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Pace Drives Home Networking Developments At IBC 2000
World's First Demonstration of Pace's Wireless Home Gateway Technology

Pace Micro Technology will demonstrate clear leadership in the development of home networking technologies today, with the world's first demonstration of its latest home networking technologies - Gateway Expander, pcConnect and tvConnect. These technologies will be key components in shaping the networked home of the 21st Century.

Pace is pushing the boundaries of digital TV technology, as it drives the evolution of the digital set-top box into an interactive home gateway. This gateway will act as the portal for interactive communications into and around the home - enabling electronic devices to link with each other wirelessly or through existing wiring, within the home and communicate with the outside world via a high bandwidth data pipe.

Pace's choice of DECT technology for wireless connectivity within the networked home will ensure accessibility for the mass market. This proven technology is well-established, robust and cost-effective. It is also easy to install, avoiding the expense and inconvenience of extensively re-wiring consumer's homes.

The home networking technologies being evolved by Pace will enable the gateway to reach all corners of the household, including the PC, games consoles, kitchen appliances and security systems. At IBC today, Pace will demonstrate some of these technologies for the first time.

Pace's 'Gateway Expander' technology establishes the home network infrastructure by bringing together wireless, wireline and powerline networking technologies into a fundamental building block. Acting as a wireless base station, it enables two-way communication from the broadband network external to the home, to peripheral electronic devices connected internally to the home network. It can be used as a stand-alone component, or integrated into the home gateway.

One of the first devices to be connected via the Gateway Expander to the gateway will be the PC. As demonstrated at IBC, the wireless link from the Gateway Expander links to Pace's pcConnect to provide high speed Internet access to the PC via the home gateway's integrated cable, DSL or other broadband modem. Pace's use of DECT wireless technology in combination with a cable modem in the home gateway, enables up to 500kbits of data to be delivered up to ten times faster than a standard PSTN modem.

Another device that can be wirelessly linked to Pace's Gateway Expander is the TV. At IBC Pace will demonstrate a working prototype of tvConnect technology. Pace is developing this technology to enable high-speed interactivity and Internet access between any secondary TV in the home and the service provider's network via the home gateway.

In addition, Pace is developing a range of Interactive Display Devices (IDD) for the networked home. These also link to the Gateway Expander, enabling users to access a range of interactive services, such as home shopping, video conferencing, web surfing and home appliance control, away from the main TV or PC screen. Pace's IDD's typically have a touch-sensitive display and can vary in size and functionality. It could be a web pad, a hand-held access device, a portable digital music player or even a wall mounted display. Cont/3

One of the first products in the IDD range will be Pace's Shopping Mate. This hand-held IDD with integrated barcode scanner, offers a fast, accurate and convenient way of creating shopping lists away from the main TV screen. Consumers simply use Pace's Shopping Mate to scan a product's barcode and add it to their shopping list.

Once compiled, the list is transferred to the retailer or content aggregator via the home gateway and the goods are delivered to the customer's home. Pace is demonstrating a version of this hand-held device at IBC, which will show how users can undertake on-line spontaneous purchasing via interactive advertising.

``The networked home is fast becoming a reality,'' says Andy Trott, Pace's Director of Technology, Strategic Development, ``and Pace is at the forefront of shaping its development.

``Today's demonstration of our latest home networking technologies is just the beginning - we are already looking at using the networked home for home automation, power management, home security and entertainment services. The technological capabilities are endless - and with one of the largest engineering teams in the world focused on developing these technologies - we intend to exploit them to their full potential.''

For more information please contact:

            Helen Kettleborough
             Phone: +44(0)1274 538005
             E-mail: helen.kettleborough@pace.co.uk
 
             Amanda David
             Phone: +44(0)1274 537093
             E-mail: amanda.david@pace.co.uk
     
             Paul Bond
             Phone  +44(0)207 592 3100
             E-mail: pbond@kinross-and-render.co.uk