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RVU Alliance Formed For A/V Network Devices

El Segundo, Calif. – DirecTV, Broadcom, Cisco and Samsung said
Monday they have formed an alliance to develop a specification for a
“pixel-accurate” remote user interface (RUI) for RVU A/V networking technology.

The RVU Alliance members
said their efforts will “complement and benefit existing industry interoperability
initiatives” and that its founders maintain a “commitment to the sharing of
digital content in the connected home.”

According to alliance representatives, RVU (pronounced
“are-view”) is not an acronym.

The RVU
protocol is based on a client-server architecture. The server is a source
device supplied by the content service provider that allows the distribution
and management of video and a consistent user experience to one or many thin CE
devices (clients), the alliance said.

RVU allows the
television viewer to watch live or recorded programming on various branded TVs
or clients.

The RVU Alliance’s pixel-accurate RUI technology will provide an
identical user experience on all RVU-based thin client CE devices throughout
the connected home, including digital TVs, digital media adapters and set-top
boxes.

The RVU
technology will ensure commercial/copyrighted content is secured with Digital
Transmission Content Protection over Internet Protocol (DTCP-IP), originally
developed for the IEEE-1394 (a.k.a. “Fire Wire”
or “i.Link”) digital interface.

RVU technology is expected to accelerate the availability of
service providers’ content throughout the connected home, the alliance said. A
server-controlled, common user experience will enable the introduction of new
features and applications that typically accompany commercial content.

One important industry interoperability initiative is the Digital
Living Network Alliance (DLNA), of which RVU Alliance founders are promoting
members.

The alliance has been set up as an Oregon-based non-profit mutual
benefit corporation with membership participation at founding promoter, promoter
and contributor levels.

The RVU Alliance will
make available technical specifications for the distribution of digital A/V
home-networked entertainment content augmented with pixel-accurate RUI
graphics. The Alliance will also serve to help ensure compatibility between
RVU-compliant products.

Rômulo Pontual, DirecTV’s chief technology officer, said the
satellite-TV provider is planning to deploy RVU technology in media servers and
clients beginning early in 2010.

Rich Nelson, Broadcom Communications Group marketing VP, said “that
by supporting RVU technology on set-top box, digital TV and Blu-ray
system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions, we are enabling a consistent look and feel on
connected devices in the home.”

Thomas Rhee,
Samsung’s digital set-top box senior VP, said, “With the addition of RVU
technology, the device software integration process is simplified for consumer
electronics manufacturers such as Samsung. We’re excited about the RVU RUI and
how this technology has DLNA as its foundation.”

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