GEO Introduces Single Chip Solution for Ultra-Wide Angle Cameras

Integrates Patented Geometric Processing with Best of Breed H.264 Compression, Audio ADC and High Dynamic Range (HDR) ISP

San Jose, CA – January 2, 2014 - GEO Semiconductor Inc. (“GEO”), a semiconductor and software company specializing in consumer camera and automotive solutions, announced today the introduction of the GC6500 family of highly-integrated programmable video processors.

The GC6500 integrates GEO’s patented eWARP™ core, MIPI D-PHY Input, Audiophile quality stereo recording path, low latency highly flexible H.264 Codec, Tensilica XTENSA HIFI CPU and USB2.0 interfaces. Integrated DCDC converters and LDOs provide all system voltages for unprecedented integration.

The patented eWARP™ engine (Geometric Processor) supports correction for wide field of view lens (180/360). It also supports custom maps for panoramic and zero-content loss views, multiple virtual cameras with perspective correction and ePTZ (electronic Pan, Tilt and Zoom).

Commenting on the product introduction, Paul Russo, CEO of GEO Semiconductor stated, “There is an explosion of uses for ultra-wide field of view or ‘fisheye’ applications for consumer and industrial markets, such as home security, automotive, cloud and wearable cameras. All of these segments require intense geometric image processing as well as multi-stream compression support. The programmability of the GC6500 provides customers ultimate flexibility and offers H.264 video compression, WDR ISP support in a highly integrated low power IC to enable emerging camera markets. GEO has developed complete software stacks, including iOS and Android applications, to provide superior hardware and software support to its customers and shorten their time to market.”

The GC6500 performs video enhancement, noise reduction, and geometric processing on video captured from sensors at rates up to 5 megapixels at 30 frames per second. The IC integrates GEO’s patented H.264 compression engine which supports full HD, 1080p60, and an MJPEG engine that supports resolutions up to 5 megapixels. The GC6500 enables multi-streaming protocols that deliver the highest quality output by adapting resolution and frame rate to network bandwidth. The H.264 engine supports High, Main and Baseline profiles as well as low latency versions of H.264.

The GC6500 integrates an Apical ISP with High Dynamic Range (HDR) technology. The ISP applies different processing to each pixel of each video frame to pull out hidden detail in shadows and highlights while preserving colors, local contrast and natural appearance. The ISP also has support for HDR sensors for incredible low light and direct sunlight performance.

The GC6500’s Audio encoding path supports two analog or digital microphones with on-chip microphone bias generator. Audiophile quality Programmable Gain Amplifiers, Sigma-Delta Encoders and digital filters provide a complete recording path. Coupled with the on-chip Tensilica LX4-HiFi2 CPU, unprecedented processing power is available for applications such as Acoustic Echo Cancellation, Beam Forming and Speech Recognition.

A single 3.3V supply to GC6500 is used to generate other voltages needed for internal circuits as well as for DDR2/LPDDR2/DDR3 DRAM, microphones and most Camera sensors. This eliminates complex PMIC components typically needed in a system and thereby provides for an extremely small PCB design and lower BOM cost.

Feature Summary

• Advanced Image Signal Processor (ISP)
  • WIDE (High) Dynamic Range
  • 5 Megapixels at 30fps
  • Spatial and Temporal noise filtering
  • Dual channel MIPI D-PHY input
• eWARP™ Processor
  • Wide Angle Lens Correction;
  • Electronic Pan/Tilt/Zoom;
  • Independently controlled multi split window views
• Video Encoding and Processing
  • H.264 Encoder High, Main, and Baseline profile support up to 1080P60;
  • Multi-stream encoding MJPEG Codec
  • Support up to 5 megapixels
  • Independent Video Pre-processors for scaling, filtering and image enhancement.
  • 2D graphics engine for text and graphics overlay support
• Audio
  • Features: Built-in dual Microphone Bias, Programmable Gain Amplifiers, Sigma Delta ADCs with digital filters.
  • Inputs: Dual I2S inputs, stereo digital/analog microphone inputs
  • Outputs: Audio data over USB; Raw PCM; Compressed G711, G722, AAC
  • Audio Processing: Beam Forming, Noise reduction and audio echo cancellation
• Memory
  • DDR3, DDR2 or Low Power DDR (LPDDR2) SDRAM support;
  • 16-bit memory interface with support up to 2 GB (256MB)
• Physical Characteristics
  • Typical Power > 350 mW
  • Package 245Pn TFBGA; 8mm x 10mm x 1.1mm

Availability
The GC6500 and reference designs are available now to qualified customers. Pricing information and specifications can be obtained by contacting sales@geosemi.com.

About GEO

GEO Semiconductor Inc. is a semiconductor and software company based in Silicon Valley and inventor of the eWARP™ geometric processing technology. GEO provides innovative geometric processing, image signal processing and video compression solutions to address a wide variety of camera and projection products. These products include automotive cameras, head-up displays, security IP camera, smartphone peripherals, projectors and consumer cloud cameras. GEO has operations in San Jose, Toronto, Orlando, Cambridge UK, and Bangalore, and sales channels around the world. For more information about GEO, please visit www.geosemi.com.