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整理人: camelsu(2001-01-30 01:21:27), 站内信件
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Internet audio platform delivers $5 MP3 chip
By Peter Clarke
LONDON — Parthus Technologies plc, a developer of semiconductor intel
lectual property, is licensing a collection of Internet-audio hardware
and software modules that can be implemented as a single-chip MP3 pla
yer at a silicon cost of less than $5, the company said.
The company's MediaStream platform supports a range of audio equipment
types and functions, from MP3 portable players and cell phones to spe
ech recognition for mobile devices and devices with Bluetooth connecti
vity.
As a measure of the value Parthus puts on its platform, the company sa
id MediaStream's first publicly known licensee, Creative Technology Lt
d. (Singapore), has signed a multimillion-dollar deal covering the nex
t few years.
While ARM Ltd. (Cambridge, England) holds a minority interest in Parth
us, MediaStream is microprocessor-independent. It's based on the DSP24
10, a 24-bit Harvard architecture DSP developed by Parthus four years
ago and used subsequently in a lot of its audio-design work. In additi
on, Parthus offers analog components, pieces of audio software and ser
ial and parallel audio, and regular data interfaces. They include inte
rfaces to flash memory and flash memory card connectors.
Creative, best known for its Soundblaster range of sound cards for PCs
, plans to use MediaStream as the base technology for its future MP3 p
layers.
"MediaStream's ultra-low power requirements, programmability and surro
undsound effects are the key advantages of this platform," said Sean M
itchell, director of multimedia at Parthus (Dublin, Ireland). "Our tec
hnology and unique platform approach is enabling Creative to rapidly b
uild lighter, smaller and more powerful next-generation MP3 players."
"Connectivity, programmability, mobility and time-to-market are the ke
y advantages to licensing mobile-Internet platforms from Parthus," sai
d Hock Leow, Creative's chief technology officer. "Moreover, licensing
from Parthus enables us to cost-effectively source our chips from a f
oundry of choice."
Format choices
Mitchell said the digital hardware component of MediaStream has been i
mplemented in silicon using 0.18-micron CMOS, but it's available for l
icense as an HDL file at the register-transfer level, in netlist forma
t at the gate level or as a GDS-II tape at the layout level.
Mitchell said a C compiler and third-party development tools are avail
able to support the DSP, but their names will be disclosed only to cus
tomers or potential customers prepared to sign a nondisclosure agreeme
nt.
The quantified power consumption of any configuration of the MediaStre
am was also confidential, Mitchell said, adding that MediaStream was,
"as good or better than any other audio IP platform. The Cirrus Logic
MP3 player; we can beat them."
The speech recognition claimed for MediaStream results from third-part
y software running on the DSP2410. Mitchell would not identify the com
pany whose software has been licensed or say if Parthus could sublicen
se it.
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※ 修改:．siemens 于 Jul 22 03:27:09 修改本文．[FROM: 61.141.206.169]
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