Digital Legacy-TV-Audio licensing program (mid 1990s – present and beyond)
The dbx-tv digital licensing program began in the mid-1990s after we developed the first digital (DSP) implementations of BTSC. This pioneering work included not only the dbx-tv noise reduction system, but also digital implementations of a complete BTSC system. It led to several patents which were licensed separately from the analog portfolio of IP. These patents were licensed almost exclusively to IC makers, covered digital implementations only, and applied to many aspects of BTSC (not just the companding noise reduction).
In 2002, we significantly expanded our set of digital IP offering by bundling implementations of our patented inventions along with our portfolio of patents and our trademark. Our first step was to acquire from ESP (then a prominent Atlanta-based design firm) its Verilog-based realizations of professional BTSC encoders and associated patents. THAT further developed and refined this set to cover four distinct variations: broadcast-quality encoders and decoders, and consumer-level encoders and decoders. Each of these was ultimately licensed and successfully launched into the marketplace.