Faraday and ITRI Jointly Launch the Highly Competitive VoIP Middleware

With no PC required, it is designed to address communication needs anytime anywhere as well as facilitate the access to the business trip and SOHO markets

Hsinchu, Taiwan – July 12, 2006 -- Faraday Technology ( TAIEX: 3035 ), a leading ASIC and Silicon IP provider, has recently developed software for VoIP applications with ICL (Information & Communications Research Labs ) of ITRI (Industrial Technology Research Institute). The first launched VoIP solution in Taiwan supports current international VoIP telecom standards such as SIP, RTP/RTCP and UDP/TCP/IP. Moreover, with even more competitive technology license fees and royalty, it is not inferior to other solutions developed by major international providers in quality and performance. Meanwhile, Faraday will also provide customers with full technical and local support for faster product time to market.

This VoIP software jointly developed by Faraday and ITRI includes a control and data interface to provide a multi-channel compression/decompression system. In addition to basic core functions, VAD (Voice Action Detection) has been incorporated to mitigate the bandwidth workload. To ensure the voice quality, the software also supports echo elimination and removal of packet jittering. The CNG (Comfort Noise Generation) design, which simulates natural environments, is intended to avoid hollowness generated by digital processing. These pre-integrated functions and designs allow end users to have premium communication quality while enjoying the convenience of VoIPs.

Currently, the jointly developed software is built on Faraday's FIC8120, the multimedia SOC design platform, on which a 32-bit CPU-FA526 (compatible with ARM9 architecture) running at a clock speed of 220MHz or above is embedded. Additionally, the supplied two-way voice communication software and the support for various network protocols, such as RTSP and 3GPP, meet the needs for intelligent remote network appliances by strengthening conversation functions at the users' end or performing multi-point voice conversation, and make the software the best reference design platform for a variety of value-added services and VoIPs.

“We are optimistic about the cooperation result jointly brought by Faraday and ITRI. By integrating respective expertise and capabilities on software/hardware and system applications from both parties, the introduction of the middleware will dramatically enhance the competitive edge of local vendors in the popular application segment,” said Michelle Chou, spokesperson and MKT director of Faraday Technology.

Dr. Sheng-lin Chou, Deputy General Director of ICL/ ITRI, said, “We have been continually conducting several cooperation projects with Faraday and have achieved relatively well with concrete results in the current progress. After the announcement of our integrated chips for surveillance and IP TV applications, we have further launched this design platform for VoIP applications, which once again proves that Faraday's multimedia design platform FIC8120 is a mature and comprehensive SOC application platform. In the future, we will also continue to maintain closer cooperation ties with Faraday. By combining advantages of both parties, we will launch more popular application platforms for local vendors to expand their share in the market.”

After this successful cooperation, Faraday and ITRI will further introduce solutions including WiFi phones and Video phones to help customers develop diversified and fully designed platforms required by VoIPs. To facilitate customer design process, ITRI and Faraday will provide a demo board with simple dialing functions based on customer needs, which can be regarded as reference design on one hand, and on the other hand retains flexibility that allows variation on customer product design.

About ICL/ ITRI

The Information and Communications Research Laboratories, formerly known as the Computer & Communications Research Labs, was founded in 2006. The ICL is poised for rapid growth in the years ahead thanks to the strong foundation it established in the 1990s. The ICL is devoted to establishing fundamental technologies required by Taiwan 's 3C industry, and aims to bolster Taiwan 's competitiveness in the areas of computers, communications and consumer electronics.

The ICL aims to meet the developmental needs of forward-looking industries. It works in tandem with the government's industrial policies, focusing on the creation of core technologies and nurturing a pool of highly skilled engineers that will create IP value. It will also integrate resources among the industrial, academic and research sectors and establish mechanisms for international cooperation. Its goal is to help lead Taiwan 's ICT sector in adopting next-generation technology and in raising the competitiveness of Taiwan 's 3C industry. For more detailed information about ICL, welcome to visit www.ccl.itri.org.tw .

About Faraday Technology Corporation

Faraday Technology Corporation is a leading silicon IP and fabless ASIC vendor. The company's broad SIP portfolio includes 32-bit RISC CPUs, DSPs, MPEG4, H.264, PHYs/Controllers for USB 2.0, 10/100 Ethernet, Serial ATA, PCI Express, Cell Library and Memory Compiler. With more than 650 employees and 2005 revenue of US$175 million, Faraday is one of the largest fabless ASIC companies in the Asia-Pacific region, and it also has a significant presence in other world-wide markets. Headquartered in Taiwan , Faraday has service and support offices around the world, including the U.S. , Japan , Europe, and China . For more information, please visit :www.faraday-tech.com