Long time IP supplier Imagination Technologies (UK) had several announcements at ESC this year. Extending their fab agnostic business model of RTL level IP with SDKs and HDKs rather than fab specific hard IP, they announced their new processor integration agreement with MIPS. In addition to being fab agnostic, they are now very processor agnostic offering solutions that integrate with MIPS, ARM, Intel, and PowerPC cores.
On the audio side they recently updated the AXD (Meta) audio processor for surround, DVD and Blu-Ray sound, is now featuring additional codecs and an updated SDK. The part now supports AAC, HE-AAC v2, MPEG-2 BC, DTS, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Pro-Logic II post-processing plus stereo widening, EQ, re-sampler, reverb, Musicam, MP3, HE-AAC v2 (including DAB+ transform), Real (Cook), WMA9, Ogg Vorbis, and FLAC stereo decoders. The IP core is targeted towards 65nm processes to be maximally compatible with Blu-Ray and its need for 7.1 sound. At this time, information on compliance with the ITU-R BS.1770-1 algorithm, for broadcast loudness was not stated.
META ATP block Diagram (Img Tech)
On the new IP side, they have added a video decoder that is optimized for internet based video (applicable towards the China market), and a new programmable video baseband chip that now features ATSC support.
DTC block Diagram (Img Tech)
Recent activities have been focused on an enhanced Adobe alliance which will feature hardware based Flash Acceleration for the mobile and STB markets, and licensing the POWERVR SGX cores to Sigma Design for use in STB applications.
August 2016 – At this year’s IDF, Pericom was showing their long time series of re-timers, re-drivers, and packet switch products under their new parent company name of Diodes Inc. Pericom, which was established in 1990, was acquired by Diodes Inc in November 2015. A major announcement was the launch of the PCIe Gen 2…
Development of the law and its manner of application to new facts is a process far slower than advances in technology, or the changes in the manner of social interactivity. Courts are limited to addressing issues that arise from an actual “case or controversy,” are constrained from offering advisory opinions, and must function at the…
February 21, 2011, ISSCC, San Francisco–The plenary session ended with a roundtable discussion entitled ” Beyond the Horizon: The Next 10X Reduction I Power- challenges and Solutions”. The panel looked at the challenges and changes needed to achieve a order of magnitude reduction in power consumption. Jan Rabaey from UC Berkeley moderated the discussion, assisted…
September 2015 – The Techcrunch Disrupt event in San Francisco held a fairly new population of exhibitors this year. A large number of the startups were not from the traditional “lets develop a 10 page business plan from chapter 2 of our books and raise money” like the on-line MBA courses have advocated for the…
December 2015 – A major move for the broadcast industry is the transition from SDI to IP. This transition will include not only infrastructure, but also interoperability and workflows for the new broadcast methodology. To help guide this transition, a new industry group has been formed that is called the Alliance for IP Media Solutions…
June 2015 – Following the Showstopper SF event that preceded WWDC, we met with and had a chance to try out the Landing Zone docking station for the MacBook Pro with Retina display. For many AV professionals finding a docking station that meets the requirement of security, multiscreen support and high speed storage is a…
