Out in Front: January 4, 1996

Zoran and Siemens have developed an IC that allows board and system designers to integrate multiple multimedia functions on the PCI bus for capture and playback of video and audio. The PCI controller, the ZR36120/SZB6120, simultaneously provides a native multimedia interface for audio, digitizing, TV tuning, MPEG, and TV-out functions. (ZR and SZ designate Zoran and Siemens device nomenclature, respectively). A board design with this multimedia controller occupies just one slot on the PCI bus. Typical PCI-based systems have only two or three available PCI slots; before the availability of the 6120, you would have had to use multiple PCI slots to support this assortment of functions. Alternatively, you could use a PCI-to-PCI bridge chip to attach the various multimedia devices to the PCI bus. Using such a bridge, however, implies that the devices that attach to the bridge must also have a PCI interface, which increases the device’s complexity.

The 6120 has a digital video front end with a video-input processor. The video processor captures YUV 4:2:2 video in real time, performs horizontal filtering, and scales from full CCIR (Consultative Committee, International Radio) 601 resolution to icon size. It also contains a 32-byte cache buffer that allows the 6120 to accommodate an MPEG 1 bit stream for 32 µsec in the event of a PCI bus latency. The controller also has a 62×72-bit word video FIFO buffer to accommodate 5.5 msec of video input. An I²C bus-master port allows the 6120 to control multiple slave devices.

Zoran and Siemens are also providing software drivers to support the various multimedia functions. The drivers include an application-programming interface that allows board vendors to write hardware-independent applications. Zoran and Siemens offer a robust multimedia reference design that demonstrates the 6120’s capabilities and allows you to develop code. The platform, referred to as the mulTVideo reference design, comes with an assortment of drivers, schematics, and a design database and cost $1995. The 6120 itself, available in a 160-pin PQFP, sells for $19.95 (30,000).
-- by Markus Levy

Siemens Components, Cupertino, CA. (800) 777-4363

Zoran Corp, Santa Clara, CA. (800) 228-1314