Frontier Silicon brings Sirius Radio home

Frontier’s Venice 6 allows audio manufacturers to add the capability to connect to the Sirius Internet radio service to a wide range of audio devices such as tabletop radios, clock radios and micro CD systems without requiring a rooftop satellite antenna, thereby making the Sirius service easily accessible in the home environment.

Frontier Silicon’s modules and ICs are already at the heart of 80 percent of DAB digital radios used today, and the Venice 6 module is the latest addition to its product range, adding Wi-Fi connectivity to the DAB/DAB+/FM capabilities offered on earlier modules. The Wi-Fi connectivity gives Venice 6-based radios access to over 10,000 internet radio stations and a massive array of free online content such as podcasts and “Listen Again”. The module, which also plays audio streamed from a network server and music-on-demand, is opening up vast new markets for the company. By enabling Venice 6 to receive Sirius Internet Radio, consumer electronics manufacturers will be able to produce familiar tabletop radios, microsystems and clock radios that also have access to the Sirius’ commercial-free channels for a monthly subscription fee.

Anthony Sethill, CEO of Frontier Silicon said: “The Sirius radio service is already very popular with consumer in the USA, with millions of subscribers regularly enjoying it. Implementing Sirius on Venice 6 is going to let our customers quickly bring to market new easy-to-install home audio products that will bring this high quality Sirius content into the home.”

Venice 6 is a truly global radio module, being the world’s only multistandard radio capable of receiving Internet radio, DAB/DAB+, FM and music streamed from a network server. It is based on Frontier Silicon’s Chorus 2 processor and streams radio stations and music files in a variety of formats and protocols including MP3, WMA, and RealAudio.