IP Cores
Hardwired compression core vendors
- 4i2i
- Location: Scotland
- Founded: 1995
- Notes: Until 2000 4i2i was the employer of Iain E G Richardson, H.264 video
expert, author of H.264 and MPEG-4 Video Compression,
and maintainer of the web site vcodex.com
- Products:
H.264 (MPEG4 Part 10) AVC Video Encoder IP Core
is a 10.1 megapixel/second 56 MHz H.264 video encoder core. It requires 60k gates or 4500
Xilinx Virtex II slices. 4i2i has provided a
data sheet
with nice benchmarking analysis.
MPEG4 Video Codec IP Core
is a 10.1 megapixel/second 58 MHz H.264 encoder/decoder. It requires 21k gates for decode
and 58k gates for encode or 1300 Xilinx Virtex II slides for decode and 3000 Xilinx
Virtex II slices for encode. The core requires 13k bytes of on-chip memory or 13 Xilinx
Virtex II BRAMs for decode and 22 Xilinx Virtex II BRAMs for encode. The core is also
capable of encoding and decoding H.261, H.263, and JPEG.
H.264 Video Codec Software
is a H.264 encoder/decoder. It is unclear what pixel rates are achieved. It is designed
to run on a PC processor or a Broadcom/Alphamosaic VC-01
processor.
4i2i also sells H.263 and H.261 codec software.
- Customers:
- 4i2i has over 100 IP core licensees.
- NASA will use a 4i2i digital video encoder
in space helmet mounted video cameras.
- Partners:
- 4i2i worked with LSI Logic to ensure compatibility with
ZSP processor based systems before LSI Logic sold ZSP to
VeriSilicon. Has demonstrated H.263, H.264, and MPEG-2 video
(decode?).
- 4i2i has implemented a high-definition H.264 video encoder in a single
Xilinx FPGA chip.
- IndigoVision
- Location: Scotland
- Products:
- Customers:
- The Winbond W99702G CIF 30fps and W99802G
VGA/D1 30fps MPEG-4 encoder/decoder chip for cell phones uses one or more IP cores
from IndigoVision.
- IndigoVision IP core products are distributed in Taiwan by
Sinostar Technologies
- Sarnoff
- Location: Princeton, New Jersey
- Notes: Sarnoff is perhaps best known in the world of digital video for their test
bitstreams used to verify the compliance of video systems to video coding
standards. However, Sarnoff also develops and licenses digital video processor
IP cores.
- Products:
Notes: Sarnoff semiconductor IP cores are designed to work in a system with an ARM, MIPS,
or x86 host processor running Sarnoff-written software.
H.264 / AVC Encoder / Decoder operates on Baseline Profile bitstreams at up to D1
resolution at 30 fps at an unspecified encoded bitrate, GOP pattern, and motion search
range/algorithm. Gate count, size, clock speed, and power consumption unknown. This
product is a combination of processor optimized software and hardware accelerator IP.
H.264/AVC Decoder, a H.264 (AVC) Baseline profile decoder capable of 9.2 megapixels/second. This is
implemented as a hardware accelerator for motion compensation, interpolation, inverse
transform, quantization, and deblocking filtering that is meant to be attached to a
microprocessor core and controlled by software calls.
MPEG-4/H.263 SelectCore CIF Codec, capable of 3.0 megapixels/second. It can operate at
MPEG-4 Simple profile levels 0-3 and H.263 profiles 0 & 3 at levels 10-50. Half-pel
motion estimation is supported. Many other performance enhancements are configurable.
This core requires 340k of data memory for CIF sequences and 240k of instruction memory
and a processor with 32k data and instruction caches. Clock speed required of an ARM
processor is 100-200 MHz for encode, depending on the IP core configuration and 100 MHz
for decode.
High Definition Audio/Video System Processor, a MPEG-2 decoder is capable of 62.2 megapixels/second. It takes in an a/v transport
stream and also does Dolby AC-3 audio decode.
MPEG-2 Audio/Video System Processor MPEG-2 decoder is capable of 10.4 megapixels/second at 81 MHz. It takes in an
unscrambled DVD stream or MPEG-2 program stream and also does Dolby AC-3 audio decode.
MPEG-4/H.263 SelectCore All Software CODEC is a MPEG-4 encoder/decoder that runs at 0.4 megapixel per second and is designed to run
on ARM 9 or x86 processors. In ARM 9 it require 50 MHz for MPEG-4 encode, 14 MHz for
MPEG-4 decode, 47 MHz for H.263 encode and 12 MHz for H.263 decode.
MPEG-4/H.263 SelectCore CIF CODEC is a MPEG-4 encoder/decoder that runs at 3.0 megapixel per second and is destined to run
on ARM 9 or x86 processors. In ARM 9 it requires 100-200 MHz for encode and 100 MHz for
decode.
- Partners:
- Sarnoff provides ports of its video software optimized for use with
MIPS Technologies processors, providing an
unspecified level of video performance.
- Sarnoff provides its video codec IP cores optimized for use with
MIPS Technologies processors, supporting up to
640x480 resolution (Baseline profile?) at 30 fps.
- Chips & Media
- Location: Seoul, South Korea
- Sells chips and semiconductor IP cores for video, audio, CPU, DSP, PCI, and other peripherals
- Targets digital TV reception, video-on-demand, video over IP, HD-DVD playback and personal video recording
- Products:
MPEG-2 MP@ML decoder at 40.6M pixels per second
MPEG-2 MP@ML encoder at 20.3M pixels per second
MPEG-2 MP@ML encoder/decoder at 10.2M pixels per second
MPEG-2 MP@HL decoder at 31.1M pixels per second
MPEG-4 SP@L3 decoder at 10.2M pixels per second
MPEG-4 SP@L3 encoder at 10.2M pixels per second
MPEG-4 SP@L3 encoder/decoder at 10.2M pixels per second
MPEG-4 ASP@L5 decoder at 40.6M pixels per second
MPEG-4 ASP@L5 encoder at 20.3M pixels per second
MPEG-4 ASP@L5 encoder/decoder at 10.2M pixels per second
H.264 BP@L1.3 decoder 3.1M pixels per second (available 2005/Q1)
H.264 BP@L1.3 encoder 3.1M pixels per second (available 2005/Q1)
H.264 MP@L3.0 decoder 10.2M pixels per second (available 2005/Q2)
H.264 MP@L3.0 encoder 10.2M pixels per second (available 2005/Q2)
H.264 MP@L3.0 encoder/decoder 10.2M pixels per second (available 2005/Q2)
H.264 MP@L4.0 decoder 31.1M pixels per second (available 2005/Q2)
H.264 MP@L4.0 encoder 31.1M pixels per second (available 2005/Q4)
H.264 MP@L4.0 encoder/decoder 31.1M pixels per second (available 2005/Q4)
DivX v5.x decoder 10.2M pixels per second (available 2005/Q3)
DivX v5.x decoder 31.1M pixels per second (available 2005/Q3)
WMV9 AP@L3 decoder 10.2M pixels per second (available 2005/Q3)
WMV9 AP@L3 decoder 31.1M pixels per second (available 2005/Q3)
also audio decoder and encoder cores
- Vendors:
- Chips & Media has licensed the ARC 605 processor core
for use in a MPEG2 codec design.
- Customers:
- Freescale has licensed cores from Chips & Media and
integrated them into an i.MX processor chip.
- Partners:
- Tsinghua-Novel Electronics of China is working with Chips & Media on
a digital set-top box chipset for DTV in China.
- Ocean Logic
- Location: Sydney, Australia
- Vincenzo Liguori and Kevin Wong of Ocean Logic have written a
DesignCon 2006 paper.
- Products:
H264-E Baseline HDTV 1080p H.264/AVC Encoder & Decoder
Encodes in Baseline Profile, decodes the full set of H.264 coding tools used by the
encoder, operates at 27 megapixels per second in a Xilinx Virtex 4 FPGA. Does not encode
non-raster ordered slices or macroblocks, which ensures that the bitstream can be decoded
by a Baseline Profile or Main Profile decoder. Capable of 62.2 megapixel per second encode
in an ASIC at 250 MHz. No host CPU is required. Supports CBR and VBR encoding. 129k gates
and 100k bits of RAM for VGA, 178k gates and 100k bits of RAM for HDTV. Available in
Verilog and VHDL. Available with a C simulation model. Ocean Logic has published
benchmark results for its
H264-E encoder core. This core primarily targets closed system applications.
OL_H264MCE Baseline multichannel H.264/AVC Encoder
Has the same features as the H264-E but the encoding capability can be divided among
up to 6 SDTV streams at 30 fps or 20 CIF streams at 30 fps or a combination of sub-HDTV
stream.
OL_MPEG4 is a 12.2 megapixel/second
MPEG-4 encoder that runs at 98 MHz. It requires 39k gates and 25k bytes of on-chip RAM.
- Customers:
- BeHere uses the OceanLogic H264 encoder/decoder
core in its TotalView
product.
- Partners:
- Ocean Logic develops video cores sold by CAST
- Innovative Semiconductors
- Location: Sunnyvale, CA
- No complete video encoder or decoder core is offered, but components
of such chips, including a
Huffman decoder and IDCT core, are offered.
-
ISI has delisted their SL264 H.264 level 3 SDTV baseline profile decoder product and
seems presently to be focused on USB and other communication interface logic.
- eInfoChips (Ahmedabad, India)
- eInfoChips is primarily a design services company
- employs more than 100 DSP engineers
- No complete video encoder or decoder core is offered, but many components
of such cores, including a
DCT, IDCT, and DDR SDRAM controller core, are offered.
- Partners:
- CAST
- Location: New Jersey
- Products:
H.264-E Baseline H.264/AVC Video Encoder
is a H.264 video encoder capable of 250 MHz in 0.13 um technology with 37 MHz required
for 9.2 megapixel/second encoding using 129k gates and 106k bits of RAM. A Xilinx port is
available. Capable of level 4.1 encode at 250 MHz. Operates independently of a
microprocessor. Supports CBR and VBR output. Supports most intra prediction modes.
Supports multiple slice encoding. Supports single slice encoding for content destined for
Main profile decoders.
MPEG4-E Video Encoder is
a MPEG-4 video encoder capable of 114 MHz with 97.3 MHz required for 12.2
megapixel/second using 39k gates and 25k bits of RAM. A Xilinx port is available. The
encoder encode I- and P- video object planes.
MPEG4-MCE Multi-channel Video Encoder
is a MPEG-4 video encoder supporting up to 16 channels and capable of 135 MHz in TSMC
0.13um technology in which it consumes 66.6 kgates and 25 kbits of RAM or 108 MHz in TSMC
0.18um technology in which it consumes 72.0 kgates and 25 kbits of RAM. The core provides
125 kpixels per second per megahertz. The encoder encode I- and P- video object planes.
- CAST's products are distributed in Taiwan by
Maojet Technology Corp
- Notes: Cast offers many video processor component cores, including a tile-to-raster, raster-to-tile,
Huffman encoder, Huffman decoder, DCT and IDCT cores. Also offered are JPEG and JPEG 2000 decoder
and encoder cores.
- Partners:
- PixSil Technology
- Location: Newport Beach, CA
- PixSil is developing a Configurable and
scalable decoder and encoder as a fabless chip company.
- Presently (2005/May) PixSil Technology offers inverse integer transform, and context-adaptive
variable-length coding (CAVLC) video decoder components as IP cores.
- PixSil also offers training and multimedia design services.
- The Athena Group
- Location: Gainesville, FL
- Partners:
- The Athena Group sells many video processor component blocks, including DCT, IDCT,
and FIR filters as well as pre/post processing blocks such as color space converters
and data interleavers. Also available is a video cross correlation core for motion
recognition and target detection applications.
- MetaVideo
- Location: Los Gatos, CA
- Products:
MVIP4100 SDTV MPEG-2 decoder
MVIP4200 HDTV MPEG-2 decoder
MetaVideo also has a broad range of video cores for display control, de-interlacing, scan
conversion, image enhancement, and wireless network control.
Silicon Valley Technology Marketing, LLC
- Location: San Jose, CA
- Silicon Valley Technology Marketing is primarily a design services business
intoPIX
- Location: Belgium
- Founded: 2005
- JPEG 2000 encode and decode for FPGA-based broadcast and digital cinema applications
- Products:
- IPX-JPHD HD video JPEG 2000 encoder / decoder for broadcast
- IPX-JP2K 2K video decoder for digital cinema
- IPX-JP4K 4K video decoder for digital cinema
- other supporting encryption, networking, and memory interface cores also available
- Partners:
- Xilinx is apparently intoPIX' preferred FPGA wheras Altera is apparently Barco's
preferred FPGA
Barco-Silex
- Location: Belgium
- Founded: 1934 as the Belgian American Radio Company (Barco)
- Barco is in a wide range of markets including traffic, surveillance, broadcasting, presentation,
simulation and virtual reality, edutainment, events, media, digital cinema, air traffic control,
defense & security, medical imaging, avionics, and textiles
- Barco-Silex is a system vendor with internal chip design capability
- Barco has acquired many companies and sold/spun-out many divisions over the years
- The Silex design services group develops and sells the following semiconductor and
software IP products:
BA132
MPEG-4 Simple Profile Level 5 Decoder, 12.2M pixels per second
BA131
MPEG-4 Simple Profile Level 5 Encoder, 12.2M pixels per second
BA151
MPEG-4 Simple Profile Level 3 Encoder software written for NXP
Nexperia PNX1300 chip, capable of 2.3M pixels per second, supporting constant bitrate
(CBR) and variable bitrate (VBR) operation.
MPEG-4 Decoder software
M-JPEG Decoder software
H.264 Baseline Profile Encoder / Decoder software
DCT / inverse DCT
forward and reverse wavelet transforms
JPEG and JPEG2000 encoders and decoders
memory controllers
audio and voice cores
- Partners:
- Altera and Barco have worked together on building
demonstration systems and jointly marketing each other's products.
- Eastman Kodak and Barco have a partnership to
build and sell digital display projectors to movie theaters.
Ateme
- Location: France
- The Ateme web site was down recently
- Ateme also sells digital video software
- Products:
H.264 (AVC) encoder FPGA binary image for a single-chip standard definition resolution
encoder.
H.264 (AVC) VHDL core source code for real-time standard definition encode.
H.264 component function blocks as VHDL IP cores for standard definition and high
definition encoders. Including CABAC and CAVLC bitstream encoders, motion estimation, and
deblocking filters.
H.264 Baseline, Main, High Profile offline (non-real-time) encoder for PC platforms,
accelerated by the Ateme encoder core. Encodes progressive or interlaced content and uses
MBAFF and PAFF. Operates on content from QCIFF resolution up to 4096x2048 (level 5.1).
Supports configurable picture groupings (GOP), configurable sub-pixel interpolation for
motion estimation, selectable constant or variable bitrates (CBR or VBR) and dual-pass
encoding. Includes pre-processing, including de-interlacing, noise filtering, and 3:2
pulldown). Also supports audio encoding.
H.264 encoder for PCs with support for an optional acquisition/encoding board to enable
real-time encoding and transmission.
H.264 decoder for PCs, including all Main and Baseline profile features (CABAC, MBAFF,
MPAFF, ASO, and more).
H.264 decoder for Texas Instruments DSP chips.
Windows Media Video encoder for Texas Instruments
(TMS320C64x and TMS320DM642) DSP chips.
Windows Media Video decoder for Texas Instruments
(TMS320C64x and TMS320DM642) DSP chips.
MPEG-4 encoder and decoder for Texas Instruments C64x
and DM64x DSP chip families and PC platforms at up to CIF resolution. The core is also
capable of decoding DivX 3.11, DivX 4, DivX 5, XviD, and 3ivx streams.
MPEG-2 encoder and decoder for Texas Instruments C6000
DSP chip family. The software supports Main profile at Main level at up to 720x576 pixel
resolution and 30 frames per second at up to 15 megabits per second with 4:2:0 chroma
coding.
- Partners:
- Ateme has ported its video software to TI DaVinci
chips.
- Altera's Stratix II FPGAs were used by Ateme to
create a real-time broadcast quality H.264 encoder system, demonstrated at
the NAB2005 trade-show. The system,
presumably, operates at SDTV resolution.
- Ateme is partners with end-user security software vendor
ObjectVideo
Seda Solutions
- Location: San Francisco, CA
- IP cores are delivered as a combination of hardware accelerator logic and software
- Products:
RGB to YUV Conversion
YUV to RGB Conversion
Motion Estimation
DCT / IDCT
4x4 block transform
Quantizer
Inverse Quantizer
Interpolation
De-Block Filtering
Variable Length Coding
Post Filtering
- The above products have been used to create MPEG-4 and H.264 offerings.
It is unclear what performance level is achievable.
- Seda is more a design services company than an IP company
Silicon Laboratories
- analog and mixed-signal chip maker
- acquired Silembia in 2006 for $20M cash
- Location: Rennes, France
- Founded: 2004 by ex-Philips Semiconductor employees
- Products:
EMB5000 DVB-C and ITU J.83 Annex A,B,C digital cable receiver IP core.
DVB-T mobile terrestrial receiver IP core
EMB6500 DVB-H receiver IP core
ISDB-T (segment 1 or 3) mobile terrestrial receiver IP core
EMB4000 DVB-S and DSS demodulator IP core
DVB-DSNG satellite channel receiver IP core
ISDB-S satellite channel receiver IP core
DVB-S2 satellite channel receiver IP core
EMB6000 DVB-T receiver IP core
ISDB-T (segment 13) receiver IP core
E8VSB receiver IP core
- sells the Embeddia product line:
DVB-C cable channel receiver
DVB-S / DSS satellite channel receiver
DVB-DSNG satellite channel receiver
ISDB-S satellite channel receiver
DVB-S2 satellite channel receiver
DVB-H mobile terrestrial receiver
DVB-T receiver
ISDB-T receiver (13-segments)
ISDB-T (1 or 3 segments) mobile terrestrial receiver
E8VSB ATSC receiver
DSP (software programmable) processor core vendors
- ARM
- Location: Cambridge, England
- Acquisitions:
- Artisan standard cell library vendor
2004 $1B
- Adelante, a 25-person Belgian company with a highly configurable
digital signal processor architecture 2003.
- Products:
OptimoDE configurable digital signal processor core, derived from the Adelante
acquired technology.
- Licensees:
Imagination Technologies
- Location: Hertfordshire, UK
- Target Markets:
- digital TV
- set top boxes
- mobile handheld devices
- car navigation and entertainment systems
- Products:
MSVDX
PowerVR H.264 Main, High, and Baseline Profile Level 4.1, MPEG-2 MP@HL, VC-1 Advanced,
Main, and Simple Profile Level 3, MPEG-4 Simple Profile Level 3, DivX HD, WMV9 MP@HL,
MPEG-1 decoder capable of 62.2 million pixels per second running at 150 MHz, supporting
trick play and error concealment and recovery.
PowerVR Vigo Mobile TV demodulator supporting DVB-H,
T-DMB, and DAB
PowerVR MBX graphics core.
PowerVR PDP (Pixel Display Pipeline) display controller.
PowerVR TVE digital TV encoder for PAL, NTSC, S-Video, RGB, YUV display.
Metagence META multi-threaded RISC/DSP core.
Ensigma UCC (Universal Communications Coprocessor) complete DVB decode system.
Prism personal media player (PMP) IP core with video encode and multi-standard video
decode support all at SDTV resolution as well as DVB-H, T-DMB, and ISDB-T mobile TV
receiver functionality.
- Customers:
- The PowerVR MBX core can be integrated with
Texas Instruments' OMAP 2 core in
TI ASICs for mobile devices.
- The Texas Instruments' OMAPV2230 UMTS chip for 3G
handsets includes a PowerVR MBX Lite Graphics Core.
- The Samsung SPH-M7000 mobile phone
uses the Intel 2700G "Marathon" multimedia
accelerator chip supporting up to 1M polygons per second for 3D games. The
2700G chip includes the PowerVR MBX graphics core.
- The PowerVR MBX Lite 2D/3D graphics core powers the
Freescale i.MX31 mobile entertainment
multimedia processor. A Hantro 5250 MPEG-4 encoder core is
used in the same chip.
- Intel has licensed the "Eurasia"
architecture of the PowerVR core and a multistandard video codec core.
Eurasia includes advanced polygon shading technology.
- Partners:
- Subsidiaries:
- PowerVR sells a has a multi-format core for WMV8, WMV9,
MPEG2, MPEG4 (H.264 support listed by marketing, not yet by engineering). Also provided is Linux,
Windows CE, and Windows Mobile 5.0 (with Direct3D) driver support.
- Metagence
Tensilica
- Tensilica is a designer of general purpose CPUs, sold as synthesizable IP cores, with
a particular strength in their ability to be customized through the addition of
proprietary function logic.
- First video specific product released in 2005
- Products:
Diamond 388VDO is a 2 Xtensa
programmable core with codec software for encoding MPEG-4 ASP and deocding H.264 MP, BP,
MPEG-4 ASP, VC-1/WMV9, or MPEG-2 at D1 pixel rates.
Tensilica Video Engine is a 2
Xtensa LX core offering of software and hardware capable of 10.4 million pixels / second
(SDTV resolution) decode of H.264 Main Profile (level 3) at 5.4 Mbps, MPEG-4 Advanced
Simple Profile (ASP), MPEG-2, or VC-1 (WMV9) Main Profile at 200 MHz, requiring 10.5
square millimeters in a 0.13um process technology.
- Customers:
- Partners:
- Tata Elxsi is an authorized design center for Tensilica in
Bangalore, India
- Ittiam developed the software for Tensilica's video engine
product offering.
- Silicon Image / SciWorx uses multiple
Xtensa LX cores in its video processor cores.
- Tensilica is a member of the IBM IP Collaboration program.
- Xtensa V cores are available directly to ASIC IP library customers of NEC Electronics America.
- eInfoChips develops software at its India offices for Tensilica
- InterVideo has ported MPEG-4 encoding and decoding software
at CIF and QCIF resolution at 15fps to Xtensa.
Ceva
- Location: Herzelia, Israel
- Products:
H.264, MPEG2, and MPEG4 video software
CEVA-X1620 software programmable VLIW-SIMD dual-MAC 16-bit DSP processor core
Mobile-Media2000
mobile multimedia platform supporting WMV9 at unspecified performance as well as H.263,
H.264, MPEG2, and MPEG4 encoding and decoding software at up to D1 pixel rate on a
CEVA-X1620 processor with audio and RTOS support as well.
- Customers:
- Partners:
- ASTRI develops audio codec software for low end CEVA-TeakLite cores
- Ceva is a member of the IBM IP Collaboration program.
StarCore
- Founded: 2002 as a joint venture between Agere,
Freescale, and Infineon
- Shut down: 2006
- Products:
SC2000 (600 MHz in 90nm processes) 6 stage pipeline DSP core.
SC3000 (1 GHz in 90nm processes) 12 stage pipeline DSP core.
- Customers:
- Freescale's MSC8144 chip used four 1-GHz StarCore cores
- Samsung Semiconductor licensed the StarCore SC1000
and SC2000 cores for use in mobile multimedia chips.
- Partners:
- StarCore implemented a H.264 video decoder system based around a StarCore SC2400
and a Hantro 6100 video decoder core. Capable
of D1 resolution, it performs CIF (352x288) at 30 fps with 64 MHz. H.264 encoder, MPEG-4
encoder and decoder, and MPEG-2 encoder and decoder are planned.
- StarCore was a member of the IBM IP Collaboration program.
ARC International
- Location: Elstree, England
- Products:
ARC Video Subsystem MJPEG, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, VC-1, H.264 decoder. 260k gates. H.264 D1
resolution requires 166 MHz and 44 mW in 0.13um. MPEG-4 D1 resolution requires 135 MHz
and 36 mW in 0.13um. Internal datapaths are 128 bits wide with 16-bit SIMD operations.
ARC 700 CPU with SIMD extensions. Capable of H.264 Baseline Profile at
D1 resolution and 30 fps at 166 MHz. Runs at
533 MHz in TSMC 0.13um LVLK-OD process worst-case. 2.36 mm² with no memories. ARC has
published performance data
for many codecs.
- Customers:
- Conexant has licensed the ARC-600 core and
MQX real-time operating system (RTOS).
- Atmel licensed ARC Video to create multimedia handheld devices.
- Broadcom signed a multi-year, comprehensive licensing agreement with ARC for system-on-chips (SoCs) for "high-growth" consumer applications.
- Chips & Media uses an ARC 605 processor core in its own digital set-top box chips an IP cores targeted at high-volume applications.
- Fujitsu uses an ARC 700 processor core in its SmartMPEG chips for set-top boxes from companies such as Digenius, GSS, Grocos, Conrad, Medion, and LaSat.
- Siano uses an ARC processor in its SMS1000 mobile digital TV receiver chip.
- Sony Semiconductor has licensed an ARC processor core with DSP extensions for "next-generation consumer electronic devices".
- some Toshiba digital cameras use third-party chips with ARC processor cores.
- some Hewlett-Packard digital cameras use third-party chips with ARC processor cores.
- Partners:
MIPS Technologies
- Location: Mountain View, CA
- MIPS cores make excellent host processors and/or audio processors in digital video chips, but not
great digital video processors. I have long been waiting to see who MIPS will eventually partner with
in order to show its customers a high performance digital video solution.
- Products:
MIPS-3D SIMD FPU extensions accelerate 3D graphics
24K is a good host processor
24KE has DSP extensions that make it a good host / audio processor
4KE processors are good audio processors. The 4KEc is about 1.0 mm^2 in 0.13um technology.
- MIPS Technologies has ported MP3, Dolby ProLogic, AAC, and SRS TruSound XT software to MIPS32
processors and had the software certified by Dolby Labs.
- Except at low pixel rates, no products shipping today perform digital video
encoding or decoding on a MIPS instruction set processor. The MIPS RISC instruction
set is general-purpose, not specialized for video processing. Despite its lack of
video processing strength, MIPS instruction set processors have gained a reputation as
good processors for "living room" applications. Such applications include video game
systems and television set-top boxes. In the chips for such applications, the MIPS
processor typically performs system management and host tasks that are not critical to
real time video performance.
- Customers:
- For use in set-top box chips Cheertek has
licensed the 4KEc core and MIPS Technologies' Dolby® Digital AC3 and Dolby Prologic II
audio decoder software.
- NXP is a licensee of 4KE core for use in set-top box chips and PC TV tuners
- Magima is a licensee of the 4Kc core for use in set-top box chips
- Huaya Micro is a licensee of the 4Kc core for use in set-top box chips
- Adimos wireless Video Module
multimedia networking chips include a MIPS 4KEp core.
- ASUSTeK Computers uses the MIPS 4KEc and 4KEp cores in audio and multimedia chips.
- ATI is a MIPS (core? or architecture?) licensee
for use in set-top box chips.
- Broadcom uses its own high performance
processor designs that implement the MIPS instruction set in its set-top box chips.
Broadcom acquired its own line of high performance MIPS processor designs when it
acquired SiByte.
- Cirrus Logic (or were the MIPS licenses
transferred to Magnum?) uses the MIPS M4K and
4KE cores in its DVD and PVR chips.
- Entropic Communications uses the MIPS 4KEm
core in its video home networking chips.
- ESS Technology uses the MIPS 4Kc core
in its consumer video product chips.
- Genesis Microchip uses the MIPS 4KEc core
in its digital TV chips.
- LSI Logic uses MIPS instruction set
processors in many of their digital video chips.
- Micronas uses the MIPS 24K core in digital
TV and set-top box chips. Micronas uses the
Lexra LX4280 processor core in other
TV and set-top box chips.
- Motorola Broadband Communications Sector
uses MIPS instruction set processors in its set-top box chips and products.
- NEC Electronics uses its own design of high
performance processors that implement the MIPS instruction set in its personal video
recorder and DVD recorder chips.
- NeoMagic uses MIPS 4K processor cores
in its handheld internet appliance chips.
- NXP uses MIPS instruction
set processors in its Nexperia video chips.
- Pixelworks uses the MIPS 4KEc and M4K
cores in its television and multimedia projector chips.
- PMC-Sierra uses its own high performance
processor designs that implement the MIPS instruction set in its chips for a range
of markets, including set-top boxes. PMC-Sierra acquired its own line of high
performance MIPS processors when it acquired QED.
- Scientific Atlanta uses the MIPS 24Kc core
in their digital set-top box chips.
- Sony is a MIPS architecture licensee. Sony's
commitment to the MIPS instruction set has come into question since its latest
entertainment chip developments are based around the PowerPC architecture.
- Sunplus has licensed the MIPS 4KEc and 4Kp
cores for use in DVD, VCD, and S-VCD player chips.
- Toshiba including
Toshiba America Electronic Components implements
its own high performance processors the execute the MIPS instruction set in a wide
range of chips for a wide range of applications.
- Wipro Technologies has access to the MIPS
4KEc and 64-bit 4Kf cores for the purpose of supporting joint MIPS customers.
- Zoran uses the MIPS 4KE cores in their digital
camera, digital TV, and DVD chips. Zoran is also a licensee and has used Lexra
processor cores in the same line of chip products.
- Partners:
Improv Systems
- Location: Beverly, MA
- Founded: 1997
- Improv executives and managers founded Vivace Semiconductor to
make video chips using Improv Systems DSP processor technology.
- Products:
Jazz configurable DSP cores
Crescendo Jazz-based media processor DSP cores.
~0.1W in 0.13um for 500k gates for H.264 decode D1 30 fps at 150 MHz
- Customers:
- Partners:
- ARM
- MIPS Technologies
- Wind River Systems
- GAO Research
- Denali Software
- ARM / Artisan
- Virage Logic
- Magma
- Synopsys
- D&R
- EEMBC
- ECL
- VCX
- VSI Alliance
Silicon Hive
- Location: Eindhoven, The Netherlands
- A Philips technology incubator company relying on Philips' patents
- Sells programmable "silicon accelerators" as IP cores, with the goal of using transistors
as efficiently as a hardwired core, but with benefits of programmability
- Targeting "media processing" (video) and "channel processing" (wireless) devices
- Products:
Avispa-CH1: Scalable C-programmable ULIW communications processor
Avispa-IM2: General purpose C-programmable ULIW data processor
Moustique-IC1: C-programmable SIMD & ULIW processor for camera applications
Moustique-IC2: C-programmable SIMD & ULIW processor for camera applications
- Customers:
- Agere has licensed the Avispa IP core for use in unspecified SoC products
- Posdata uses Avispa-CH1 in a mobile WiMax terminal chip
Module Research Centre
Videantis
- Location: Hannover, Germany
- A technology spin-out from the University of Hannover
- primarily targeting surveillance applications for now
- Products:
v-MP2000 HD
high definition video processor core. Capable of 62.2 megapixels per second decode of
H.264 (Main profile?), MPEG-2, or WMV9 using a 3 core configuration, depending on
bitstream processing support from an external general purpose processor (e.g. ARM, MIPS,
etc.) connected through a dual-port RAM. Runs at 300 MHz in 0.13um technology. 450k gates
logic for 3 cores, 11 square millimeters for 3 cores, including RAMs in 0.13um
technology. Comes complete with software available for HD decode and SD encode of H.264
(AVC) (which profile?), MPEG-4 ASP, DivX, MPEG-4 SP, WMV-9, VC-1, MPEG-2, (and motion
JPEG?).
v-MP2000 M
mobile video processor core. Capable of 10.4 megapixels per second decode of H.264
Baseline profile at 200 MHz, depending on bitstream processing support from an external
general purpose processor (e.g. ARM, MIPS, etc.) connected through a dual- port RAM. 120k
gates logic, 2.61 square millimeters including RAMs in 0.13um technology. Consumes 90 mW
at 200 MHz. Comes complete with software available for encode and decode of H.264 (AVC)
(which profile?), MPEG-4 ASP, DivX, MPEG-4 SP, H.263, WMV-9, VC-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-1, (and
motion JPEG?).
v-MP 1000
A surveillance software package including region of interest detection, object tracking,
support for H.264/AVC, MPEG-4, and JPEG2000.
- Former Products:
HiBRID-SoC software programmable multimedia processor core capable of being programmed
for H.264/AVC, MPEG-4 Advanced Simple Profile & Simple Profile, JPEG2000, and M-JPEG.
Consists of three cores: a 16-way by 8-bit SIMD datapath with a row or column addressable
data storage array, a 64-bit VLIW processor, and a 32-bit RISC core. Runs at 145 MHz and
consumes 81 square millimeters in a .18um process.
Infineon
- Location: Munich, Germany
- Infineon makes many semiconductor products, including memory, and with
an apparent emphasis on communications and networking.
- Products:
modulators and front-end DVB-T (COFDM), ATSC, and ISDB-T tuner chips
offers TriCore 1 32-bit software programmable DSP processor core
- 300 MHz in 0.13um process technology
- 2.2 sq mm including CPU, code, and data memory interfaces but not the, presumably
configurable-sized, code and data memories themselves.
- 0.65mW/MHz for Dhrystone 2.1
- TriCore is available as a synthesizable soft core or as off-the-shelf chips
manufactured by Infineon.
- Acquisitions:
- SciWorx (formerly known as Sican) a 74.9% ownership stake in 2000.
Avieon
- Products:
Neuron 1 is a complete SoC design sold as an IP core available with DVB-H and H.264
software. It consists of four Multimedia Signal Processors (MSP), and ARM 9 CPU, and AHB
peripherals.
The MSP is a proprietary architecture described as Same Instruction Different Operation
(SIDO). Each MSP is 50K gates and about 1 mm square using .13um standard cell technology.
On Demand Microelectronics
- Location: Vienna, Austria
- Founded: 2002
- Founded as a spin-off from Analog Devices
- Products:
SVEN "platform" encompassing a video control processor (VCP) and a VLIW / SIMD
vector signal processor (VSP) with multiple execution units along with software for
signal demodulation, MPEG-2, VC-1, and H.264 bitstream extraction, bitstream decoding,
deinterlacing, scaling, and noise filtering all at up to 1080i resolution (presumably 30
frames per second)
Scalable Video Processor (SVP)
- 8 32-bit PEs in 0.13um at 200 MHz is 350 mW (unknown video performance)
- H.264 PAL decode with 16 16-bit PEs at 2.55 mm^2
cores to handle demodulation, decoding and image processing
- Has two "big player" flat screen TV maker licensees (2005/07)
- VSP license fee is $300k-$700k with $100k-$200k for each software library
InterQoS
- Location: Hong Kong
- funded by the Hong Kong government
- originally in the networking/communications space
- modifying its multiprocessor NPU architecture with 8 processing engines and 1 RISC
for H.264 video algorithms, software development work is in progress
Toshiba MeP (Media Embedded Processor)
- 32-bit RISC software programmable image, audio, and video processors available as
synthesizable RTL cores.
- An internal IP platform similar to Matsushita Unifier or NEC
platformOViA.
- Products:
MeP-c1 five stage pipeline performs MPEG-2 decode at HDTV resolution at 133 MHz or
simultaneous (presumably SDTV resolution) MPEG-2 encode and decode at 150 MHz
MeP-c2 five stage pipeline acts as a single chip DVD player at 142 MHz and used for
Visconti image recognition at 150 MHz.
MeP-c3 five stage pipeline used as a multimedia accelerator for mobile terminals at
125 MHz among other applications.
MeP-h1 nine stage pipeline 1 GHz in 65nm technology (presumably in a Toshiba fab)
MeP-c4 under development
Dresden Silicon
- Location: Dresden, Germany
- funded to productize technology developed at
Technische Universität Dresden.
- Software programmable IP cores will be delivered complete with software for major
video standards.
- First IP core product available in summer 2006
- Partners:
Interuniversity MicroElectronics Center (IMEC)
- Location: Leuven, Belgium
- IMEC is a general purpose nanotechnology research center
- Products:
Architecture for Dynamically Reconfigurable Embedded System (ADRES) is a VLIW
processor with a reconfigurable logic array. Good H.264 decoder performance is claimed,
but no specific performance numbers are published.
Lenslet
- Location: Herzelia Pituach, Israel
- Founded: 1999
- The OmniDesign web site has gone down. I am curious to know what happened to the
company.
- makes optical digital signal processor chips, claiming up to 8,000 GMACs
- Products:
EnLight 256 8000 GMAC per second fixed point DSP chip. Operates internally by optical
switching. Promises great performance on video applications, though no specific
applications or performance have been quoted.
Volcano Media Chips
- Founded: 2005
- Developing a multi-format programmable video processor core for H.264/AVC, VC-1,
MPEG-2, and H.263 video encode and decode.
EDA tools
These companies' products are not quite IP cores, but instead electronic design automation
(EDA) tools that generate customized IP cores
- Celoxica
- Location: Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK
- Products:
C to RTL
C to FPGA
- Partners:
- Celoxica is a member of the TI TMS320 third party partner program.
- Synfora
- Location: Mountain View, CA
- Started using technology developed at Hewlett-Packard
research labs in Colorado.
- Products:
PICO Express takes in nested loops of C code and puts out RTL for a "pipelined
processor array" that can act as a coprocessor / accelerator in a chip along with a host
processor.
PICO Flex is still in development, but is expected to create a stand-alone VLIW processor
that is not dependent on another host processor.
- partners with Cadence
- Member of:
- PACT XPP Technologies
- Location: Munich, Germany
- architecture consisting of ALU, RAM, and I/O processing elements configurable
as in an FPGA
- PACT XPP offers a chip (and reference design) but also their elements as IP
- Also available/required is PACT's design software
- Also available is hardware/software IP to implement video codecs as an AMBA
bus co-processor
- Spiral Gateway
- Location: Edinburgh, UK
- low power is the mantra for Sprial Gateway products
- Products:
Hybrid IP cores components for algorithms such as sum of absolute differences (SAD)
motion estimation (ME) search, and discrete cosine transform (DCT)
RICA (Reconfigurable Instruction Cell Array) software programmable architecture for
low-power digital signal processing applications
- Poseidon Design Systems
- Products:
Triton Tuner embedded application
performance analyzer and architecture configuration tool
Triton Builder accelerator
coprocessor builder
Transmission and Interface cores
- Commsonic
- Location: Cambridge, United Kingdom
- founded in 2000
- Products:
CCMS0009 DVB-T modulator
CMS0014 DVB-S2 adaptive APSK demodulator
OFDM, QAM/PSK, and other modulators and demodulators
- Partners:
- Built SkyPlug DVB-S2 demodulator / decoder for FPGAs around the CMS0014 with
TurboConcept decoder, verified it with the Zarlink
ZL10038 tuner.
- TurboConcept
- Location: France
- founded 1999
- Products:
TC1000 / TC1000-xX DVB-RCS decoder
TC4000 DVB-S2 low density parity check (LDPC) decoder
- Partners:
- Built SkyPlug DVB-S2 demodulator / decoder for FPGAs around the TC4000 with
Commsonic demodulator, verified it with the Zarlink ZL10038
tuner.
- Apical
- Location: London, UK
- specilists in image enhancement algorithms
- Products:
-
iridix C3-5 dynamic range compression
-
iridix H3-5 dynamic range compression
-
iridix C5 color correction
-
iridix H5 color correction
-
iridix C5NR noise reduction
-
iridix C4-5 fine detail preservation
-
iridix H4-5 fine detail preservation
-
C-NLS1 non-linear sharpening
- Customers:
- Nikon
- Sony
- Sony Ericsson
- A1404S handset
- W31S handset
- Samsung
- SCH-V700 portable media player handset
