Xilinx And Duma Video Announce Breakthrough MPEG Encoder Performance Using Virtex-II Platform FPGAs
Single FPGA-Based Real-Time, High-Definition Video Encoder Now Available At One-Fifth The Cost Of Comparable ASIC-Based Solutions
SAN JOSE, CA--(INTERNET WIRE)--May 21, 2002 -- Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ:XLNX), and Duma Video, Inc., a new
Xilinx AllianceCORE(TM) program member, today announced
the immediate availability of the industry's first single-chip,
real-time, high-definition encoder cores. Designers of high-end
video broadcast, storage, distribution systems, and professional
DVD mastering equipment can now replace their current multi-chip
custom ASIC solutions with a single Xilinx(R) Virtex-II(TM)
Platform FPGA, significantly reducing the total bill of
material costs of a given design.
"High-end video encoder manufacturers want to differentiate
themselves from their competition by adding features while
simultaneously cutting costs. Because additional features
require additional chips in an ASIC-based solution, it's
difficult for manufactures to meet both their feature and
cost cutting goals," said Michelle Abraham, senior analyst
at In-Stat/MDR. "The combination of the Duma Video core
in a Xilinx FPGA provides an alternative that is not only
much less expensive, but provides the capacity to add unique
functionality without increasing cost."
Single FPGA-Based Solution
The Duma Video DV-1 high-definition encoder cores open the
door to a single-chip Virtex-II-based real-time system with
a total cost of less than $600. In addition to lowering
chip count and cost, the FPGA-based solution allows designers
to easily encode multiple bit rates, and support multiple
video and audio formats. In contrast, current real-time
systems must break the MPEG video stream into pieces and
process each stream in parallel using multiple compression
ASIC or ASSP devices, which can drive the total silicon
cost up to $3,000.
"The system level features of the Xilinx Virtex-II family
are what make these cores possible," said Sultan Weatherspoon,
president of Duma Video. "The design uses block and distributed
RAM, embedded multipliers, digital clock managers and high-speed
DDR SDRAM Select-I/O capabilities to achieve this level
of integration and performance. We simply could not do this
with any other FPGA architecture."
These cores expand the Xilinx Virtex FPGA solution - the
industry's most complete, highest-performance and highest-density
FPGA solution available on the market today. The solution
includes the industry's fastest development software, largest
library of IP cores and algorithms, and unparalleled customer
support. For more information about Xilinx programmable
systems, visit www.xilinx.com/platform.
Availability
The cores are available now directly from Duma Video under
the terms of the SignOnce IP License, the industry's first
multi-vendor common license for FPGA-based IP (www.xilinx.com/ipcenter/signonce).
For more information on these cores, visit the Xilinx IP
center at www.xilinx.com/ipcenter.
About Duma Video
Duma Video Inc. aims to be the market leader in providing
real-time HDTV and standard definition TV MPEG-2 & 4
video encoding solutions. Based in Portland, Oregon, Duma
Video is poised to capture the fast-growing market for real-time
video encoding over broadband networks. The key is our innovative
use of FPGA chips. Our system promises flexible design with
broadcast resolution, all on a single FPGA. For more information,
visit Duma Video on the Internet at www.dumavideo.com.
About Xilinx
Xilinx is the leading supplier of complete programmable
logic solutions, including advanced integrated circuits,
software design tools, predefined system functions delivered
as intellectual property cores, and unparalleled field engineering
support. Founded in 1984 and headquartered in San Jose,
Calif., Xilinx invented the field programmable gate array
(FPGA) and fulfills more than half of the world demand for
these devices today. Xilinx solutions enable customers to
reduce significantly the time required to develop products
for the computer, peripheral, telecommunications, networking,
industrial control, instrumentation, aerospace, defense,
and low-power portable and consumer markets. For more information,
visit the Xilinx web site at www.xilinx.com.
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