San Jose, Calif. — CEVA Inc., a licensor of silicon intellectual property (SIP) platform solutions and DSP cores, has unveiled the CEVA-MM3000, a fully programmable, HD video and imaging platform specifically designed for connected portable multimedia and home entertainment devices. CEVA will demonstrate 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), says CEVA.
The CEVA-MM3000 also readily supports both video and image pre/post processing algorithms such as scaling, stabilizer, and noise reduction in addition to proprietary add-on applications such as augmented reality, gesture recognition and face detection.
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, says CEVA.
Designed to meet the low-power requirements for mobile devices, 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. 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.
The platform also delivers scalability. 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. CEVA says this scalability enables the platform to deliver the optimal balance between power and performance for full-HD requirements in smartphones, PMPs, tablets and other mobile devices, as well as 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, says CEVA. 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, according to the company.
The CEVA-MM3000 platform is supported by a software development toolkit that includes optimizing C-compilers, IDE, debugger, simulators and profiler. The IDE helps developers implement, debug, optimize and run code on the CEVA-MM3000.
To aid Vector Processor optimization, the IDE provides a view into all core and memory resources. It also includes a multi-core debugger GUI, which provides visibility across the Stream and Vector Processors. In addition to helping locate software flaws, this debugger aids performance analysis and optimization, says CEVA.
CEVA also offers an optimized library of video kernels for easy application development.
Availability: CEVA-MM3000 is currently available for licensing to lead customers only.