ASTRI's Enterprise and Consumer Electronics (ECE) domain has been rolling out a series of leading edge technologies relevant to voice, multimedia and mobility. In recent years, this domain has licensed its technologies to OEMs/ODMs in the areas of Voice over IP (VoIP), Voice over WLAN (VoWLAN), VoWLAN/cellular mobility, Mobile TV, Portable Media Devices (PMD), etc. As the wireless communication market grows, it would logically call for next generation products that combine multiple technologies together.

An ODM/OEM customer is able to pick and choose any combination of ECE's technologies to build its products. For example, a WiFi phone vendor can easily add Mobile TV capability on top of the VoWLAN technology; a PMD vendor can easily incorporate WiFi/cellular mobility solution such that the portable streaming device can be used under different wireless networks. The Synergy Initiative is meant to incorporate various technologies together for ECE's licensee to build a much richer product portfolio.

Along with the integration of technologies come more sophisticated usage scenarios. For example, when the end user is watching mobile TV on the handset, will the unit ring when a VoWLAN call comes in? Can the user continue to watch TV while talking on the phone handset using hands-free mode? Can the user start streaming video to the other party while talking on the cellular phone? These are scenarios that do not exist when only a single technology is licensed. One of the value propositions of the Synergy Initiative is the handling of these sophisticated combo operations.

The Synergy Initiative is built on a platform of ARM9E-based processor (TI's DM320), Cadenux Linux and Qtopia Phone Edition, which provide the first platform for the initial R&D efforts. However, the technologies themselves are platform independent, such that an ODM/OEM can license the technologies and port them on the hardware platform of its choice. The hardware architecture of the Synergy hardware platform is presented in Figure 1.