| i.MX21 Powers New Designs in Video and Voice-over-IP, Portable Media and 3-D Gaming Markets |
December 2004 |
|
Imagine calling a friend and seeing him or her on your slim IP-over-WiFi® handheld, then zooming in for a better visual experience and starting a videoconference on demand. Now imagine switching the conference to your TV to share with a larger group of friends in the room. This experience may soon become a reality for the rapidly increasing number of consumers with broadband at home or at work, thanks to Freescale Semiconductor.
At Freescale, we develop wireless technology that helps ease the design process and speed time to market for mobile multimedia devices. We recently announced availability of the i.MX21 multimedia applications processor, the i.MX21 Video and Voice-over-Internet Protocol (V2IP) Reference Platform, the i.MX21 Portable Media Center (PMC) Reference Design and the i.MX21 Wireless 3-D Gaming Development Platform. They're all part of our ever-expanding portfolio of platforms and ICs for mobile wireless and cost-efficient wireline devices. i.MX21 Delivers on Video Quality Videoconferencing, portable media centers and wireless gaming devices require superior multimedia performance combined with low power consumption. High speed and low latency are critical to faithful reproduction of audio and video. After all, nobody wants to see their favorite movie or gaming characters distorted by inferior video capability. At the same time, low power consumption helps ensure prolonged battery life for devices that aren't tethered to a power cord. The i.MX21 multimedia applications processor meets those needs. Based on the ARM926EJ-S™ core, the i.MX21 was designed specifically for use in mobile entertainment devices. It offers low power consumption with high performance and integration. A key component of the i.MX21 is the built-in, low-power enhanced multimedia accelerator (eMMA) hardware block consisting of an MPEG-4 and H.263 encoder/decoder and image pre- and post-processing stages. These features were engineered to deliver exceptional image and video quality up to CIF 30 frames per second (fps). Devices powered by the i.MX21 are capable of long video playback time with exceptional video quality (high frame rates and large screen resolution support). Other important features include:
Performance + Platform for Fast Development For designers under heavy pressure to get great products to market quickly, the chip is only half of the battle. We also offer three exciting new development systems to help designers, Original Design Manufacturers (ODMs) and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) get their products to market fast and with an overall low cost. i.MX21 V2IP Reference Platform Two-way videoconferencing will soon go mobile, thanks to our new Video and Voice-over-IP Reference Platform. Developed in close cooperation with Trinity Convergence, RADVISION and Metrowerks, the V2IP reference platform enables rapid development of devices supporting emerging multimedia services over Internet Protocol. Our i.MX21 applications processor's CIF 30 fps resolution provides a pleasing visual experience that has few rivals in the low-power mobile market. The optimized audio codecs from Trinity Convergence provide great audio quality. A versatile Linux OS environment from Metrowerks includes support for the WiFi link, convenient TV output and many other features optimized for mobile video conferencing. i.MX21 PMC Reference Design The i.MX21 PMC Reference Design can eliminate months of development time for wireless multimedia devices. It's based on the i.MX21 and the Microsoft Windows CE 5.0 operating system. This robust hardware and software development kit is designed to be compliant with Microsoft's Portable Media Center standard while allowing the developer and/or OEM customization through broad I/O support. A reference design based on Linux OS is also available. The PMC software development kit, available free of charge, contains a schematic (OrCAD or PDF), bill of material (BOM), layout files, i.MX21 Windows CE 5.0/Portable Media Center board support package (BSP) and performance data. i.MX21 3-D Gaming Development Platform The Freescale and NVIDIA® 3-D Software Development Platform enables content and software developers to design, test, optimize and demonstrate stunning 3-D graphics and high-performance multimedia applications using the i.MX21 multimedia applications processor and the NVIDIA GoForce™ 3-D 4500 Wireless Media Processor (WMP). NVIDIA Corporation is a worldwide leader in graphics and digital media. With this development platform, OEMs and application developers can offer consumers intense, lifelike, 3-D graphics and the latest thrills of high-performance gaming. The i.MX21 multimedia applications processor and GoForce 3-D 4500 media processor platform solution provides the necessary elements for best-in-breed 3-D graphics development. With 3-D games readily available, OEMs can quickly customize products. The i.MX21 VirtuaLab is another great tool for developers. The i.MX21 VirtuaLab gives design engineers full access to an i.MX21 ADS with the Linux OS via the Web. This is not simulated, but a real i.MX21 ADS complete with the CodeWarrior™ BSP from Metrowerks. The i.MX21 VirtuaLab offers a robust development platform with hardware and software tools that can be accessed at any time, from anywhere around the world. Reserve a time slot through our Embedded Learning Center. From multimedia ICs to platforms, tools and design support, we are dedicated to assisting our customers in developing cutting-edge products to win in a competitive market. |
|
