Sharp Microelectronics Europe has enhanced the performance capabilities of its BlueStreak ARM9-based 32-bit System-on-Chips. Operating at clock speeds of 250 and 266MHz respectively, the LH7A400 and LH7A404 provide the extra boost in performance needed to support multimedia applications that require MPEG4 or WMV. Sharp has designed these SoCs to meet the demanding processing requirements found in feature rich operating systems such as WinCE.
Additionally, the enhancements will drive larger displays and support higher frame rates, which are required elements of many emerging multimedia centric applications. At the higher speeds, these SoCs can decode up to 24 to 30 frames per second of MPEG4 encoded content at a QVGA resolution under an operating system such as WinCE or Linux. This level of performance is needed for the majority of media players under development, which are expected to run at QVGA resolution.
Based on the popular ARM922TTM core, the SoCs feature peripherals such as a programmable LCD controller with integrated touch screen support. The manufacturer offers development tools to support these components. The development tools include a low-cost software development kit, developed by Logic Product Development. In addition, software and documentation is available via BlueStreak Software Library.
The LH7A404 SoC is also a key component in the new QVGA media player reference design released by Sharp for mid-range media applications, including handheld audio/video players, digital photo albums and multimedia toys. This reference design integrates Sharp's 3.6-inch native landscape
Amorphous Silicon (A-Si) TFT-LCD (LQ036Q1DA01), which is specifically designed for portable media applications. Overall, the reference design provides the complete hardware and software solution.
Availability
Samples of the enhanced LH7A400 and LH7A404 SoCs are available in Q1. Sharp will make these components available in quantity in April and June respectively.
