Intel Announces Software Platform Support for Telematics

    SANTA CLARA, Calif.--April 11, 2001--Intel Corporation today announced that leading in-car computing software platform vendors are delivering support for the Intel(R) StrongARM/a processor and future processors based on the Intel(R) XScale(TM) microarchitecture.
    Microsoft Corp., IBM, QNX Software Systems Ltd., Wind River Systems, Inc., Fonix Corporation and Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. are supporting the Intel StrongARM and Intel XScale microarchitectures to enable developers and original equipment manufacturers to reduce "time-to-market" and create sophisticated in-car, voice-enabled wireless applications.
    The core software platform recipe for devices in the in-car computing, or telematics, market segment consists of open, scalable software platforms, extensible and comprehensive development tools and such key complementary technologies as speech recognition. These combined elements are necessary to deliver adaptable, scalable telematics devices that will enable and enhance applications and services for the automotive industry.
    "Our customers asked for each of these solutions by name," said Pat Kerrigan, director for Intel's In-Car Computing Operation. "We feel we have secured industry-wide support from key players to maximize the benefits of the Intel(R) Personal Internet Client Architecture and to provide our mutual customers with the best telematics development platforms available."
    Microsoft will support Intel with its Windows CE for Automotive software platform. This agreement represents one of the first measures in distributed computing from Microsoft's Car .NET framework. Windows CE for Automotive is an integral component of a growing portfolio of products and services which Microsoft provides to the telematics industry. The Windows CE for Automotive platform is being enabled for personalized web services development as part of the Microsoft .NET initiative. The new Hailstorm services benefit from the .NET technologies and architecture that make it possible for applications, devices and services to work together. The Microsoft Windows CE for Automotive adaptation for the Intel StrongARM processor is available today, and later this year for the Intel XScale microachitecture.
    IBM embedded middleware manages communications, enables content and service creation and provides secure reliable transactions between devices and a back-end server. IBM's VisualAge(R) Micro Edition Java application development tools and deployment technologies for the Intel StrongARM SA-1110 processor and Intel XScale-based products allow developers to quickly and easily leverage existing applications for e-Business. IBM's implementation of Java technology for use with Intel StrongARM embedded processors is now available. IBM is integrating its Embedded ViaVoice(TM) products with the Intel StrongARM and Intel XScale microarchitectures to deliver high-quality noise robust voice recognition and text-to-speech solutions to the telematics industry.
    QNX Software Systems will support Intel with the QNX RTOS, an operating system for building fault-resilient, dynamically upgradeable in-car applications. QNX offers telematics manufacturers a variety of off-the-shelf Internet and multimedia modules, POSIX APIs for leveraging a large base of developers and source code, an MMU-protected architecture that dramatically reduces debugging time, plus an optimized version of the IBM VisualAge Micro Edition J9 virtual machine. QNX support for the StrongARM SA-1110 development platform is scheduled for June 2001, to be followed by support for the Intel XScale microarchitecture.
    Wind River has a strategic Center of Excellence relationship with Intel to provide leading development tool support across the Intel XScale and the Intel StrongARM architectures. Wind River supports these powerful processor families with the Tornado(R) integrated development environment (IDE) and VxWorks(R) real-time operating system (RTOS), as well as its VisionICE tools and Personal Jworks(TM) java solution.
    Fonix Corporation is optimizing a version of its Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), that will be available by mid-year for Intel StrongARM and Intel XScale microarchitectures. This version of Fonix(TM) ASR will deliver top-quality speech recognition capabilities to mobile wireless devices including PDAs, smart phones and automobiles.
    Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products is integrating its noise robust speech recognition technologies (ASR 200 and ASR 1600 engines) and text-to-speech technology (TTS3000) in different languages on the Intel StrongARM and Intel XScale microarchitectures. These products can be used to develop applications for the mobile and automotive market. The company plans to release them by mid-year.
    These companies also plan to utilize the Intel(R) Integrated Performance Primitives software library to offer wireless device manufacturers new and compelling capabilities. Useful in a broad range of applications, the library includes functions for vector manipulation, matrix math and general signal, image, speech and audio processing, as well as sophisticated primitives for construction of standardized audio, video and speech codecs such as MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio, Layer 3), MPEG-4 and H.263.
    Supporting Quotes

    Fonix Corporation -- "The Fonix(TM) Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) Engine and the Intel(R) XScale(TM) microarchitecture combine some of the strongest technologies to address quality speech recognition and text-to-speech capabilities to the mobile industry," said Lynn Shepherd, Fonix vice president of technology.
    IBM -- "Telematics is a natural extension of mobile and wireless e-Business, which must integrate easily with peoples' lifestyles and personal interests," says Raj Desai, director, Telematics Solutions, IBM Industrial Sector. "This requires platforms based on open standards to ensure common interfaces, applications and services. Intel is working to ensure customers have both a hardware and software solution for fast deployment of telematics projects. IBM's approach to embedded Java technology gives engineers unprecedented choice, including efficient integration of native programs, Java compatible platforms and custom tailored application support."
    Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products -- "The Intel StrongARM and Intel XScale microarchitectures are key platforms in L&H's strategy for the mobile and automotive market," said Patrick De Schrijver, president Automotive Solutions, Lernout & Hauspie.
    Microsoft Corp. -- "The Windows CE for Automotive software platform will enable new levels of scalability for the Intel(R) StrongARM/a processor and the Intel XScale microarchitecture," said Gonzalo Bustillos, director, business development and marketing for the Automotive Business Unit at Microsoft Corp. "This alliance will provide customers the opportunity to use a reliable and scalable platform so they can market great products with short development cycles. Microsoft's Car .NET framework and its Automotive Mobile Services promote device interoperability, integration, and application extensibility to create an end user experience that is simple, yet compelling. In an increasingly competitive mobility market, business alliances are crucial for being able to successfully create and offer differentiating products and services."
    QNX Software Systems -- "The QNX RTOS brings a unique time-to-market advantage to telematics manufacturers by offering a proven suite of ready-to-customize applications, an industry-standard POSIX environment for leveraging an enormous pool of source code and developers, and a fault-resilient architecture that lets manufacturers safely integrate applications from a variety of independent software vendors," said Linda Campbell, vice president of strategic alliances at QNX.
    Wind River Systems, Inc. -- "Wind River continues to work with Intel and other leading partners to develop more advanced solutions in the Automotive Infotainment/Telematics market," said Scot Morrison, vice president and general manager of the Wind River's Automotive & Industrial business unit. "We believe that the combination of the Intel XScale microarchitecture and Intel StrongARM architecture with Wind River's leading embedded development software are well suited to the high demands of the next-generation, multi-media automotive applications."

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