Huge Breakthrough For IGRS, TCL s First External Licensing of Patented Technology

Huge Breakthrough For IGRS, TCL s First External Licensing of Patented Technology

March 26th,2008

25 March 2008, Shenzhen After receiving accreditation from the ISO and IEC last November, Intelligent Grouping and Resource Sharing (IGRS) has achieved another huge breakthrough by obtaining accreditations for both its commercialization efforts and core technologies. The IGRS middleware platform, developed by TCL Industrial Research Institute, has recently been licensed for use to Shenzhen Zonghengxin Technology Limited (hereunder referred to as Shenzhen ZHX).

This indicates that the increase of technical expertise over the past few years has enabled the nation s first IGRS of 3C standard to enter the industrialization phase, a stage in which patents for the use of its core technologies may be granted. This also means that in terms of Digital Home interconnectivity, China will not have to retrace the footsteps of the DVD industry in having to pay for foreign patented technology.

IGRS Grants Its First Paid License

According to the TCL Corporation Industrial Research Institute s Project Director, Dr Sun Chong, Shenzhen ZHX has signed an agreement with TCL for the licensing of the IGRS middleware platform and has also reached a consensus on this matter with IGRS s Center of Engineering. This is the first concrete patent licensing of interconnectivity technology between the nation s commercial electronics factories.

In the past, licenses for IGRS were either of an internal crossover nature, or were free licenses granted for the sake of advancing IGRS technology. By contrast, this move by TCL is the first real licensing of technological patents among its local counterparts, and represents a turning point as IGRS technology approaches maturity in commercialized operation.

This licensing not only brings patent earnings for TCL, but also opens up the way to substantial economic benefits through the launching of new products under patented technologies. The IGRS middleware technology platform, which is the technology licensed on this occasion, is a software-based middleware platform that can run independent of any hardware.

This avoids compatibility problems and similar issues arising from the use of different processors, operating systems and application systems. Through this embedded middleware platform, any commercial electronics firm can, in the shortest possible time, develop a large range of products running on IGRS, such as High Definition TV (HDTV) and High Definition internet broadcasting receivers.

In addition, the IGRS middleware platform set has even more extendable functionality. A manager from Shenzhen ZHX stated that firstly, this highly featured, network multimedia, High Definition, playback application platform uses high-powered, multi-core MPEG decoder chips and an embedded LINUX operating system.

It also has a powerful video review and website digital transmission capability, including integrative digital technology such as wireless internet, a media center, High Definition playback, saving, etc. At the same time, it has embedded IGRS standard protocols, so it not only supports built-in hard disc content playback, but it can also play multimedia content in IGRS LAN (Local Area Network) PCs through wired or wireless networks or by directly reading the media materials from USB disks as it plays them.

In this way, it is a comprehensive, all-encompassing digital processing platform.

Patent License Promotes the Industrialization of IGRS

Industry analysts predicted that, based on the common software platform, the technical threshold for consumer electronics businesses to participate in the industrialization of IGRS will be greatly reduced, product development times will be accelerated and development costs will also be reduced. Since receiving international standard accreditation in November last year, China s independently developed IGRS label has sent out a clear signal: the industrialization of IGRS has reached a new peak.

As a core member of IGRS, TCL s technology patent licenses have made further strides in this process. Dr Yan Xiaolin, President of TCL Industrial Technology Research Institute, said this patent license helps to promote IGRS products to the overseas market and enhance the position of IGRS as the international standard.

While the technology license is an essential means to promote IGRS to the international market and to spur on industrialization operations, it also signifies IGRS s formal entry into commercial and industrial operation. He also revealed that TCL s next step will be to make the IGRS Engineering Center a licensed party to the technology.

On the basis of the technical platform, TCL Industrial Research Institute has also developed the IGRS STB (Set-Top Box), which is expected to come on the market in late March or early April.

Sun Chuhui, Vice-president of the IGRS Information Technology Engineering Center, commented on this issue. He said, "We hope that even more manufacturers will get involved in work on the industrialization of IGRS. TCL s IGRS middleware platform is not only leading the way in Digital Home technology, but is also providing a "fast lane" for IGRS to create a larger Digital Home market."

It is understood that in the four years since it was established, IGRS has already accumulated more than 200 patents upstream and downstream in the "3C" consumer electronics industrial chain; the development of TCL s IGRS box alone is responsible for the creation of 20 software core technology patents.

As IGRS s main founder, TCL President Li Dongsheng said, "We missed the world s first electronic information technology revolution, but it is essential that Chinese businesses find their niche in the future Digital Home age. Otherwise, we will always be in a subordinate position." Looking back at the patent obstacles encountered by Chinese businesses in the DVD, PC and TV fields, achieving breakthroughs with the IGRS standard has even greater practical significance.

It signifies that in future areas of the Digital Home such as PCs, TVs, audio, fridges, air conditioning, DV and DC interactive communication, Chinese businesses will stand tall and be at the same technical starting line as overseas manufacturers. In fact, they may even profit from licensing patented technologies to overseas manufacturers.