Equator relaunches faster media processor
eetimes.com
By Junko Yoshida
EE Times
(10/25/99, 12:10 p.m. EDT)
CAMBELL, Calif. — Equator Technologies Inc., which failed to score any
major design wins in the consumer market with its first-generation media
processor, is trying again this week with a newer version of the much
publicized device, tailored for digital imaging and digital media products.
Called MAP1000A, the new device runs at a higher clock rate than the
company's first try, the MAP1000, which was unveiled a year ago. The new
version also features more complete reference software modules and costs
relatively less than the first spin, said Equator president John O'Donnell.
MAP1000A is based on the same architecture as the first one.
Made using a 0.18-micron process, MAP1000A runs at 220 MHz and
delivers 23 Gops of processing power. The new media processor, available
now, is priced at $110 in quantities of 10,000 units.
The previous chip cost between $200 and $500 but was manufactured only in
small volume, according to the company.Despite the lack of design wins for
its initial device in consumer systems such as digital TVs and set-top boxes,
O'Donnell said he is buoyed by steady investment funding and remains
confident about the media processors' future.
Indeed, Equator will announce today that it has raised $27 million in funding.
Lead investors in this round were Nomura International and the controlling
shareholder of Le Groupe Vidéotron Itée, a diversified Canadian cable,
telecom and broadcasting company. Equator officials say they take the
Canadian investment as an encouraging sign, as more service operators are
implementing their first broadband Internet Protocol networks to deliver a
mix of broadband services over the cable network.
Added set-top duties
"As more streaming video is coming to TV, more service providers want to
leverage the programmability of our processor," O'Donnell said. Specifically,
"As your cable operator becomes your ISP," you want your set-top box not
to just decode MPEG-2-based digital TV programs, but also "to browse the
Web and time-shift TV programs at the same time.
"The Web has really changed everything," he added, including the way
service operators define their advanced set-top boxes and also what they
expect of their boxes' processing capabilities.
As companies such as RealNetworks introduce new streaming codecs on the
Internet, "service providers need to find a platform capable of offering
consumers constant software upgrades," O'Donnell said. Although PCs may
be well-suited to keep up with ever-changing software codecs introduced on
the Internet, consumer systems-TVs or set-top boxes-without sufficient
general processing power are destined to be left behind or become obsolete.
This is where Equator sees an opening for its media processor. "We believe
we offer a higher-performance platform than any other programmable
platforms on the market," said O'Donnell.
Today, according to Equator, its MAP1000A is sufficient to offer two- or
four-channel MPEG digital TV with audio and concurrent browsing; U.S.
HDTV audio and video decoding with concurrent Web browsing; personal
video recorders with full standard-definition MPEG-2, and multichannel
digital video encoding, transcoding and routing.
Without naming OEMs, O'Donnell said systems driven by Equator's media
processor, using MAP1000A, will first appear on the market in mid-2000. He
also predicted the media processor will go into cable or ADSL field trials
next year.
Some service operators want to "find new revenue opportunities," said
O'Donnell. Through such field trials, they may gauge subscribers' interest in
new Internet and cable services that take advantage of multiple video
streaming codecs or mix both broadcast and personalized services on the
Internet. Without waiting a few more years, Equator's media processor can
help service providers test such futuristic features in a prototype set-top
today, O'Donnell said.
Leading-edge targets>/B>
Because of their cost and enormous processing power, Equator's
media processors seem likely to attract primarily leading-edge
customers who are chasing next-generation set-top boxes, or
companies interested in testing an undefined market. By the time the
market figures out what it wants in a set-top device, observers
predicted, ASICs could beat out media processors.
But O'Donnell disagreed. "Our goal is to bring such high-end
functions now. . . . We are confident that we will be able to drive our
chip down to the lowest cost."
So Equator is getting ready to spin out a cheaper version of its media
processor, called MAP-CA (for compact architecture). Tailored for
set-top applications and priced at $40, the MAP-CA will be unveiled
at the Western Cable Show in December, according to the company's
product road map. MAP-CA, running at 300 MHz, is scheduled to
reach the market early next year.
Among Equator's investors are Japan's Ikegami, General
Instrument, Liberty Media and TransCosmos. GI's investment came
"in the near, recent past," said O'Donnell, just before Motorola took
over GI. How the acquisition affects Equator's relationship with GI
remains unclear. Earlier Equator investors include Hitachi, Canon,
Sony and SNK.
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