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-AMM Business Answers MPEG Layer-3 - Version 12.98 [Image]
-
-Technology ... thank you for your interest in our MPEG
- Layer-3 audio compression technology. In this
-Services document you will find answers to the most
- [Image]
- frequently asked questions about licensing of
-Applications MPEG Layer-3 technology and how to contact us.
-
-Partners
- The Fraunhofer Gesellschaft [TOP]
-
-Download
- The Fraunhofer Gesellschaft is the leading
-Support organization of applied research in Germany. It
- operates 47 research centers in Germany with
-Gallery about 9,000 employees, about half of them
- scientists and engineers. The Fraunhofer
-Licensing Gesellschaft expands to a worldwide
-[Image] Organization, especially in USA and Asia. Home
- of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft is Munich,
- Germany.
-
- One of the goals of the Fraunhofer policy is a
- rapid transfer of innovations into products.
- The total research expenditure is about US$ 700
- million.
-
- The Fraunhofer Institut Integrierte Schaltungen
- (Fraunhofer IIS), based in Erlangen, Germany,
- is one of the 47 research centers. Fraunhofer
- IIS is the leading international research lab
- in the field of high quality low bit rate audio
- coding.
-
- Fraunhofer IIS has been the main developer of
- the most advanced audio coding schemes, like
- MPEG Layer-3 and MPEG-2 AAC (Advanced Audio
- Coding). Fraunhofer IIS plays a major role in
- the ongoing work for the MPEG-4 Audio
- standardization process and contributes to many
- other standards bodies as well, like ITU-R
- TG10/4, ITU-R WP10C, AES and MPEG-IPMP.
-
- WWW: [Image]http://www.iis.fhg.de/audio/
- http://www.iis.fhg.de/amm/
-
- THOMSON multimedia [TOP]
-
-
- The world´s fourth-largest consumer electronics
- group, THOMSON multimedia develops,
- manufactures and markets: televisions, VCRs,
- camcorders, audio and communication appliances,
- satellite decoders, DVD players, as well as
- color TV tubes and professional television
- equipment (studio equipment, TV cameras,
- mixers, etc.).
-
- With its pan-European brands - THOMSON,
- TELEFUNKEN and SABA - and its American brands -
- RCA, GE and ProScan - today the group is the
- leader in the United States, No. 2 in Europe
- and is strongly increasing its market presence
- in Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe.
-
- WWW: [Image]http://www.thomson-multimedia.com/
- http://www.rca-electronics.com/
- http://www.nipper.com/
-
- 1. GENERAL [TOP]
-
-
- Q. I am interested in source coding technology.
- What can you do for me?
- A. Licensing source code, developing real-time
- DSP code as well as DSP-based hardware, and
- developing codec libraries for desktop
- computers is part of the Fraunhofer IIS
- activities. The focus is on (mobile)
- high-quality low bit rate audiovisual
- communications (e.g. digital broadcasting
- systems or internet services).
-
- Q. Regarding MPEG Layer-3, do any patent rights
- exist?
- A. As for practically any important technology
- (and particularly for publicly established
- standards), you should know that patent rights
- for MPEG Layer-3 exist. Although others may
- also hold patents, THOMSON multimedia and
- Fraunhofer IIS have an important portfolio of
- patents related to MPEG Layer-3. To facilitate
- the market acceptance and penetration of
- products using MPEG Layer-3, THOMSON multimedia
- and Fraunhofer IIS decided to offer companies,
- that wish to distribute MPEG Layer-3 products,
- the possibility to obtain a license under the
- patents of both parties.
-
- Q. Who grants licenses under this combined
- portfolio to use MPEG Layer-3?
- A. We have split the licensing activities in
- two parts:
-
- 1. THOMSON multimedia handles consumer
- applications, such as desktop software,
- broadcast systems, pay-audio services and
- codec ICs.
-
- 2. Fraunhofer IIS handles professional
- applications, such as ISDN codecs based on
- DSP hardware, developed as part of a R&D
- project with Fraunhofer IIS.
-
-
- Q. So, whom should I contact?
- A. You may address your request to any of us,
- but the descriptions in the previous answer and
- the rest of this FAQ should give you some
- guidance. In order to speed up the process, we
- would appreciate to receive a description of
- your business model and your expected use of
- the technology. You will find the contact
- information at the end of this document.
-
- Q. I just want to buy a MPEG Layer-3 software
- and/or hardware product. What is available?
- A. Many companies already licensed our MPEG
- Layer-3 technology and offer those products.
- Please visit the Fraunhofer web site
- (http://www.iis.fhg.de/amm/) for more
- information.
-
- 2. PATENT AND KNOW-HOW LICENSING TERMS AND CONDITIONS
- [TOP]
-
- Q. How much royalties or other fees do you
- charge?
- A. The rules of ISO/MPEG determine that
- licenses have to be granted on fair and
- reasonable terms. For identical applications,
- we add that the terms are non-discriminatory.
- The details depend on the application and the
- specific business model.
-
- Q. What kind of licensing models exist?
- A. To date, we have developed and granted
- license agreements for the following
- applications:
-
- THOMSON multimedia
-
- o Software decoders (see 2.1.)
- o Software encoders (see 2.2.)
- o Hardware codecs for consumer-type
- applications (see 2.3.)
- o Pay-audio systems (see 2.4.)
- o Broadcast systems (see 2.5.)
-
- Fraunhofer IIS
-
- o Professional applications (see 3.)
- o MPEG Layer-3 Source and Object Code
- (see 4.)
-
- CREDITS
-
- In all cases, we expect that MPEG Layer-3
- products reference the licensors, like:
- "MPEG Layer-3 audio compression technology
- licensed by Fraunhofer IIS and THOMSON
- multimedia".
-
- 2.1. SOFTWARE DECODERS [TOP]
-
-
- 2.1.1. Free MPEG Layer-3 Software
- Decoders/Players for Personal Use
-
- For the free distribution of decoders we do not
- charge a running royalty. At the Fraunhofer IIS
- web site (http://www.iis.fhg.de/amm/download/)
- you can find the players we have developed and
- which may be downloaded for free also.
- Fraunhofer IIS does not give any technical
- support for the free players. E-mails
- complaining about bugs in free software will
- not be answered!
-
- More in general, no license fee is expected for
- desktop software decoders/players that are
- distributed free-of-charge for personal use.
-
- 2.1.2. Commercial MPEG Layer-3 Software
- Decoders/Players
-
- If MPEG Layer-3 software decoders/players are
- sold (shareware or commercial software), the
- royalty per decoder is US$ 1.00. We just remark
- that we have not asserted our patents against
- decoders of which less than 10,000 units have
- been sold.
-
- 2.2. MPEG LAYER-3 SOFTWARE ENCODERS [TOP]
-
-
- While most of the distribution of MPEG Layer-3
- software decoders is free of charge, for all
- MPEG Layer-3 encoders a license is needed and
- royalties have to be paid.
-
- 2.2.1. Software Encoders not developed by
- Fraunhofer IIS
-
- If you have developed your own software encoder
- or acquired a software encoder from another
- developer than Fraunhofer IIS to run MPEG
- Layer-3, you have to get a "patent-only"
- license from THOMSON multimedia; the following
- royalties apply:
-
-
- 1 - 1,000 encoders [Image] US$ 25.00 per
- unit
-
- 1,001 - 2,000 US$ 20.00 per
- encoders unit
-
- 2,001 - 3,000 US$ 15.00 per
- encoders unit
-
- 3,001 - 10,000 US$ 10.00 per
- encoders unit
-
- 10,001 - 100,000 US$ 5.00 per
- encoders unit
-
- > 100,000 encoders US$ 2.50 per
- unit
-
- US$ 15,000 annual minimum, payable upon
- signature and each following year in January,
- fully creditable against annual sales.
-
- The royalty does not include any on-going
- support from Fraunhofer IIS. This agreement
- does NOT cover the right to sell MPEG Layer-3
- encoded data (e.g. in "pay-audio" and
- "broadcast" systems). These rights are covered
- by the licenses described under 2.4. and 2.5.
-
- 2.2.2. "Professional" MPEG Layer-3 Software
- Encoder
-
- The "Professional" MPEG Layer-3 encoder,
- developed by Fraunhofer IIS, supports bitrates
- from 8 .. 256 kbps (sample rates 8 .. 48 kHz,
- mono/stereo). For distribution of the
- Professional MPEG Layer-3 encoder you have to
- get a "patent and know-how (professional)"
- license from THOMSON multimedia (covering the
- use of all relevant patents as well as
- know-how); the following royalties apply:
-
-
- 1 - 1,000 encoders [Image] US$ 50.00 per
- unit
-
- 1,001 - 2,000 US$ 40.00 per
- encoders unit
-
- 2,001 - 3,000 US$ 30.00 per
- encoders unit
-
- 3,001 - 10,000 US$ 20.00 per
- encoders unit
-
- 10,001 - 100,000 US$ 10.00 per
- encoders unit
-
- > 100,000 encoders US$ 5.00 per
- unit
-
- US$ 15,000 annual minimum, payable upon
- signature and each following year in January,
- fully creditable against annual sales.
-
- The royalty does not include any on-going
- support from Fraunhofer IIS.
-
- This agreement does NOT cover the right to sell
- MPEG Layer-3 encoded data (e.g. in "pay-audio"
- and "broadcast" systems). These rights are
- covered by the licenses described under 2.4.
- and 2.5.
-
- 2.2.3. "Advanced Plus" MPEG Layer-3 Software
- Encoder
-
- For applications which do not need an encoder
- with full MPEG Layer-3 capacity, we believe
- that the "Advanced Plus" MPEG Layer-3 encoder
- meets the needs of most customers for personal
- use. The "Advanced Plus" MPEG Layer-3 encoder
- is developed by Fraunhofer IIS and supports
- bitrates up to 56 kbps (sample rates 8 - 24
- kHz, mono/stereo), with the additional
- capability to encode 128 kbps stereo at 44.1
- kHz. For distribution a "patent and know-how
- (advanced plus)" license from THOMSON
- multimedia is needed (covering the use of all
- relevant patents as well as know-how); the
- following royalties apply:
-
-
- 1 - 10,000 encoders US$ 12.00 per
- unit
-
- 10,001 - 100,000
- encoders US$ 8.00 per unit
-
- > 100,000 encoders US$ 4.00 per unit
-
- US$ 15,000 annual minimum, payable upon
- signature and each following year in January,
- fully creditable against annual sales.
-
- The royalty does not include any on-going
- support from Fraunhofer IIS.
-
- This agreement does NOT cover the right to sell
- MPEG Layer-3 encoded data (e.g. in "pay-audio"
- and "broadcast" systems). These rights are
- covered by the licenses described under 2.4.
- and 2.5.
-
- 2.2.4. "Advanced" MPEG Layer-3 Software Encoder
-
- The "Advanced" MPEG Layer-3 software encoder is
- developed by Fraunhofer IIS and supports
- bitrates up to 56 kbps (sample rates 8 .. 24
- kHz, mono/stereo). Please contact Fraunhofer
- IIS for licensing details.
-
- 2.3. HARDWARE CODECS FOR CONSUMER-TYPE APPLICATIONS
- [TOP]
-
- If you have developed an MPEG Layer-3 hardware
- decoder (DSP or ICs), you have two licensing
- possibilities:
-
- * Integrating a licensed IC (e.g. from
- Micronas Intermetall), in which case the
- license fee is paid for by the IC
- supplier; or
-
- * In all other cases the royalty per decoder
- is US$ 1.25.
-
- If you also integrate an encoder into your
- hardware device, the royalty is US$ 2.50 per
- unit.
-
- 2.4. PAY-AUDIO SYSTEMS [TOP]
-
-
- The licenses mentioned under section 2.2 (MPEG
- Layer-3 software encoders) exclude reselling of
- MPEG Layer-3 encoded data. To use MPEG Layer-3
- in a music-on-demand system, where MPEG Layer-3
- encoded data is sold to end-users, you have to
- get a "pay-audio" license from THOMSON
- multimedia; the following terms apply:
-
- * 1.0 % of the price to the listener
- (minimum US$ 0.01 per download).
-
- * Reporting is to be based on the system as
- used by the copyright organizations.
-
- * US$ 15,000 annual minimum, payable upon
- signature and each following year in
- January, fully creditable against annual
- sales.
-
- We do not charge a royalty for free
- distribution of MPEG Layer-3 encoded data (e.g.
- if parts of songs are distributed to promote
- mail-order CD-sales).
-
- 2.5. BROADCAST SYSTEMS [TOP]
-
-
- The licenses mentioned under section 2.2 (MPEG
- Layer-3 software encoders) exclude
- broadcasting. To use MPEG Layer-3 in a
- broadcasting system (such as Internet Radio),
- you have to get a "broadcast" license from
- THOMSON multimedia; the following terms apply:
-
- * Fees charged for broadcasting are based on
- the gross broadcast income (including
- advertising and subscription).
-
- * Gross broadcast income less than US$
- 250,000 per year, an annual fee of US$
- 2,500; or
-
- * Gross broadcast income greater than US$
- 250,000 per year, a royalty of 1 % of
- gross broadcast income.
-
- 3. MPEG LAYER-3 APPLICATIONS FOR PROFESSIONAL USE
- [TOP]
-
- MPEG Layer-3 applications for professional use
- are licensed by Fraunhofer IIS.
-
- * Decoder: US$ 6.25 per unit
- * Encoder: US$ 25.00 per unit
-
- 4. MPEG LAYER-3 SOURCE AND OBJECT CODE LICENSED BY
- FRAUNHOFER IIS [TOP]
-
- Source and Object Code for MPEG Layer-3 encoder
- and decoder are licensed by Fraunhofer IIS.
-
- 4.1. SOURCE CODE FOR GENERAL PURPOSE CPU´s (PC´s)
- [TOP]
-
- The following license fees apply for source
- code for General Purpose CPUs (e.g. running
- under Windows, MacOS and UNIX):
-
- * US$ 30,000 for the decoder source code;
- and
- * US$ 60,000 for the encoder source code.
-
- Please note that you still need a license for
- products created with the source code (see
- above).
-
- 4.2. DSP SOURCE AND OBJECT CODE [TOP]
-
-
- DSP code for efficient real-time
- implementations of MPEG Layer-3 is licensed on
- a non-exclusive basis. Typically, we offer a
- "ready-to-run" implementation, using
- standard-I/O routines, on one SINGLE target
- hardware platform, defined cooperatively
- between our customer and Fraunhofer IIS.
-
- The following platforms are supported for MPEG
- Layer-3:
-
- * DSP563xx (Motorola)
- * TMS320C67 (Texas Instruments)
- * ADSP21x6x (Analog Devices)
- * TM-1100 (Philips)
-
- Fraunhofer IIS can offer DSP code for any of
- these devices, but our favorite is the DSP563xx
- family from Motorola. For a stereo encoder up
- to 48 kHz sampling rate, you need at least one
- DSP56303 plus 192 K * 24 bit external RAM, and
- for a stereo decoder, you need one DSP56303
- plus 64 K * 24 bit external RAM, or one
- DSP56309 without any external RAM at all.
-
- Please note that you may further reduce the
- necessary processing power by limiting the
- operation to mono (half power) and/or to lower
- sampling rates (e.g. half sample rates mean
- half power again).
-
- Due to several special encoding options, please
- contact Fraunhofer IIS for licensing details.
-
- CONTACT INFORMATION [TOP]
-
-
- THOMSON multimedia
-
- Mr. Henri Linde
- Manager, Licensing & Intellectual
- Property
- lindeh@thmulti.com
- 46, Quai Alphonse Le Gallo
- F-82100 Boulogne Billancourt
- France
- voice: +33 1 41 86 52 87
- fax: +33 1 41 86 0921 or +33 1 41 86
- 5638
-
-
- Fraunhofer IIS
-
- Mr. Niels Rump
- Manager, Business Relations
- layer3@iis.fhg.de
- Am Weichselgarten 3
- D-91058 ERLANGEN
- Germany
- voice: +49 9131 776 611
- fax: +49 9131 776 399
-
-
- ROYALTY SUMMARY [TOP]
-
-
- SOFTWARE CODECS
-
- * Decoders: Freeware OK; US$ 1.00 per unit,
- if sold.
-
- * Encoders:
-
- o Not developed by Fraunhofer IIS
- A sliding scale starting at US$ 25.00
- per encoder, decreasing to US$ 2.50
- per encoder for more than 100,000
- units per year.
-
- o The Fraunhofer IIS encoders
-
- + Professional encoders
- A sliding scale starting at US$
- 50.00 per encoder, decreasing to
- US$ 5.00 per encoder for more
- than 100,000 units per year.
-
- + Advanced Plus encoders
- A sliding scale starting at US$
- 12.00 per encoder, decreasing to
- US$ 4.00 per encoder for more
- than 100,000 units per year.
-
- HARDWARE CODECS
-
- * Decoders: US$ 1.25 per unit (or paid for
- by the IC manufacturer)
-
- * Encoders: US$ 2.50 per unit having a
- encoder or full codec
-
- MUSIC DISTRIBUTION
-
- * For pay-audio, music-on-demand,
- internet-radio and other types of selling
- mp3 files, the royalty is 1% of the
- revenue (minimum US$ 0.01 per download).
-
- MINIMUM ROYALTIES
-
- * All agreements with running royalties have
- an annual minimum of US$ 15,000,
- creditable against annual royalties.
-
- [TOP]
-
-[Image] Copyright ©1998 Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
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