ST Expands MPEG-2 Decoders for Digital TV STB
nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com
STMicroelectronics is to expand its Omega family of set-top box (STB)
decoders for digital video applications with the launch of a new chip in late
1999 and two more in 2000.
The Omega family is a Moving Picture Experts Group Phase-2 (MPEG-2)
audio/video decoder with a 32-bit RISC microprocessor to create a digital
video disc (DVD) or set-top box back-end on a single chip. The family
complies with DVD and the digital video broadcasting (DVB) specifications
used by most digital TV broadcasters, allowing STB manufacturers to address
different needs with a common hardware platform.
The first chip of the family, called STi5500, was launched in April 1997,
followed by STi5510 in August 1998. The latest addition, the STi5512, was
announced in November 1999 with volume production slated for the first
quarter of this year.
The STi5512 is lead-to-lead and software compatible with the STi5510, but it
is 20% faster in processing speed and supports SDRAM instead of DRAM.
The chip integrates in a single chip a programmable MPEG transport stream
demultiplexer block, an ST20 32-bit microprocessor, an audio/video
MPEG-2 decoder, a digital video encoder and other system peripheral
functions such as interfaces for external memory, IEEE1394, I2C, teletext and
Smart Cards.
The chip supports advanced display and graphics features such as five
hardwired display planes, multiple on-screen display (OSD) regions with
individual settings, and letterbox format conversion.
STB to Control VCR
According to Michel Guillien, director, digital consumer segment, Technical
Marketing & Business Development of STMicroelectronics Asia Pacific Pte
Ltd in Singapore, two new chips of the Omega family will be launched this
year, including the STi5518 in middle of the year and STi5520 in December
2000.
The STi5518 to be introduced will have basically all the functions of the
previous chips in the family, but it will be cheaper due to the use of
0.25-micrometer process technology. A special feature of the chip is its
infrared (IR) blaster, which allows the STB to control other audio/visual units
via infrared. The idea is instead of programming individual units, such as a
video cassette recorder (VCR), the user can program just the STB.
The STi5520 to be launched in December this year is targeted at high-end
STBs with interactive functions, such as Web browsing. "Its 2-D graphic
engine can do a lot of interactivities and is able to move the JPEG decoded
picture faster on the screen, like a graphic card in a PC,_ said Guillien. He
added that although all chips of the Omega family come with a 32-bit RISC
microprocessor operating at 80MIPS (millions of instructions per second), it's
not enough for displaying graphics that are as nice as those done by a personal
computer (PC). Therefore, the STi5520 provides a direct interface to a 32-bit
external central processing unit (CPU), such as the 200MIPS ST40 or SH-4
developed jointly by ST and Hitachi Co of Japan.
"For example, in an STB with Web-browsing functions, the STi5520 can
handle all the normal video and audio decoding, while the external CPU can
take care of other Internet-related or driver-related functions, even the control
of a hard disk drive (HDD) or printer. All these mimic a PC, but it's going to
be a lot cheaper. The STi5520 and ST40 will cost around US$60, even if you
add the cost of memory, it's still cheaper," he said.
Guillien said ST accounts for 60 to 70% of market share in the high-end STB
market in Asia Pacific (excludes Japan), with the major customers mainly from
Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong and China.
He is confident that ST will remain the market leader in this product line for
some time as there are few competitors. "It has been attempted by quite a few,
most of them have given up either because the die size was too big or power
dissipation was too high. Our biggest asset is that we have been working in this
area from the very beginning; while we are shrinking the die size we are able to
add more functions at the same time. If you start with a die that is too big and
use too much power, it's very difficult to add more features," he explained,
"Also, as our MPEG-2 decoders are mostly hardwired, they use less silicon
area and much less power."
(Keith Chan, Feb. 2000 Issue, Nikkei Electronics Asai) |
