Entropic Communications, a provider of semiconductor solutions for the connected home, has collaborated with Opera Software (News – Alert), best known for its cross-platform browsers and mobile advertising, to produce a joint solution based on Opera’s advanced HTML5 browser and Entropic’s (News – Alert) set-top box system-on-a-chip (SoC) platform, the EN7588. While this may sound like any typical set-top box running an HTML5 browser, the two companies stated that their joint solution represents a "breakthrough cost-effective IP-client STB solution."

Indeed, the solution addresses the trend of pay-TV service providers migrating in-home video delivery to an all-IP format, making HTML5 the ideal format for carrying multimedia over IP due to its already broad support from online content providers. The Entropic/Opera HTML5 STB SoC solution aims to meet the changing content delivery needs of service providers, while also catering to original equipment manufacturer (OEM) requirements.

"Operators are increasingly looking to HTML5 as a standard for rich multimedia over IP networks. As a pure-play platform semiconductor company in connected home entertainment, we partnered with Opera to offer a compelling, optimized HTML5 solution to our OEMs and operator customers," said Roger Gregory, vice president of Marketing, Set-top Box (News – Alert) Products, Entropic. "In particular, we see the U.S. cable market transitioning from closed, proprietary video delivery mechanisms to open, standards-based solutions. Our efficient and superior architecture is able to run Opera’s HTML5 browser with hardware acceleration to ensure the optimal browser experience."

This is why the hardware half of the Entropic/Opera joint solution is the EN7588, which features a dual-core 5000 DMIPS ARM (News – Alert) Cortex-A9 processor with SIMD extensions: Not only does this hardware enable high performance, it allows Entropic and its partners to develop and implement software solutions quickly in order to meet OEM time to market needs.

Entropic’s third-generation single-chip solution, the EN2510, received a 2009 Cable Product of the Year Award from TMC (News – Alert) in January 2010.

Aneesh Rajaram, SVP of TV & Devices at Opera Software, stated that, though its HTML5 engine has been deployed on "tens of millions of STBs and TVs," the company has the opportunity to help operators embrace HTML5 and move toward a more IP-centric format with this joint solution.