Qterics (formerly Broadcast Data Corporation and later UpdateLogic Incorporated ) is a company which has developed a system for

datacasting Datacasting (data broadcasting) is the broadcasting of data over a wide area via radio waves. It most often refers to supplemental information sent by television stations along with digital terrestrial television (DTT), but may also be applied ...

firmware

upgrade Upgrading is the process of replacing a product with a newer version of the same product. In computing and consumer electronics an upgrade is generally a replacement of hardware, software or firmware with a newer or better version, in order to ...

s to

digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative adva ...

devices. It appears that UpdateTV is the only product the company, founded in 2003, has yet developed.

Products

UpdateTV

UpdateTV is a multipath worldwide distribution system which allows

s to automatically receive firmware upgrades and software patches sent out via terrestrial broadcast, digital cable networks, ''and'' the Internet. The network and technology has been under

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped * Photograph ...

by UpdateLogic since 2004, was completed in 2006, first shipped in TV sets in 2008 by Sony Electronics, and is now shipped in TVs from

Sanyo , stylized as SANYO, is a Japanese electronics company and formerly a member of the ''Fortune'' Global 500 whose headquarters was located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo had over 230 subsidiaries and affiliates, and was founded by ...

and others. In the terrestrial case, the UpdateTV solution which works within the ATSC A/97 (Software Data Download Service, or SDDS)

protocol Protocol may refer to: Sociology and politics * Protocol (politics), a formal agreement between nation states * Protocol (diplomacy), the etiquette of diplomacy and affairs of state * Etiquette, a code of personal behavior Science and technolog ...

, will be

datacast Datacasting (data broadcasting) is the broadcasting of data over a wide area via radio waves. It most often refers to supplemental information sent by television stations along with digital terrestrial television (DTT), but may also be applied ...

National Datacast National Datacast Incorporated (NDI) was a pioneer in data broadcasting. It was a for-profit subsidiary of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), which had a minority stake in the final years of this subsidy. It handled datacasting on PBS TV statio ...

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

TV stations across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Major cable operators are required by contract to transmit the data such that the software upgrades are also passed to their customers. UpdateLogic works with content delivery network providers, or Internet service providers, to download the software update(s) to connected devices. TV manufacturers work with UpdateLogic to schedule the network distribution of the software patch(es) and optimize the roll-out to ensure the TVs receive it. The upgrades are transmitted repeatedly every day over a period of many months, in part so that the update is not missed due to a power outage, being unplugged (such as to prevent lightning damage while a resident is away, or perhaps being in storage), or due to

data corruption In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete values that convey information, describing quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted. ...

or data loss caused by interference or weak signal strength in rural areas or mountainous terrain - which only occurs in the terrestrial broadcast distribution. UpdateTV does ask the user to give consent to install the software on their TV. There is no charge to the consumer for installing an update. Software updates for television sets have fixed issues with video resolution, format compatibility, channel changing speed, V-chip ratings, user interface, timer controls, and more. UpdateTV is enabled on silicon chip set solutions from

Broadcom Broadcom Inc. is an American designer, developer, manufacturer and global supplier of a wide range of semiconductor and infrastructure software products. Broadcom's product offerings serve the data center, networking, software, broadband, wirel ...

AMD Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. While it initially manufactur ...

, Zoran and others. The UpdateTV network can deliver updates to many types of devices - not just television sets. Devices such as Blu-ray players, mobile/handheld TVs, set-top boxes and gaming consoles are capable of using the service - since they are connected to the Internet, a cable network, and/or a digital TV antenna.

Sale to Silicon Image

On May 6, 2014, Silicon Image purchased UpdateLogic for an undisclosed price. On December 4, 2014, Qualcomm purchased a 7% stake in the company for $USD 7 million. Effective on that date, UpdateLogic was renamed Qterics.

Notes

External links

* {{North American DTV Digital television Technology companies established in 2003 American companies established in 2003 Companies based in Plymouth, Minnesota 2014 mergers and acquisitions