EE TIME
By Sunray liu
05/27/1999
China’s hopes hang on OS　

Digital-appliance industry fields 32-bit Hopen to fend off WinCE
China’s hopes hang on OS

BEIJING-As Microsoft and other U.S. companies eye the mammoth revenue potential of China’s fledgling market for information appliances, designers here have unveiled an embedded 32-bit operating system for digital appliances and mobile computing that is intended to offer Chinese developers an alternative to Windows CE and prevent overdependence on Microsoft platforms. They have dubbed the OS Hopen-anamalgam of “hope” and “open” –a term they say expresses their research and business goals for the domestic info-appliance industry.

The race to deploy and control operating systems and other key technologies for information appliances comes as industry analysts predict that growing legions of Chinese consumers will access the Internet via their TV sets in the years to come. Earlier this year, the China National Network Information Center estimated the country’s Internet-user base at 2.1 million people and predicted growth to 10 million next year. Annual demand for TV-based information appliances could reach the tens of millions by 2004, making such products the most widely embraced consumer devices in China since the video CD player.

Microsoft’s strip to Shenzhen in March to announce its Venus set-top box initiative piqued further interest in digital appliances here. Venus would use a Windows CE-based set-top with a phone connection to the Internet.

Other U.S. companies are similarly exploring the Chinese market. National Semiconductor Chairman Brian Halla came to Comdex China in March to tout National’s WebPAD and local partner’s set-top design. Halla also unveiled National’s Orion set-top and an “information appliance on a chip” expected to launch in June. The system-level silicon could speed appliance design here, Halla said.

Six OEMs are participation in Microsoft’s Venus alliance, including China’s Legend, Taiwan’s Acer and Dutch-owned Philips. ESS Technology (Fremont, Calif.) and Taiwan’s ITE will act as hardware system integrators to provide OEMs with ICs, reference-system design and software.

Microsoft expects to ship the first Venus boxes in the second half at prices ranging from $120- $350.

Experts here said Microsoft will charge Venus licensees more than $20 since Windows CE royalties are $26. That could prove daunting to developers seeking to hold set-top prices under $350.

Chinese industry leaders are also concerned that Microsoft will exert too much control over the emerging info-appliance market. While they view Venus as an opportunity, they are also wary of overdependence on the Redmond giant.

Those fears have prompted local companies to step up the pace of development. A month after the Microsoft announcement, Chinese Academy of Sciences Software International Inc. (CASS) unveiled the Hopen 32-bit embedded operation system for information appliances and handheld PCs.

“We started to research Hopen about five years ago and aimed [the effort] at professional and mobile-computing devices,” said Xichang Zhong, president of CASS. “Hopen [stands for] hope and open-our R&D and business principles.”

Hopen is expected to find initial use as the underlying OS for PDAs used for stock trading and insurance. Many local and overseas companies, including chip makers, set-top designers and content suppliers, are said to be seeking to work with CASS to implement the operating system.

The OS supports a range of CPUs, including the x86, PowerPC, DragonBall, StrongARM and PA-RISC. “We can support other CPUs if we have several weeks to read the instruction system,” Zhong said. “Our system will be modularized to provide system designers flexibility [for supporting] both telephone lines and cable in quite different market segments.”

CASS has also integrated some technologies into the OS that Microsoft has shunned, including rival Sun Microsystems’ Java Virtual Machine and Jini technologies as well as Chinese characters, Zhong said.

Planners here, observing how telecommunications and cable technologies are segmenting the Chinese electronics market, are using business and technical alliances to share development risks and gain customers. Besides Windows CE and the emerging Hopen alliance, the State Administration of Radio, Film and TV (SARFT) has announced the formation of a group to promote information appliances.　

Joint action

SARFT has joined with the STB Research 7 Production Alliance, whose members include Huawei and Zhongxing (both in Shenzhen); wyan (Canton); and other top communications, computer and consumer-elec-tronics OEMs. The goal of the combined effort is to generate specifications and intellectual property for digital-appliance development.

Officials from China’s Ministry of Information Industry and other government agencies met recently to evaluate digital appliance technology’s potential value to China’s economy. Business and technical leaders also attended the meeting. Sources here said the powerful IT ministry is considering whether to unify the standard for info appliances to avoid a repeat of the standards war that fragmented the domestic market for video CD.

Skeptics point to the high cost of Internet access and PCs here, as well as the lack of useful Chinese Web sites, as potential market spoilers for digital appliances, although the Ministry of Information Industry recently cut hourly rates for Internet access.

Consumer leaders

Set-top-like appliances that would hook to broadcast TV receivers are expected to be the growth leaders in China’s info appliance market. Estimates place the number of TV sets in use in China at 320 million, compared with 120 million phone-line hookups and a subscription base of 80 million for cable-TV service.

The proposed infrastructure for information devices might employ such technologies a digital signal processing devices and software; embedded designs; and communications, computer and consumer-electronics (C3) technologies. Analysts estimate that more than 100 enterprises are working on info appliance technology for C3.

Meanwhile, system developers are waiting to see what service providers will do next to promote appliances. Such emerging services as electronic commerce are expected to drive China’s appliance marker.

As they wait, Chinese system designers are on the lookout for ways to add value to their products. Telecommunications and DVD technologies are areas of focus along with information devices. Despite the government’s heavy investment in ISDN, digital subscriber line technology is attracting interest here.

Zhongjian Ma, a director at Beijing Telecom Authority, said the Authority is testing ADSL equipment made by 3Com Corp. ADSL trials are possible by year’s end, he said, despite the need for adjustments to make the technology compatible here.