News Release
VIA and General Software Showcase Firmbase® 1.2
With Support For VIA PadLock Hardware Security Suite at
Embedded Systems Conference
Combines hardware based VIA PadLock ACE and RNG security
features with OS independent BIOS and Firmbase for development
of secure embedded devices
San Francisco, California, 30 March 2004 - VIA Technologies,
Inc., a leading innovator and developer of silicon chip
technologies and PC platform solutions, and General Software,
a leading BIOS vendor focused on deeply embedded applications,
will show General Software's EBIOS and Firmbase operating
environment and development tools leveraging the VIA PadLock
Random Number Generator (RNG) and VIA PadLock Advanced
Cryptography Engine (ACE) built into VIA Nehemiah core
processors, at the Embedded Systems Conference, 2004.
In addition to authentication and access control, General
Software's Firmbase provides a development environment
for 32-bit applications that reside on the SMM (System
Management Mode) side of the x86 architecture. The core
set of application development tools in Firmbase make
it easy for developers to create their own security applications
such as database encryption that use the on-die VIA PadLock
Hardware Security Suite. By addressing security at the
hardware level with the integrated VIA PadLock features,
OEMs can build high quality security applications that
incur very little load on the processor and eliminate
the need to rely on a more vulnerable security alternative
such as an operating system or other software solutions.
"With processors like the tiny Eden-N processor,
VIA has produced the ideal hardware complement to our
BIOS with world class features that quickly enable today's
OEM to design a more desirable product with high quality
security features," said General Software Vice President
of Sales, Steve Dearden. "OEMs can now design more
competitive, secure and compact devices based on VIA's
highly integrated and power efficient platforms with minimal
additional R&D time and cost."
"Our collaboration with General Software is helping
to accelerate the development of the next generation of
smart digital devices that carry out security operations
natively," said Richard Brown, Associate Vice President
of Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc. "Combining the
fanless VIA Eden-N processor with the fast boot time and
small footprint of the General Software BIOS, we are providing
platforms for tomorrow's demanding embedded applications."
General Software's Firmbase 1.2 on the VIA EPIA M-Series
Mini-ITX mainboard is on show at the Embedded Systems
Conference 2004 this week at booth number 1002, South
Hall.
About the VIA Eden-N Processor
The VIA Eden-N processor is based on the new Nehemiah
core featuring the PadLock Security Suite integrated directly
on to the processor die, including the new PadLock Advanced
Cryptography Engine (ACE) and two hardware based RNGs.
This produces market leading encryption rates of 12.5Gbs
with minimal load on the processor, enabling compact,
low power designs that can natively assist security applications.
Available at speeds of 533MHz, 800MHz, and 1GHz, the
VIA Eden-N processor features the tiny nanoBGA processor
package, measuring just 15mm x 15mm, making it the world's
smallest native x86 processor that is expanding the reach
of the x86 architecture to consumer electronics and commercial
devices that require compatibility with PC hardware and
software. With Thermal Design Power (TDP) values of 4W,
6W and 7W respectively, the VIA Eden-N processor also
boasts the world's lowest power consumption from a native
x86 processor.
The VIA Eden-N processor comes packed with advanced performance
features such as StepAhead™ Advanced Branch Prediction,
sixteen pipeline stages, support for SSE multimedia instructions,
a full-speed Floating Point Unit (FPU) and an efficiency-enhanced
64KB Full-Speed Exclusive L2 cache with 16-way associativity
for memory optimization.
For more information on the VIA Eden-N processor, please
visit the VIA Eden Platform website at:
http://www.via.com.tw/en/Products/eden_n.jsp.
About Firmbase
Firmbase is an operating environment that runs in System
Management Mode or SMM. Firmbase uses patented technology
to run 32-bit firmware applications concurrently with
the foreground operating system. It provides a multi-threaded
API to 32-bit applications running transparently to the
other software in the system, including the BIOS and operating
system. These programs -- called Firmware Applications
-- are developed using standard, 32-bit Windows Portable
Executable (PE) development tools.
For more information on Firmbase please visit the General
Software website at:
http://www.gensw.com/pages/prod/firmbase/firmbase.htm
About the Embedded BIOS™ 2000
Embedded BIOS addresses the entire lifecycle of embedded
products, from board bring-up, configuration prototyping,
testing with system diagnostics, and product manufacturing
to in-field diagnostics and software reload. Features
include an integrated debugger; console redirection; highly
configurable POST; manufacturing mode; ROM, RAM, and Flash
file systems; support for a host of industry initiatives;
and much more. Embedded BIOS supports industry-standard
operating systems that run on PC-compatible hardware,
including the full spectrum of Windows, Linux, and real-time
operating systems.
About General Software
General Software, Inc. provides superior enabling firmware
and world-class support for OEM manufacturers of telecommunications,
data communications, consumer electronics, dedicated servers,
and other specialized computing devices. General Software's
well-architected and reliable firmware products reduce
risk, speed development, and address the embedded OEM's
product lifecycle needs. For more information about General
Software and its embedded firmware, visit http://www.gensw.com,
e-mail sales@gensw.com,
or contact Tanya Topoleski at 800-850-5755 or 425-576-8300.
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