Gagan Gupta is Senior Director of Product Marketing at ARC International. Gagan is responsible for product planning and definition of ARC's multimedia subsystems and configurable processors. (Photo: Business Wire)

13 Aug 2007 07:45

ARC International (LSE:ARK) today set a new standard forhigh-quality video encoding with the introduction of five new membersof the ARC(R) Video Subsystem family: AV 417V, AV 407V, AV406V, AV404V, and AV 402V. All include ARC's new patent-pending technology"dynamic adaptive encoding" that enables encoding of video streams atthe lowest power. The products are capable of encoding and decoding upto Standard Definition resolution video using advanced video codingstandards such as H.264. The AV 417V is already shipping to customers;all are now available for licensing by companies worldwide. £ ARC Video Subsystem family members enable SoC designers to quicklycreate unique products for a range of portable media players andtethered consumer multimedia appliances. Based on the recentlyintroduced VRaptor(TM) Multicore Architecture, each is programmable,encodes and decodes a wide range of popular video standards, and comeswith optimized media processing elements including: \* T -- A member of the configurable ARC 700 core family -- Up to two 128-bit SIMD Media Processors -- A dual-channel media-optimized DMA engine -- Separate multi-standard encoding and decoding accelerators -- Programmable motion estimation accelerator -- SoC development tools -- Optimized video codecs: -- (encoders) H.264 BP, MPEG-4 SP/ASP, H.263 profile 0, and JPEG -- (decoders) H.264 BP, MPEG-4 SP/ASP, H.263 profile 0, VC-1 SP, MPEG-2 MP, MJPEG, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, and PNG\* T £ The ARC(R) Video Subsystem Family £ The new family comprises five new subsystems that are based uponthe VRaptor Multicore Architecture. Features and configuration for allfive are shown in the table below: \* TProduct Feature Configuration Decode Encode AV 417V High Quality ARC 700 + Up to D1 Up to D1 Encode/Decode 2x SIMD MP + EE + ED + ME AV 407V Reduced Die Size ARC 700 + Up to D1 Up to D1 Encode/Decode 1x SIMD MP + EE + ED + ME AV 406V Low Power Encode ARC 700 + Up to CIF Up to D1 with Decode 1x SIMD MP + EE + ME AV 404V Low Power Decode ARC 700 + Up to D1 Up to CIF with Encode 1x SIMD MP + ED +EE AV 402V Smallest Die Size ARC 700 + Up to CIF Up to CIF Encode/Decode 1x SIMD MP + EE Legend: SIMD MP: Single Instruction, Multiple Data Media Processor CIF: Common Intermediate Format, 384x288 at 30FPS D1 Resolution: 720x576 (TV PAL) or 720x480 (TV NTSC) EE: entropy encoder; ED: entropy decoder; ME: motion estimator\* T £ "ARC's new family of VRaptor-based video subsystems representseveral steps forward for designers looking to use third Party IP tocraft their next silicon solution," said Richard Wawrzyniak, seniormarket analyst for ASIC and SoC, at Semico Research Corp. "Thesubsystems' very low power consumption coupled with high performanceand very small die size make them ideal to incorporate into nextgeneration SoCs that are trying to hit low price points. In addition,the RISC processor in these heterogeneous, multicore subsystems canfunction as the processing element in many applications withoutneeding to interface to a host processor making them even moreattractive. They can double as processors themselves performingcomputing functions other than just those specific to the targetfeature set." £ High Quality Video Encode - the New Frontier in MultimediaProcessing £ Websites such as YouTube that enable individuals to postpersonally crafted video vignettes are a social phenomenon rapidlyspreading around the globe. However, video quality of this contentsuffers from being captured by low-quality encoders that are typicalin today's camera phones and digital cameras. £ With the high quality encode capability in the new ARC VideoSubsystems, SoC developers can design chips that are differentiatedand solve the disparate challenge of providing superior resolutionencoding while consuming little power. Market opportunities for suchproducts are booming. Research firms project the worldwide installedbase of just camera phones will top 1.5 billion units by 2010,becoming the most prevalent image capture devices in the world. £ ARC - Setting the Standard in Video Quality £ The top of the new line of ARC Video Subsystems is the AV 417V.Using the City video benchmark (a 30-second video clip of theManhattan skyline) it achieves approximately a 300 percent improvementin quality compared to quality from the encoders typically found intoday's portable devices. £ The ARC Video Subsystems achieve high quality video encode byemploying algorithms ("tools") specified from standards bodies forvideo codecs such as H.264, which is up to five times more complexthan other coding standards. Their high performance architecture(based on VRaptor) allows usage of the demanding encoding algorithmsat reasonable clocking frequency resulting in a power-efficientsolution. £ The AV 417V Subsystem occupies just 4.95 mm2 in a 90nm processtechnology and achieves the following encode and decode performances: £ -- H.264 BP encode of D1, 30 fps video stream of up to 10 Mbps bit rate, operating under 200 MHz £ -- H.264 decode of D1, 30 fps video stream of 1.5Mbps bit rate, operating at 160 MHz £ Low Power Via ARC's New "Dynamic Adaptive Encoding" Technology £ A major innovation embodied in the new members of ARC's VideoSubsystem Family is the patent pending technology called DynamicAdaptive Encoding. The technology encodes video optimally under anysystem condition. Video encoding is a repetitive task that executes aset of algorithms to encode a digitized video stream or a set ofdigitized still images into such standards as H.264 BP, MPEG-4 SP/ASP,H.263 profile 0, and JPEG. Dynamic Adaptive Encoding continuouslyevaluates system resources and adaptively applies different processingresources to achieve the optimum result. For example, dynamic adaptiveencoding allows the designer to adjust the encoding process in a phonewith a fully charged battery versus one running close to empty. £ ARC Video Subsystems - A New Way to Differentiate SoCs £ Un-optimized, general purpose CPUs and DSPs cannot efficientlyprocess complicated multimedia algorithms. Therefore, SoC designerstypically have to implement numerous general purpose cores on a chipresulting in exploding silicon footprints and high power consumption.This approach is less than ideal for portable applications. £ Alternatively, dedicated fixed-function hardware blocks are usedto process specific media algorithms. However, this approach offers noprogrammability to adapt to evolving codec standards thereby limitingthe product's life span. ARC's Video Subsystems are uniquely optimizedto the special processing needs of video and audio applications. Theyare as follows: £ -- Programmable to handle multi-format codecs and additional user-specific applications £ -- Configurable to enable maximum product differentiation £ -- Pre-integrated and pre-verified to eliminate much of the software and hardware design effort £ -- Efficient video encode using very low power and little silicon real estate £ ARC VRaptor(TM) Multicore Architecture £ The new members of the ARC Video Subsystem family are based uponthe recently introduced VRaptor Multicore Architecture. It is ascalable heterogeneous processor architecture that overcomes theperformance challenge of low power multimedia processing. VRaptorprovides three distinct classes of ARC core modules. The first classincludes a configurable 700 family core, and a range of specializedSIMD multimedia processors optimized for functions such as low-passdeblocking filters and pixel transforms. The second class includesaccelerators, such as entropy encoders and decoders and motionestimators. These perform multimedia processing tasks more efficientlythan general-purpose, programmable cores. And the third class includeshigh speed DMA controllers to relieve the CPU from complex datamovement often found in multimedia codecs. £ Connecting VRaptor's heterogeneous multicore resources together isits unique remote procedure invocation over communication channelscapability. The 700 processor core, SIMD accelerators, DMA engine,entropy encoders and decoders, and motion estimation accelerators areall loosely coupled and operate independently of one another. The 700processor core apportions work to each of the accelerators using asimple fire-and-forget message. The message in main memory enables azero overhead context switch that directs the accelerator to perform atask and inform the 700 processor when complete, at which time the 700processor immediately issues the accelerator another context switchthat initiates another task. In this manner all the accelerators arekept running independently at full speed without having to await theresult of any other processing resource in the system. £ Availability £ The ARC Video Subsystem family is now available for licensing bycompanies worldwide. For more information contact ARC International atinfo@arc.com or visit www.arc.com. £ About ARC International plc £ ARC International is the world leader in configurable mediasubsystems and CPU/DSP processors. Used by over 140 companiesworldwide, ARC's configurable solutions enable the creation of highlydifferentiated system-on-chips (SoCs) that ship in hundreds ofmillions of devices annually. ARC's patented subsystems and cores aresmaller, consume less power, and are less expensive to manufacturethan competing products. £ ARC International maintains a worldwide presence with corporateand research and development offices in Silicon Valley and St. Albans,UK. For more information visit www.ARC.com. ARC International islisted on the 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