Windows CE 2.0 to be used in home entertainment systems and DVD players....................
techweb.cmp.com
Hitachi, VLSI launch attack on the home
By Alexander Wolfe
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- With Microsoft's Windows CE operating system as its
centerpiece, a two-pronged technology assault aimed at enabling a new
category of high-end embedded applications in the consumer-electronics
marketplace will be unleashed next week.
That's when Hitachi Ltd. will formally unveil its SH-4 microprocessor--an
ultra-high-end embedded CPU that delivers 360 Mips of performance at a
200-MHz clock speed, sources close to the company said. At the same time,
VLSI Technology Inc. will disclose a system-on-a-chip strategy built around
the SH-4 core and Windows CE.
The companies believe that the combined power of the SH-4 from Hitachi,
PCI-bus capability provided by VLSI and a beefed-up release of Windows
CE from
Microsoft will pave a path to a new type of "convergence" product that
pushes beyond standalone Web-televisions and big-screen PCs. The
category--dubbed HES, for home entertainment systems--is currently
ill-defined, but proponents say it will involve hybrid designs that combine a
game platform, an Internet-access device and a DVD player in a single unit.
"The functionality rivals that of a PC home theater," said Jay Johnson,
marketing manager at VLSI. He noted that VLSI is currently working with
several major consumer OEMs, which he declined to name. "You'll see some
early attempts at the Consumer Electronics Show [CES] in January. We
think we can enable designs for the Christmas 1998 market."
"HES is going to be a real area of importance for Windows CE," said Tony
Barbagallo, Windows CE product manager at Microsoft. "In the HES space,
we're working directly with customers."
Barbagallo said that initial announcements are expected around CES, which
will be held in Las Vegas in January. But he was coy as to the identity of the
OEMs. "They're clearly in the entertainment space--the companies you
would consider the bigger names in consumer electronics today."
Unresolved questions
Also unclear are just how HES products will fit into the consumer universe
and how they will be sold--two issues which could have big implications for
the success of the category. Indeed, confusion and overlap between the
computing and consumer-marketing thrusts for DVD have contributed to a
slower-than-expected adoption of that technology.
"There's not a clear feature-set for this HES space yet, other than the games
capability and that it hooks up to the TV and the Internet and has a DVD
player," said VLSI's Johnson. "A lot of the consumer OEMs are trying to
figure out what customers are going to want. It's tough, because nobody
knows right now what's going to be the killer product or the killer
application."
Nevertheless, he is bullish on prospects for the technology. "Our internal
projections are that HES is going to be a 20 million-unit market by the 1999
time frame," he said, adding that he believes HES products will be sold in
consumer-electronics stores such as Circuit City and Best Buy. "I don't think
you'll see them in CompUSA. It's going to be the big consumer guys that will
pitch this. The HES systems will sit on the shelves next to the VCRs."
If HES takes off as its supporters expect, it should remove lingering doubts
about the commercial viability of Windows CE. By most measures, the initial
release of the operating system was a disappointment in the marketplace.
Windows CE 1.0 inspired a range of handheld computers, including offerings
from Compaq, Philips, Hewlett-Packard and Casio. All were launched last
fall at Comdex 1996, but sales to date have in general been lackluster.
However, a recently released upgrade, dubbed CE 2.0, is expected to
markedly boost the operating system's prospects. The new version
incorporates improved communications features. More important, it was
specifically architected to push beyond its original market niche in handheld
computers and into applications such as digital cellular phones, Internet
appliances, digital cameras and game consoles.
On the silicon side of the HES equation, Hitachi's SH-4 is being positioned
by supporters as one of the first processors supported by Windows CE that
has enough power to handle the numerous tasks presented by the new
generation of multifunction consumer devices. The SH-4
implements Hitachi's SuperH miniRISC architecture and delivers 360 Mips at
200 MHz. That's an enormous boost over the existing SH-3 architecture
running at 80 MHz. Most notably, the SH-4 was designed with multimedia in
mind and can handle heavy-duty 3-D vector processing, thanks to its ability
to perform 4-x-4 matrix multiplication operations.
Rollout plans
Hitachi first described the architecture a year ago at the 1996
Microprocessor Forum, and is expected to announce shipment plans next
week. Hitachi officials weren't available for comment at press time. However,
the CPU is expected to be available in quantity early next year.
Microsoft is currently porting Windows CE 2.0 to the SH-4; the port is
scheduled to be completed early next year.
But SH-4 won't be without its competitors. Reportedly, the Intel X86
architecture will come to the Windows CE world in 1998, as Microsoft
readies CE support for Advanced Micro Devices' highly integrated,
486-based Elan processor. The MIPS architecture is also coming to the
consumer-embedded world, via new CPUs from Quantum Effect Designs
Inc. And Digital Semiconductor is sampling its 200-MHz SA-1100
StrongARM CPU.
Competitive landscape
In addition, the ARM8 and ARM9 architectures from Advanced RISC
Machines Ltd. will also soon enter the fray, as Microsoft is currently porting
Windows CE to the ARM chips. That port is expected to be completed
soon.
Furthermore, Cirrus Logic Inc. is planning to provide system-on-a-chip
offerings, working with OEMs to combine the ARM core with controller
blocks. "We are looking to productize full embedded systems on ARM," said
Satish Gupta, vice president of business development at Cirrus Logic. "We
believe the performance on ARM8 and ARM9 will be very strong."
While not specifically aiming at HES, Gupta said that Cirrus expects products
to show up next year in the network-computer and Web-television arenas,
where it is focusing its efforts. "A lot of OEMs look at Windows CE as an
alternative operating system for the network computer," he said.
For its part, VLSI thinks it can ease the task of OEMs looking to rapidly
develop HES designs based on SH-4. VLSI said it
will offer a hardware-development platform, designated the VDP4000, and
will also create system-on-a-chip designs that combine the SH-4 core with
controller and other peripherals capabilities.
The technological centerpiece of VLSI's thrust is its use of the PCI bus to
connect the Hitachi core to its controllers and other peripheral
intellectual-property blocks. Use of the bus makes it easy for OEMs to buzz
out their designs and define the features they want without having to develop
complex interfaces.
"This concept of on-chip PCI is what makes systems-on-a-chip possible,"
said Johnson. "There is some overhead in terms of extra gate count
associated with this, but it's not anything that affects die size or price."
As HES applications gather ground in 1998 and 1999, it's expected that
OEMs will seek CE changes on several fronts from Microsoft. For many, the
biggest question revolves around the licensing royalties that must be paid to
Microsoft for each copy of CE.
"Windows CE has a big cost penalty in terms of royalty charges and the
RAM and ROM required for it to run," said Peter Schleider,
embedded-systems market analyst at investment bankers Wessels, Arnold &
Henderson (Minneapolis). "That's slowing its proliferation."
Microsoft declined to detail its licensing fees. Authoritative sources place the
charge at approximately $20 to $30 a copy. According to one source who
requested anonymity, "Most people aren't aware that you can get CE at a
far-lower royalty--about 60 to 70 percent less--if you get it without the
graphical userinterface and Web browser." The GUI is likely to be an
important requirement for HES applications, however.
Just a sawbuck
As for Windows CE's memory requirements, Microsoft said it has worked
hard to tighten the footprint of the operating system. "Memory footprint may
be an
issue for the short term," explained Cirrus' Gupta. "But you're only talking
about $10 [in incremental memory costs] and I don't think that's significant,
especially since Windows CE's feature set is so strong."
Also nipping at the heels of Windows CE are the many real-time operating
systems sold by the traditional RTOS community. Indeed, Hitachi and other
chip vendors all stress that their CPUs can run many RTOSes.
But in the HES space, Schleider thinks that CE will have the upper hand.
"The traditional embedded-RTOS guys haven't been real strong in the
consumer market," Schleider said.
Nevertheless, many of the RTOS vendors plan to vigorously challenge
Microsoft in the emerging HES market. In addition, there's been at least one
side benefit to Microsoft's persistent Windows CE marketing campaign.
"Microsoft is growing the pie," said Arthur Orduna, director of marketing at
RTOS vendor Microware Systems Inc. (Des Moines, Iowa). "We've been
getting phone calls from customers who use proprietary OS software and
previously wouldn't have considered using a commercial RTOS." |
