Multimedia processing stars at embedded confab

Multimedia processing stars at embedded confab
By Stephan Ohr, EE Times
April 6, 2001 (4:55 p.m. EST)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20010405S0036

SAN FRANCISCO — Multimedia compression algorithms will be a key concern when the annual Embedded Systems Conference kicks off next week (April 9-13). Although much of the event will focus on software and software development tools, embedded-DSP vendors Texas Instruments Inc. (TI), Trimedia Technologies and 3DSP Corp. will be at the conference to demonstrate how their processors serve multimedia decoding.

TI will display the TMS-320-DSC24, optimized for decoding multimedia algorithms like MPEG-4, MPEG-1, H.263, MP3, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), JPEG and motion JPEG. Along with the DSC24 hardware, TI will provide software modules for each algorithm.

"The goal is to help designers bring new multimedia applications to the market quickly," said John Daniels, TI's program manager for its imaging and Internet appliance business unit.

The DSC24 is a stripped-down version of the TMS320-DSC21, a DSP designed for digital still cameras, said Dani els. The DSC-24 combines the TMS-320C55x DSP, an ARM7TDMI RISC core and 64 kbytes of memory on a 0.15-micron CMOS device. In operation, the DSP performs real-time media processing as the ARM core handles system-control functions.

The $25 DSC24 does not include the "preview engine" of the DSC21, but it consumes 50 percent less power, said Daniels. The device consumes 205 milliwatts with MPEG-4 video encoding, 205 mW with MPEG-4 video playback and less than 75 mW with MP3 audio playback.

The market for non-PC-based Internet appliances is expected to grow 33 percent per year, reaching 90 million units by 2004, according to market researcher IDC. Many will integrate the functionality of DVD/CD players and Web TV into a single system.

It is that market whichTrimedia Technologies (Milpitas, Calif.) has consistently targeted with its very-long-instruction-word architecture, said Lore Levin, director of marketing. The company used this week's Comdex show in Chicago to announce a licensing agreement with National Semiconductor Corp. (Santa Clara, Calif.). National will integrate the Trimedia TM32A with its X86 Geode devices. The dual-processor architecture will be used in thin clients and set-top boxes, as well as media-rich Web pads and Internet appliances.

The Trimedia processor is equipped to decode MPEG-4, thanks to a licensing agreement with Philips' MP4Net Division, Levin said. The video compression and decompression required for videoconferencing will be among the demonstrations of the processor at the Embedded Systems Conference.

3DSP (Irvine, Calif.) will demonstrate new development kits, especially tools for embedding audio intellectual property (IP) in its SP-3 and SP-5 DSP cores. Like TI and Trimedia, 3DSP is targeting Internet appliances, portable audio players, set-top boxes and automotive audio systems. Unlike its competitors, 3DSP believes its DSP core will eliminate the need for a companion microprocessor or microcontroller.

3DSP's cores are architected as "SuperSIMD" (superscalar single-instruction multiple-data) devices in which each instruction — like a speedy vector processor — can operate on multiple data sets. The hardware automatically detects and adjusts to branches and pipeline hazards.

3DSP will also discuss its extended audio instruction sets for the SP-3 and SP-5 cores. The audio instructions use a 32 x 32 multiplier/accumulator for maintaining data integrity during audio encoding and decoding.

And 3DSP will announce IP and a firmware development kit for voice-over-packet networks. The firmware offers an exhaustive set of voice-coding algorithms.