Cypress Turbo-MTP Hastens PC-To-Mobile Transfers
You know those products that you never think you need until you try?
Here's yet another one for the list. Cypress Semiconductor has improved
upon something that the vast majority of us probably take for granted,
as we simply assume that our phone is just "doing the best that it
can," and that "it'll be done soon enough." Rather than continuing to
wait for PC-to-handset transfers, Cypress has decided to speed things
up a bit with its Turbo-MTP solution.
You see, the MTP (or Media Transfer Protocol) is a widely used standard
which enables cellphone users to sideload media clips onto their mobile
device while still being able to use the main functions of the phone
(calling, texting) while the transfer takes place. Surely you've seen
older devices that simply lock up when connected to a PC, probably
displaying some sort of "PC Connect" screen, right? MTP solves that
dilemma (along with the one that corrupts your data unless a very
specific undocking procedure is followed), though it does so by
providing incredibly sluggish transfer rates.
Now that you've got the background, let's have a look at how Turbo-MTP will revolutionize things. Essentially, it builds upon the process by still enabling transfers without locking up your phone, yet it allows data to travel up to ten times faster than standard MTP solutions. The protocol is one used by the likes of Rhapsody, Napster, Verizon V CAST and other online video and music services, and for those who drag-and-drop new media all the time, this could really save some minutes, seconds and -- eventually -- hours and days.
Alakesh Chetia, Vice President of the West Bridge Business Unit at
Cypress, noted that "MTP has greatly improved the user experience from
competing protocols, but it slows down transfer speeds." She continued
to say that "Turbo-MTP dramatically accelerates sideloading for MTP
handhelds, offloading the data stream from the main processor onto a
high-performance, USB-optimized West Bridge controller. As a result,
users gain the benefits of MTP without a transfer penalty." The company
is scheduled to show off its new solution at Mobile World Congress 2009
in Barcelona, Spain, and considering that West Bridge Antioch and
Astoria peripheral controllers with the Turbo-MTP capability are
currently in full production, we'd expect these to filter into newer
machines in the very near future.
You see, the MTP (or Media Transfer Protocol) is a widely used standard
which enables cellphone users to sideload media clips onto their mobile
device while still being able to use the main functions of the phone
(calling, texting) while the transfer takes place. Surely you've seen
older devices that simply lock up when connected to a PC, probably
displaying some sort of "PC Connect" screen, right? MTP solves that
dilemma (along with the one that corrupts your data unless a very
specific undocking procedure is followed), though it does so by
providing incredibly sluggish transfer rates. Now that you've got the background, let's have a look at how Turbo-MTP will revolutionize things. Essentially, it builds upon the process by still enabling transfers without locking up your phone, yet it allows data to travel up to ten times faster than standard MTP solutions. The protocol is one used by the likes of Rhapsody, Napster, Verizon V CAST and other online video and music services, and for those who drag-and-drop new media all the time, this could really save some minutes, seconds and -- eventually -- hours and days.
Alakesh Chetia, Vice President of the West Bridge Business Unit at
Cypress, noted that "MTP has greatly improved the user experience from
competing protocols, but it slows down transfer speeds." She continued
to say that "Turbo-MTP dramatically accelerates sideloading for MTP
handhelds, offloading the data stream from the main processor onto a
high-performance, USB-optimized West Bridge controller. As a result,
users gain the benefits of MTP without a transfer penalty." The company
is scheduled to show off its new solution at Mobile World Congress 2009
in Barcelona, Spain, and considering that West Bridge Antioch and
Astoria peripheral controllers with the Turbo-MTP capability are
currently in full production, we'd expect these to filter into newer
machines in the very near future.
