Frontier Silicon Launches HD Radio™ Module at Hong Kong Electronics Fair

Frontier Silicon, the world leader in technology solutions for digital radio receivers, is launching its first digital radio module supporting the HD Radio standard. In partnership with iBiquity, the developers of HD Radio technology, Frontier has created a new solution based on its market leading Verona digital radio module (over six million units sold to date).

The key benefit for receiver manufacturers is the ability to launch US versions of best-selling digital radio devices, which to date have only been sold in Europe and the Asia Pacific region. In addition, North American brands and retailers will now be able to incorporate the performance standards and reliability of Frontier Silicon’s solutions in their domestic HD Radio devices.

The Verona HD Radio module will be sampling in April, with lead partners going to mass production at the end of Q2 2014. A demonstration of the new module will be available in Frontier’s exclusive HKEF Spring Edition demo suite.

Anthony Sethill, CEO Frontier Silicon, said: "The time is right for Frontier Silicon to enter the HD Radio market. In the last three years, HD Radio has established a firm foothold in the North American automotive market, and the market for consumer HD Radio devices is ripe for development. We see this as a significant next step in the global development of digital radio.

"Our partnership with iBiquity has been a key factor in the development of the Verona HD Radio solution. By combining the technical expertise of our two teams, we have accelerated time to market and avoided unnecessary duplication of effort.

"We will work closely with new and existing customers to ensure the devices they bring to market meet the high expectations of North American retailers and consumers.”

Jeff Jury, Chief Operating Officer, iBiquity Digital Corporation, said: "We are very pleased to have been able to work so closely with the Frontier team to bring this project to fruition. The HD Radio rollout has been expanding in the Americas over the past few years. We believe this partnership with Frontier is a key next step in meeting the market's need for high performance, cost effective digital radio products.”

The Verona HD module builds on key aspects of Frontier Silicon’s experience in digital radio.

Key features include:

• The only full-certified master-mode HD Radio module - no third party MCU is required and the user interface requires minimal extra development effort
• Electrically, mechanically and functionally compatible with Frontier Silicon’s best-selling Verona DAB radio module – enabling quick and easy conversion of existing DAB radio designs
• FM analogue and FM HD Radio standards supported with seamless blending and international tuning support for 50kHz, 100kHz and 200kHz steps
• International language menu support for English, Spanish, Portuguese and French
• RBDS and Programme Service Data (PSD) to display useful text information such as artist or song title
• Full product development from Frontier’s support teams in Asia.

About Frontier Silicon Limited

Frontier Silicon is the world’s leading supplier of integrated circuits and modules for Digital Radio and Connected Audio products. Frontier Silicon is part of the Toumaz Group, a pioneer in low-power wireless semiconductor and software technologies for the consumer audio and wireless healthcare markets.

The group is headquartered in London, England, with design centres in Oxford, Cambridge, Hong Kong and Romania. The company also has sales and technical support teams in Hong Kong, China and Japan.

Frontier Silicon’s audio products offer solutions for DAB/DAB+, Internet Radio and Connected Audio - from silicon through software to production-ready platform designs.

Customers supplied by Frontier Silicon include Argon, Bang & Olufsen, Bose, Bush, Denon, Dual, Geneva, Goodmans, Grundig, Hama, harman/kardon, Hitachi, JVC, Magic Box, NAD, Onkyo, Panasonic, Philips, Pinell, Pioneer, Pure, Revo, Roberts, Ruark Audio, Sangean, Sanyo, Sharp, Sony, TEAC, TechniSat, Tivoli Audio and Yamaha.

Frontier Silicon is a trademark or registered trademark of Frontier Silicon Ltd.