CableLabs® Awards Qualification to Scientific Atlanta for Multi-Stream CableCARD™

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CableLabs® recently awarded qualified status to Scientific Atlanta (A Cisco Company) for its multi-stream CableCARD™ (M-Card™). The multi-stream CableCARD enables consumers of retail set-top boxes and integrated digital television sets to watch and/or record their programming from multiple simultaneous tuners using a single CableCARD (e.g., handling picture-in-picture or simultaneous watch-and-record of multiple digital video channels).

The M-Card device is a key component in the security system between cable operator networks and retail consumer electronics devices. The “M-Card” will operate in a backwards compatible, single-stream, manner when paired with a single stream device (for example, in a UDCP); or in a multi-stream manner when paired with a multi-stream device.

“We congratulate Scientific Atlanta on this accomplishment. It is indicative of the great progress our suppliers of conditional access have achieved,” said Mike Hayashi, Chairman of the OpenCable Certification Board, and Senior Vice President, Advanced Engineering and Technology, Time Warner Cable.

It is expected that multi-stream CableCARD devices will be widely available for use and commercially availability by mid-2006, and will be supported by cable operators. In addition to developing the test environment for multi-stream CableCARDs, CableLabs has worked jointly with Digital Keystone, Inc. of Mountain View, California, to create a test tool for multi-stream host devices. This host test tool, known as the HPNx PRO™, greatly facilitates the work needed by a CE manufacturer to develop and test the multi-stream interface on both unidirectional and bidirectional digital cable ready products. HPNx PRO is available immediately from Digital Keystone and will be utilized by CableLabs for multi-stream host testing planned for June of this year.

CableLabs Certified&trade or CableLabs Qualified means that the device has passed a series of tests for compliance with the indicated version of a CableLabs' specification and has thus demonstrated interoperable functionality with any other “CableLabs Certified or Qualified” device. Many of these devices provide other functions or are designed to comply with other specifications, in each case tailored by the manufacturer to meet the growing needs of consumers or cable operators in an evolving communication sector. While CableLabs encourages such innovation and diversity, the phrase CableLabs Certified/Qualified should not be understood as an endorsement of these other attributes (or that the product is certified to other specifications or versions), which are solely the responsibility of the company making the additional claims.

About Digital Keystone
Digital Keystone is a leading developer of digital entertainment tools and technologies that enable premium content in the home. Top silicon and system providers rely upon Digital Keystone software to deliver breakthrough PC and consumer products. Digital Keystone has offices in Mountain View, California and Aix-en-Provence, France. For additional information, visit the company's web site at www.digitalkeystone.com.

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