Date: 08/01/2009

Media processor SoC for Blu-ray disk players

Sigma Designs has announced the availability of its new SMP8642 media processor SoC, designed for mainstream Blu-ray Disk(BD) players.

Sigma's SMP8642 media processor integrates multimedia processing, content security system, multiple on-chip CPUs, and a range of on-chip system peripherals. The SMP8642 silicon is also complemented by a software suite featuring Sigma's multimedia library, secure operating system, OS support environment, and Blu-ray software suite with Profile 2.0 (BD-live). The SMP8642 enable OEMs to easily design a family of different price/performance offerings.

The video decoders include H.264 (MPEG-4 part 10), Windows Media Video 9, VC-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 (part 2), and the new AVS standard. High-performance graphics acceleration, multi-standard audio decoding with 3 on-chip DSP engines which can decode all audio standards including DTS-HD MA 7.1, advanced display 12-bit xvYCC processing capabilities, and HDMI 1.3 12-bit deep color output with CEC round out its multimedia core.

Content security is ensured through a dedicated secure processor, on-chip flash memory, and a range of digital rights management (DRM) engines for high-speed payload decryption. The other features include, dual Ethernet controller, dual USB 2.0 controller, NAND flash controller, IR controller, a dual SATA controller, and SD Card interface.
The SMP8642 is a multi-core media processor that features a 667 MHz main CPU along with a 333 MHz second CPU for a total processing power of 1840 DMIPs and a Caffeine Mark of 5649.
The second MIPS processor, called the IPU, manages real-time interrupt operations and is available to offload burdensome system tasks such as networking, and graphics to further optimize main CPU utilization. A third MIPS processor, called the XPU, manages all system security functions including decryption and key generation. The SMP8642 also features two 32-bit DDR-2 memory controllers which supports double-data-rate memories up to 667 Mbps as well as an improved arbitration engine to maximize the efficiency of accesses. To meet the new low-power requirements for consumer products, the SMP8642 features several standby modes, including full sleep and wake-on-LAN.

Product demonstrations are available at this week's CES 2009 Show, Thursday, January 8 through Saturday, January 10 at Sigma's Digital Living Demo Room set up inside a hospitality suite located at the Las Vegas Hilton, Suite #2992.

Availability: Available now in samples, production volumes in February 2009.

For further information visit www.sigmadesigns.com