Reaping the Benefits of SoC Processors for Video Applications White Paper

tomization and advanced feature updates. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) often need to use the same system platform across a range of products that are tailored for specific markets; or they need to combine different applications in the same system, such as a security camera with object recognition, or an IPTV set-top box (STB) with integrated video phone or digital media adapter capabilities. As feature-rich, multiple-application products continue to grow in number, system developers increasingly need SoC processors that have been designed with open architectures to meet the versatile, rapidly changing requirements of the consumer video market. Fortunately, a new type of SoC processor has appeared that integrates high-performance and programmable cores, together with the essential memory and peripherals for building a wide range of consumer video systems. The SoC architecture is based on a programmable digital signal processor (DSP) with video-specific hardware acceleration providing the computational performance needed for real-time compression-decompression algorithms (codecs) and other communications signal processing. Combining a RISC processor with the DSP adds control and user interface support, together with programming ease; and integrated video peripherals reduce system cost and simplify design. Since this multiprocessor hardware serves as the foundation for an open software architecture, the result is an SoC processing engine that enables the flexible, rapid development of robust consumer video products.