C-Cube launches single-chip codec for digital video apps
eetimes.com
By Margaret Quan
EE Times
(01/04/00, 11:41 a.m. EDT)
MILPITAS, Calif. — C-Cube Microsystems Inc. will sample a single-chip
codec this month for use in consumer digital video applications, such
as digital video recorders (DVRs). C-Cube expects to have the DVxcel
MPEG-2 device in volume production in the second quarter.
Priced at $29 in large quantities, the codec is expected to enable
$299 DVR devices, including standalone DVD/optical disk and digital
VHS recorders, as well as digital set-top boxes with built-in DVR
functionality.
Based on C-Cube's DVX codec architecture, the DVxcel is built in
0.22-micron process technology and simultaneously encodes/decodes
broadcast-quality video. Unlike the company's previous-generation
DVxplore MPEG-2 codec, which featured a PCI bus interface, the
DVxcel is designed for embedded applications and has a conventional
host interface for 16- and 32-bit micro-controllers.
The DVxcel integrates separate bitstream I/O ports for direct
connection to peripherals. C-Cube said the codec can eliminate extra
logic between chips, thus saving system costs. The codec also
reduces the computational load on a system processor, freeing it for
other applications.
Patrick Henry, vice president of marketing and systems solutions for
the Home Media Division of C-Cube, said the company expects to
work with consumer electronics manufacturers on standalone
DVR/DVD and VHS boxes, and with service providers and set-top box
manufacturers that plan to offer recording and time-shifting as
enhanced set-top features. C-Cube plans to announce design wins for
the DVxcel in the next 3 to 6 months, Henry said.
C-Cube expects DVxcel to benefit from several trends, such as
set-tops' entry into the retail market, and the bundling of services by
providers such as TiVo Inc., which offers time-shifting of television
programs. C-Cube sees its relationships with service providers
becoming more important in the next two to three years as DVR
becomes a standard feature of set-top boxes, Henry said.
Though considered a pioneer in the MPEG-1 decoder market, C-Cube
hasn't experienced top-line revenue growth from that market due to
quickly falling prices in the limited market for MPEG-1 decoders, Henry
said.
But C-Cube expects growth in DVR, DVD and set-top box markets to
increase its top-line revenue by 40 percent in 2000 and projects
further growth in 2001, Henry said.
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