Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) and
InterTrust Technologies Corp., the MetaTrust Utility, Monday announced plans to co-develop secure solutions for portable audio devices.
The solution is intended to allow digital content to be securely transferred from a
consumer’s PC to a portable Internet audio device and used only as permitted
by the rightful owner of the content.
Using technology from InterTrust , TI
will develop enhanced digital rights
management (DRM) capabilities based on TI’s TMS320C5000 digital signal processors (DSPs), which offer original equipment
manufacturers the secure download and playback
of rights-protected music content. The solution will be available by third
quarter 2000.
The TI/InterTrust solution, which will be MetaTrust-Certified, will support
InterTrust’s Rights/PD software and will incorporate advanced security
features, such as a built-in, unique secure digital music initiative (SDMI)
ID, verification of a secure environment and disabling of debug and test
interfaces.
The partnership also enables the persistent
protection of all-digital content and supports simple to complex business
models defined by the individual content owner or device manufacturer.
The TI/InterTrust solution is software-upgradeable to enable support for
future product features and multiple audio formats. TI’s programmable DSPs
support all existing audio formats including MP3, Windows Media Audio,
Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), RealNetworks RealAudio G2, Liquid Audio and the
speech codec used by Audible, Inc.
The union creates cost efficient and adaptable means of meeting the needs
of portable device manufacturers,” said Edmund Fish, executive vice president and chief business
officer, InterTrust Technologies Corp. “This technology partnership
will allow future electronic devices to deliver SDMI-compliant, secure
digital content for the Internet and other media outlets,” he said.
InterTrust has developed a general-purpose DRM platform that serves as foundation for providers of digital information, technology, and commerce services to participate in a global system for digital commerce. TI is a global semiconductor company and a designer and supplier of digital signal processors and analog-integrated circuits.
