Arkle Res Regulatory News (ARK)

19 Feb 2007 07:00

ARC International (LSE:ARK) and Berkeley Design Technology, Inc.(BDTI), the semiconductor industry's leading independent benchmarkingand technology analysis company, today announced the industry's firstcertified H.264 decoder performance benchmark results - based upon theARC(R) Video Subsystem. These results validate the low system clockrate and low energy consumption of the ARC Video Subsystem whendecoding standard definition H.264 video. This low power is a benefitof ARC's configurable architecture that enables the creation of highlyefficient subsystems and processors. £ The ARC Video Subsystem requires as little as 160 MHz, with lowpower consumption and small die size, to decode a 1.5 megabits persecond (Mbps) BDTI video stream at 30 frames per second (fps) for theH.264 Baseline Profile decoder at D1 resolution. No specialmodifications were made to the standard ARC Video Subsystem to achievethese results. BDTI uses a proprietary video test clip, which consistsof several types of scenes commonly used to evaluate video codecperformance. Further details of the benchmark results can be obtainedby contacting BDTI (www.BDTI.com). £ In an article in its InsideDSP.com newsletter, BDTI stated, "ARChelped BDTI create a methodology which is both fair and responsive tothe needs of video system and SoC developers, including a rigorous andindependent certification process." According to BDTI's analysts,"BDTI's findings confirm ARC's claim that the ARC Video Subsystem canperform H.264 decoding at 160 MHz, with a die area of 9.1 mm(2) and anaverage power consumption of 116 mW (3.9 joules of energy per frame)in a 0.13 micron process. By being the first to obtain BDTI SolutionCertification for its H.264 decoder solution, ARC has taken aleadership role in bringing better information to the video solutionmarketplace, and has demonstrated its confidence in the ARC VideoSubsystem." £ Derek Meyer, ARC's senior vice president of sales and marketing,said, "ARC partnered with BDTI because they are the industry's mostrespected independent authority for signal processing benchmarks. Byfollowing their rigorous and independent certification process, we noware able to provide customers with BDTI verified data that clearlyshows the efficiency of the ARC Video Subsystem for H.264 decoding.This not only supports our leadership position, but will help ourcustomers make more informed decisions for SoCs targetingvideo-intensive applications." £ About the Configurable ARC(R) Video Subsystem £ ARC Video is a configurable subsystem that offers a powerful,highly efficient solution for low power multimedia applications. Itincorporates must-have video and imaging codecs in a pre-verified,programmable environment. The ARC Video Subsystem processes H.264,VC-1, MPEG-4, MPEG-2 decoders and industry standard imaging codecs atless than 40mW (90nm TSMC G) for standard definition resolutions. £ The ARC Video Subsystem includes a configurable ARC 700 familycore that is coupled with the company's award winning singleinstruction multiple data (SIMD) accelerator, which was specificallydesigned for video and audio processing. A media-centric DMA engineincorporated in the ARC Video Subsystem is highly tuned to efficientlyhandle multimedia packet transfers. A full set of hardware andsoftware development tools is included with each ARC Video Subsystemlicense. £ All ARC Media Subsystems are configurable, enabling system-on-chip(SoC) designers to add or remove instructions to better differentiatefrom their competition. By leveraging the programmable nature of ARC'ssubsystems, additional algorithms can be included beyond the optimizedand pre-verified codecs supplied as part of the subsystem. Because theARC Video Subsystem is based upon a configurable ARC 700 family core,it can run at up to 533 MHz in a 0.13 micron process. £ About ARC International plc £ ARC International is the world leader in configurable subsystemsand CPU/DSP processors that are used by semiconductor companiesworldwide to create system-on-chip (SoC) designs that provide astrategic competitive advantage. ARC's patented configurable productsare smaller, consume less power, are less expensive to manufacture,and provide a higher degree of differentiation over what can becreated using "fixed architecture" core alternatives. £ ARC International maintains a worldwide presence with corporateand research and development offices in California and Elstree, UK.For more information visit www.ARC.com. ARC International is listed onthe London Stock Exchange as ARC International plc (LSE:ARK). £ ARC and the ARC logo are trademarks or registered trademarks ofARC International. All other brands or product names contained hereinare the property of their respective owners. This press release maycontain certain "forward-looking statements" that involve risks anduncertainties, including the development, implementation, and releaseof features described herein. These are at the sole discretion of ARCInternational. Licenses from 3rd parties for certain software andessential patents may be required depending on licensee'suse/implementation. For other factors that could cause actual resultsto differ, visit the company's Website as well as the listingparticulars filed with the United Kingdom Listing Authority and theRegistrar of Companies in England and Wales. Copyright Business Wire 2007