Programmerbar platform til HD-video og billedsprocessering
CEVA præsenterer en multipurpose, programmerbar HD video og billed processerings-platform til netværksopkoblede enheder (in english).
CEVA Inc, a leading licensor of silicon intellectual property (SIP) platform solutions and DSP cores, has unveiled CEVA-MM3000, a fully programmable, HD video and imaging platform specifically designed for the connected generation of portable multimedia and home entertainment devices. CEVA is demonstrating the CEVA-MM3000 platform at Mobile World Congress, February 15-18 in Barcelona, Spain.
Based on a heterogeneous, scalable multi-core architecture, this low-power, platform delivers full-HD, 1080p video decode and encode at up to 60 frames per second (fps), supporting advanced video standards, including H.264, VC1, Real Video, AVS, VP6/7/8, as well as future standards such as SVC (Scalable Video Codec) and MVC (Multi-view Video Codec, for 3D video).
CEVA-MM3000 also readily supports both video and image pre/post processing algorithms such as scaling, stabilizer, and noise reduction in addition to many proprietary add-on applications, for example, augmented reality, gesture recognition and face detection.
Crucially, these additional algorithms and proprietary applications enabled by CEVA-MM3000 allow designers to reach new levels in multimedia innovation and performance, while offloading and even eliminating engines normally required to handle these complex features in a multimedia SoC.
Multi-core Architecture Designed for Low Power, Ease of Programmability
Designed as a unified and coherent architecture, CEVA-MM3000 utilizes a heterogeneous, multi-core approach to address the extreme and diverse processing requirements of video and image signal processing.
The core of the platform consists of two specialized processors, a Stream Processor and a Vector Processor, combined into a complete multi-core system, including local and shared memories, peripherals, DMA and standard bridges to external busses. This comprehensive multi-core platform was designed specifically to meet low-power requirements for mobile devices. For example, an H.264 HP decoding at 1080p 30fps requires as low as 150mW in a 40nm process.
The Stream Processor is responsible for bit stream coding, bit stream manipulation, and control code execution, while the Vector Processor performs filtering and vector type operations typical for pixel processing. Both the Stream and the Vector processors are designed for ease of programmability, and are supported by an optimizing C-compiler and application profiler. A set of pre-optimized video kernels for both processors is available to licensees, enabling the flexibility to combine efficient low-level code with rapid C-level development.
- Consumers' appetite for higher video quality and enhanced functionality is seemingly insatiable. CEVA-MM3000 is a flexible, scalable and robust software-based platform capable of addressing these requirements in consumer devices. Uniquely, it contradicts conventional wisdom that implementing a video engine supporting 1080p requires a hardware design, says Joseph Byrne, analyst at The Linley Group and author of ‘A Guide to CPU Cores and Processor IP’.
- The programmable nature of the architecture allows it to efficiently support not just video standards but also enable customer-proprietary post-processing algorithms and next-generation features like object recognition.
- The advent of 4G wireless and the dawn of the connected home will profoundly change the way we access and view our multimedia content, says Gideon Wertheizer, CEO of CEVA.
- 1080p High Definition is becoming a de facto standard in every type of multimedia-enabled device along with the requirement to support a growing number of video codecs. CEVA-MM3000’s high-performance, multi-core architecture delivers the performance, scalability and flexibility to address these precise requirements in a software-based, low-power and cost-effective platform for any connected multimedia device. In addition, the unique video and image pre/post processing algorithm support enables our licensees to truly differentiate their video processor designs with proprietary features and functions.
Scalability and programmability
To efficiently meet the precise requirements of a wide range of portable multimedia and home entertainment applications, CEVA-MM3000 utilizes a scalable and heterogeneous architecture. The number of Stream and Vector Processors in addition to the type and size of the memories can be configured to address each specific use-case.
This scalability enables CEVA-MM3000 to deliver the optimal balance of power and performance for full-HD requirements in Smartphones, PMPs, Tablets and other mobile devices, through to Blu-ray DVD players, HDTVs, game consoles and multi-stream devices.
As a fully programmable engine, CEVA-M3000 readily supports any codec or other video-processing software. This programmability enables SoC designers to quickly adopt new video standards through software upgrades, requiring no changes to the hardware, and also easily develop proprietary video and imaging applications, including pre- and post-processing and video analytics. The resulting flexibility extends product life-cycle, enables design re-use and allows customers to differentiate their product offering with non-standard imaging or proprietary algorithms.
