Media Accelerated Processor for Consumer Appliances:
* lowest-cost, highest-performance single-chip media processor available;
* supports softoware HDTB, software Personal Video Recorders;
* allows products that lead in value, flexibility and longevity
Equator Technologies, Inc. and Hitachi Ltd.
In Brief:
- Equator and Hitachi announce the MAP-CA(TM)-- Media Accelerated Processor technology at
consumer price points
- Third-generation, 30GOP processor sets record for DSP/Image Processing performance.
- MAP-CA moves central functions of television and imaging products into software, enabling
revolution in TV/DTV/imaging product functions and flexibility
- Advanced imaging architecture outperforms all other single-chip CPUs/DSPs, MPEG encoders and
decoders.
- Premium Platform for Internet-connected Appliances for TV/imaging
CAMPBELL, CA, and TOKYO, JAPAN-- Equator Technologies, Inc. and Hitachi Ltd.
(NYSE:HIT) today announced sampling availability of the MAP-CA Media Accelerated
Processor for Consumer Appliances. The MAP-CA, the third generation MAP processor, sets a
new world standard for cost-effective image computing. The MAP-CA is expected to change
digital television (DTV) product design and development from a hardware-centric to a software-
centric approach.
Shigemichi Matsuka, Executive Vice President and Director of Hitachi Ltd., said, "Joint
development with Equator has given birth to a very powerful product with new concept of
software solution. Hitachi strongly believes that together with other Hitachi microprocessor
products, MAP-CA gives birth to a family of de facto standard microprocessors for information
appliances in the Internet era."
This highly integrated, single chip-solution is designed for multimedia products such as
interactive set-top boxes, digital TVs, video conferencing systems, medical imaging products,
digital video editing equipment, and office automation imaging products, as well as a host of
communications products such as modem concentrators and cellular base-stations.
The single-chip MAP-CA delivers an unprecedented 30 GOPS (Giga-Operations Per Second) of
processing power while programming in a high-level C-language. Programming only in C
enables all-software HDTV decoding, video time shifting, full-screen streaming video and
video teleconferencing. It also offers a host of other functionality to be delivered at the price of
single-function digital television products much faster than today's fixed function design
approaches. Using the MAP-CA and the SofTV(TM) (Software TV) applications available from
3rd party ISV's, television- and imaging-centric appliances can keep up with the rapid pace of
change of the Internet while offering the best picture quality, capabilities, field upgradability via
software downloads and lowest system cost.
The MAP-CA VLIW design approach allows system developers to build products that lead the
market in value, flexibility and longevity. Because core functions are delivered by application
software rather than dedicated hardware, products can be multi-function. For example, a MAP-
CA based set-top box can support MPEG-4, H.263 teleconferencing, analog time shifting,
modems and a host of other services without incremental cost or complexity. Similarly, the
imaging engine in a color printer/copier can be fully soft, and support a wide range of image
formats and algorithms at high performance and low cost points.
"At five times the performance of existing VLIW DSPs, and at 100 times the price-performance
of multimedia desktop general-purpose processors, and with support for all HDTV format
decoding in software, the MAP-CA obsoletes hardwired video chips," according to John Setel
O'Donnell, co-founder and president of Equator. "Our platform's software-based approach is
ideal for designers that have to keep pace with rapidly emerging and constantly evolving
standards for Internet-connected appliances and products. This approach allows manufacturers
to provide product upgrades and enhancements to units in the field, eliminating both service
calls and consumer concerns about early obsolescence. Broadband system operators can greatly
cut time-to-revenue for new interactive services, updating in-the-field units via software
downloads to add new services as business models are established."
TECHNICAL DETAILS
The MAP-CA is the latest member of Equator and Hitachi's jointly developed media processor
family, and is based on a unique, proprietary VLIW/SIMD architecture delivering the industry's
highest levels of signal and image processing power. The MAP-CA performs sixteen multiply-
accumulate (MAC) operations per cycle, eight times more than other high-end VLIW DSPs.
Professor Yongmin Kim of Image Computing Systems Lab of University of Washington said,
"The MAP-CA is currently the most powerful media processor (imaging and video DSP) that
exists today. The MAP-CA's key advantage is that it can deliver very high performance, even
while programmed in C! I believe that MAP-CA will play an increasingly important role, and
become a core platform technology in many digital imaging and video applications."
Unlike traditional DSPs, the MAP-CA architecture includes features such as byte addressing,
caches, and virtual memory for rapid application porting and wide operating system hardware
support.
The MAP-CA's outstanding performance is delivered using 100 percent C programming, which
greatly improves developer productivity. It combines the cost/performance features of
dedicated fixed-function chips with quick response to rapidly evolving standards and longer life
cycles. The MAP-CA can unify the host processor with the image processing capabilities,
SDRAM and PCI interfaces, and a flexible multimedia I/O system to allow a single external
bank of DRAM to support the entire range of OEM product functions. System-level power
consumption is reduced both by the MAP-CA's design for low-voltage operation and the unified
memory system in comparison with a host processor and several ASIC's with their own
memory.
In addition to using advanced CMOS technologies, the MAP-CA includes a host of
architectural improvements for higher performance in image compression, and improved I/O
capabilities such as direct connection to multiple video channels. A glueless SDRAM controller
supports access up to 128MB of SDRAM at up to 150MHz. A 32-bit 33/66MHz PCI bus
interface is also supported.
A parallelizing C compiler, linker, source level debugger, simulators and standard libraries are
also available from Equator. Release 5 of Equator's iMMediaTools suite, available today, fully
supports the MAP-CA platform, and provides compatibility for software developed for earlier
MAP family products. Reference software modules, including MPEG-2 encode and decode,
JPEG encode and decode, video post-filtering, audio codec's, telephony, and video
teleconferencing codecs are also available from Equator, and MPEG-4 encode and decode and
AFD(TM) (All Format Decoder) are available from Hitachi to accelerate customer product
development as software applications. AFD(TM) technology developed by Hitachi decodes all
eighteen of the United States Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) formats, which
include high-definition formats, to be converted to the standard definition format. Thus, a
standard definition TV set so equipped would be able to receive high-definition broadcasts to
accelerate customer product development.
Several independent software companies have been porting new video codec's such as MPEG-4
and high performance powerful wavelet codec's. Ward Labs has ported a set of algorithms that
greatly minimize cable noise artifacts. Interval Research has developed a powerful new wavelet
codec that provides significant power and DSP advantages over today's existing DCT-based
algorithms. Zydacron, a leading video teleconferencing company, will be providing a complete
software package for consumer STB OEM's.
Price and Availability
Pricing is $40 in quantities of 200,000. On any additional details concerning delivery or pricing
please contact Equator or Hitachi representatives. Samples are available now, with volume
production slated for summer.
The Equator /Hitachi MAP family is the premium platform for rapid design and deployment of
Internet-connected digital media and imaging products. For more information, visit
www.equator.com or www.hitachi.co.jp/index-e.html
About Equator Technologies, Inc.
Equator Technologies Inc. is a semiconductor systems company with offices in Austin, Texas;
Campbell, California; Seattle, Washington; Paris, France, and Tokyo Japan. Formed in 1996,
Equator develops and sells semiconductors, applications and systems software, and reference
designs. Equator's products are VLIW software-programmable media processor platforms. Visit
Equator at http://www.equator.com.
About Hitachi, Ltd.
Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global electronics
companies, with fiscal 1998 (ended March 31, 1999) consolidated sales of 7,977 billion yen
($65.9 billion*). The company manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including
computers, semiconductors, consumer products and power and industrial equipment. For more
information on Hitachi, Ltd., please visit Hitachi's Web site at http://www.hitachi.co.jp.
* At an exchange rate of 121 yen to the dollar.
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