Sun's Solaris NEO Provides Foundation For Titan Information Systems' New Subscriber Authorization Systems; Digital Video PassPort Enhances Pay-TV Operators' Control Over Security and Subscriber Access to Programming

Business Wire, Dec 11, 1996

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 11, 1996--Sun Microsystems Inc. announced today that Titan Information Systems, a subsidiary of the Titan Company, has selected Solaris NEO(TM), Sun's CORBA-compliant networked object infrastructure, to develop their Digital Video PassPort subscriber authorization system.

Digital Video PassPort maximizes revenue by giving the operators of multichannel television distribution systems -- including cable TV, Direct-to-Home satellite systems and emerging wireless multichannel systems -- more control over individual subscriber's access to programming and ensures that subscriber services are allocated and billed correctly.

"The easier it is for Pay-TV operators to manage and control the access rights of their subscribers, the more successful their operation will be, but the system must be scalable and robust against piracy," said Tom Eller, digital program director, Titan Information Systems. "Developing with Sun's Solaris NEO allowed us to offer Pay-TV operators the management features they want and the critical security they need."

The Digital Video PassPort system consists of a subscriber authorization system located at the broadcast center of a Pay-TV system and a replaceable security element, called a Smart Card, which is located in the set-top box at each subscriber location. Each set-top box has a unique address so it can be controlled individually. The Subscriber Authorization System looks at each subscriber's information and sends out access rights, or entitlements, to the set-top box for each channel, program, and pay-per-view event.

Digital Video PassPort controls large numbers of subscriber set-top decoders and sends and receives thousands of messages per second, while accommodating growing subscriber populations. It also communicates with large customer databases, various subscriber management software systems, and analog and digital video encoders, multiplexers and other hardware. Titan's demanding processing requirements led the software development team to choose the Solaris(TM) operating environment, Solaris NEO(TM) networked object infrastructure and Sun's SPARC(TM) hardware platform for Digital Video PassPort.

"Because Sun's Solaris NEO uses a multi-tier application model, Digital Video PassPort users can rapidly create and modify their systems to meet today's unpredictable competitive pressures," said Brian Croll, director of server product marketing, Solaris Products Group, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "Titan chose Solaris NEO because it provided unmatched price/performance, scalability and seamless integration with Titan's other software tools."

Solaris NEO, Sun's CORBA-compliant networked object infrastructure, provides businesses with the software infrastructure and development tools needed to develop, deploy and manage client/server applications for their private intranets and the public Internet. The Solaris NEO product family includes: Joe(TM) software, SunSoft Internet WorkShop(TM) development tools, Solstice NEO(TM) administration tools and runtime software. For more information on Solaris NEO, call 1-800-SUNSOFT (1-800-786-7638) prompt 1 or go to Sun's web site at: http://www.sun.com/solaris/neo.>Titan Corporation

Titan Information Systems Corporation, a commercial subsidiary of The Titan Corporation, specializes in the development and manufacture of advanced information systems that fill customer needs to generate, process, transmit, store, distribute and use information in a timely and cost-effective manner. The Titan Corporation provides products and services for worldwide commercial markets.

The Titan Corporation, headquartered in San Diego, California, designs, manufactures and installs high technology information and electronic systems and products for commercial and government clients.

Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision, "The Network Is The Computer(TM)," has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc., (NASDAQ "SUNW"), to its position as a leading provider of hardware, software and services for establishing enterprise-wide intranets and expanding the power of the Internet. With more than $7 billion in annual revenue, Sun can be found in more than 150 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com -0-

Note to Editors: Sun, the Sun logo, Sun Microsystems, SunSoft, The Network Is The Computer, Solaris, Solstice, Solaris NEO, Solstice NEO, NEO, Joe, and SunSoft Internet Workshop are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architectur Titan Information Systems Corp.

619/552-9500

mlanra@titan.com

KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS COMED INTERACTIVE/MULTIMEDIA/INTERNET PRODUCT

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