Designs on the new generation of tv products

A new hybrid semiconductor development is aimed at the next generation of digital tv based multimedia devices. Kenroy Francis of LSI Logic tells Robin Wood about Domino [X]

Kenroy Francis, director digital tv products, LSI Logic Corp

Keeping up with the frenetic pace of development in the tv-based multimedia market is not easy for the average consumer. Still coming to terms with the redundancy issues of the switch-off of analogue tv by 2012, Ms Average now finds that digital tv itself is about to be sent to the "do you remember" box by high definition (HD) digital tv. If this were not enough, the VCR is finally to be trumped by Personal Video Recorders (PVRs) and the new generation of video players and recorders features a battle between two different standards - Blu-ray and HD-DVD - in which the loser is likely to join Betamax VCR in the aforementioned box.

For the electronics industry, the picture is even more complex. As well as the new generation of products listed above, consumers will demand video on handheld devices - mobile phones, PDAs, games consoles and more. Video-based products in this sector will have to cope with a variety of compression algorithms, some device specific. As well as coding and decoding, transcoding between different systems is becoming an increasing requirement.

Domino [X]™, recently launched in Europe by LSI Logic, is aimed at trying to resolve these issues. In typical LSI fashion the architecture is announced before the product, to allow tailored development of products. Chips are expected to be available in mid 2007. Domino [X] is a multistream, multi-format, high-definition media

Domino X architecture

processor architecture designed specifically for the new generation of digital video applications. Featuring multi-format encoding, enabling content to be converted and reformatted for viewing on products from big-screen HDTV to mobile phones, it is claimed to be a cost effective solution for new multimedia applications.

LSI says the architecture will allow processing of multiple streams of digital video. Options include:

o Dual HD encode
o Dual standard definition (SD) encode and decode
o HD encode and SD decode
o HD to HD transcode.

"We now have transcoding on a single chip" Kenroy Francis, LSI's director, digital tv products, told EDi. "It's a new price point.

Previously, peripheral devices were employed for transcoding. Now, it's all on one chip.

"And I want to emphasise, the transcoding is done in real time. There is no decoding, saving to memory and encoding. All transcoding is done on the fly."

The product can, it is claimed, transcode DV, H.264, VC-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4 standards. It also can carry out video pre- and postprocessing, using LSI's DVFX™ software for 3D noise reduction and de-interlacing as well as picture in picture and picture alongside picture processing, and audio post processing and transcoding.

"All this is being achieved through a 32-bit wide DDR2 interface. I think we are the first, or at least one of the first, to do that", Kenroy told us.

Domino [X] employs hybrid system architecture for maximum flexibility, with some software hardcoded, and some programmable. "We fix the microcode in the hardware for higher performance," said Kenroy, "and use software where flexibility is needed."

The architecture is based on a multi-core processor system, with an application processor running Linux or Windows CE, a video engine with multimedia RISC processor, a RISC-based audio processor, a graphics engine, and a security processor. The latter uses a process called transcripting to allow content sharing while maintaining the rights of content owners.

"Security is becoming more important," said Kenroy, "whether it's conditional access or digital rights management. The security processor is totally separate, it can't be accessed by the applications processor or from outside the chip."

The new platform is a development of LSI's established Domino range, and shares much of the same development requirements.

"Domino has a 42% market share of the high definition tv market," Kenroy told us. "There is full backward compatibility.

"This means that there are companies out there using a related product [to Domino X], so they are familiar with it, they are familiar with all the software. The development risk is reduced because Domino [X] is an evolution from the current product."

A family of devices is slated for mid 2007, aiming at digital media products. A recent report from Instat, the Arizona-based analyst firm, forecasts the world market for chips for digital media products to be over $1.4bn by 2010, this based on an end-product market of $36bn. By far the biggest sector of this market is the digital set-top box sector, at over $1bn. However, LSI's first product announcement is likely to be for the smaller professional tv content creation and broadcast area, which is projected to reach $30-40m by 2010.

"This will be our basis of development" says Kenroy. "Working in this field will put us at the leading edge, which we can carry over into other markets."

The blue laser DVD market is also likely to feature, followed by the large but complex digital set top box area.

"We engage with all the major manufacturers worldwide," said Kenroy "who are already familiar with Domino. When Domino [X] silicon is available in mid 2007, we will be going to market with a complete development kit."

With this new range, LSI Logic is clearly bidding to be the Intel of the digital media world. Following the Intel pattern, its DVFX brand is to appear on end-user digital tv products in the near future.

Projections for worldwide sales of semiconductors for digital multimedia market

EDI-technology update 17-10-2006