Milpitas, California-based C-Cube Microsystems Inc, one of the pioneers of compression technology, has unveiled the VideoRISC Compression Architecture, claiming it to be the first microprocessor architecture designed expressly to compress and decompress digital video in real time. The VideoRISC Architecture supports encoding and decoding for a wide variety of compression algorithms, including MPEG, JPEG and H.261, as well as proprietary algorithms, the company says. First two implementations of the new architecture are the CLM4600 Broadcast MPEG 2 Video Encoder and CLM4500 Consumer MPEG 1 Video Encoder – and they don’t come cheap. Each consists of chips and micro-application software that enable digital video to be compressed into MPEG syntax in real time and the company hopes they will break the time, cost and quality barriers that have prevented the wide-scale deployment of MPEG-based digital video such as digital television systems, non-linear video editing systems, video-based interactive games, video karaoke and private video networks. Non-real-time offerings, which are typically based on general-purpose computers, are too expensive or too slow to enable digital video systems to be deployed cost-effectively, it reckons. The architecture is already deployed in Scientific-Atlanta Inc’s Digital Storage and Retrieval System, Sun Microsystems Inc’s SunVideo board for Sparcstations and Optimage Inc’s Video CD authoring system. It is relatively straightforward for C-Cube to do a new algorithm because the VideoRISC Compression Architecture is controlled by on-chip microcode, and so to do a new one, the company only has to write a new micro-application as it calls the microcode. The programmable nature also means that C-Cube and its customers can add features and continue to improve video quality, even for VideoRISC systems already in the field, by loading new microcode. All processors will support both encoding and decoding, and processors can be connected together to support a wide range of video resolutions, from QCIF – 180 by 144 to CCIR 601 – 704 by 480, and eventually high-definition television. Future VideoRISC products will include a Main Profile (MPEG) 2 encoder, a range of H.261 codecs, and a single-chip, multistandard codec (MPEG, JPEG, H.261). At the heart of the VideoRISC Compression Processor is a proprietary 32-bit RISC microprocessor designed for processing digital video. In addition to standard integer instructions, it supports a variety of digital signal processing functions for filtering and compressing video. The microprocessor is assisted by on-chip coprocessors including a motion estimator, a variable length coder-decoder, a Direct Memory Access controller, a DRAM controller and two intelligent video interfaces. The company rates the part at 60 MIPS integer performance, 240 MOPS signal processing performance, 2 GOPS motion estimation performance, and a 50 MOPS image processor for scaling video resolution. Production quantities of both the CLM4600 and CLM4500 will be available in the first quarter of 1994. Samples with beta-release micro- applications are available immediately. The quantity- one price for the CLM4600 is $10,000; the quantity one price for the CLM4500 is $4,000. The VideoRISC Encoder Development System is $120,000 and is out now.
