Atsana brings multimedia to low-power iappliances

Ottawa, Canada -- You've probably seen those commercials touting cell phones that play video games or display digital images.

The J2210 is a system-on-chip from Atsana Ltd. for implementing just that sort of system: a multimedia application on a power-constrained, wireless device. Combining an Array processor, which consists of hundreds of SIMDs coupled with embedded memory, and an ARM9 RISC processor, it encodes and decodes video and images to standards such as MPEG-4, JPEG, or JPEG2000.

According to chipmaker, the coupling of all those processing elements with memory enables the chip to perform computation-intensive video operations while consuming significantly less power than similar chips.

The company claims the J2210 processor runs the MPEG4 QCIF at 15 frames per second while consuming less than 75mW of power. (QCIF stands for Quarter Common Intermediate Format, a videoconferencing format). Also responsible for the low power consumption are low frequency design, low-power memory, and a 1.2V core voltage.

Since the J2210 is programmable, OEMs can customize their applications with proprietary algorithms to differentiate their products from competitors. To facilitate development, the J2210 includes a suite of application modules and a software developer's kit with a compiler, assembler and linker, a simulator, a debugger, and an evaluation board.

The J2210 also includes programmable audio and voice support for vocoders such as CELP, AMR, G.723.1, G.726a, and G.720.

The J2210 is sampling now for $19. Production is scheduled to take place before the end of 2002.

For more information on this product, go to www.atsana.com

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