly, and in many cases can be accommodated by a single service person, leading to additional savings in installation costs.""Rodriguez further asserted that - in addition to installation time and cost savings - the DCM225 may reduce the risk of liability for MSOs since there is no longer a requirement to open the computer case in order to connect the modem.""With sales of USB-equipped PCs enjoying rapid growth,"" said Rodriguez, ""more cable customers can link-up with high-speed technology easier, faster, and at less expense.""From the beginning of the CableLabs certification process, RCA Digital Cable Modems established a dominant industry position. The DCM105 was one of the first two digital cable modems to earn CableLabs acceptance in March 1999. Following the March certification, the DCM105 achieved CableLabs recertification in September 1999, for advanced networking features on the DOCSIS 1.0 platform.The DCM205 is both field and user-friendly with status indicators for email waiting, network activity, PC-data, RF-connectivity, and power on-off. Advanced diagnostic routines and feedback make remote diagnostics possible.""We salute the CableLabs organization and DOCSIS team for developing a professional and objective certification process that assures high standards of quality performance, open standards, and interoperability,"" said Rodriguez. ""Products such as the RCA DCM225 promise to revolutionize consumer and business Internet usage, providing high-bandwidth connections to content providers such as Excite@Home, Road Runner, High-Speed Access Corp. and others, while providing for downloading of next-generation services to new consumer electronics devices in the home.""About THOMSON Multimedia The world's fourth largest producer of consumer electronics with sales of Euro 6.7 billion ($6.4 billion US) in 1999 and 55,000 salaried employees in more than 30 countries, THOMSON multimedia has four principal activities: Displays and Components, Consumer Products, New Media Services, and Patents and Licensing. The Group engineers, manufacturers, and markets display components and consumer products such as televisions, VCRs, camcorders, digital decoders, DVD-Video players, audio and communications products, as well as professional video equipment. THOMSON multimedia is listed on the Paris stock exchange (SICOVAM: 18453 and NYSE: TMS). THOMSON multimedia is the parent company of the US-based Thomson Consumer Electronics, Inc. Visit THOMSON multimedia on the Web at http://www.thomson-multimedia.com.