Embedded Applications of DaVinci Technology Based on Digital Video

Preface

Digital video technology will undoubtedly reshape the entire electronics industry. Of course, digital video technology is also profoundly changing the way we experience, transmit and interact with video. It has begun to enter our cars, computers, mobile phones and networks. However, bringing high-quality entertainment enjoyment is just the beginning!

In the past, engineers had very limited options when implementing digital video. Hard-wired and ASIC-based solutions always limited the future and functionality of the devices, and also limited their adaptability. Although dedicated devices are slightly more flexible than ASICs, their effectiveness is still limited in the face of ever-changing multimedia standards and applications. Although programmable platforms are the most flexible way to extend the life of products, they often require huge software development investments in order to enter the digital video technology market.

The first challenge in embedding digital video into an application is that the complexity of implementing video goes far beyond simple image and audio compression and decompression. Digital video can take many forms and formats, and developers need to support complex configurations and a variety of different aspects, such as different resolutions/display sizes, different bit rates, real-time issues, and even the reliability of the video source (for example, the difference between a video stream from a hard drive and a video stream from a wireless communication link). Even seemingly simple and straightforward tasks - such as effectively managing audio/video synchronization and achieving reliable video transmission over IP networks - can still cause developers headaches. Although some devices have delighted many application developers, they have to support multiple standards, including new standards that must be specified. To get a glimpse of the importance of this flexibility, just think of the rapid deployment and widespread popularity of the H.264 video CODEC.

The main obstacle that stands in front of many engineers is the lack of readily available digital video development platforms that have enough features, are low cost, and are flexible enough. For engineers who want to integrate video into new applications, it is imperative to use low-cost, off-the-shelf video subsystems to reduce the complexity of video design.

And with the DaVinci technology from Texas Instruments (TI), all these problems can be solved!

What is Da Vinci Technology

Successful implementation of digital video requires the latest advances in four key elements: processors, development tools, software and system expertise. DaVinci technology provides the foundation for the current transformation of digital video by enabling digital video, audio, voice and speech technologies in a platform that integrates these four elements.

DaVinci technology takes full advantage of TI's 25 years of digital signal processing and integrated circuit expertise to provide a system-on-chip (SoC) that is carefully optimized for flexible digital video implementation, with industry-leading performance and integrated programmable digital signal processor (DSP) cores, ARM processors, and video acceleration coprocessors. With efficient processing power, memory, I/O bandwidth, balanced internal interconnection, and dedicated peripheral combinations, SoCs based on DaVinci technology can provide ideal core power for video applications at the lowest cost.

Processors by themselves can only serve as the foundation of a digital video solution. Managing all the components of a digital video system is an extremely complex engineering challenge. For many applications, digital video is just one of many components in a much larger system. Gone are the days when engineers could freely invest time and money in what they considered to be foundational technologies.

To truly enable developers to overcome initial hurdles and accelerate time to market, it is no longer enough to simply develop the basic silicon and software to implement digital video. Developers need more than just processors; they also need ideal code that can be put directly into production. In other words, to meet the specific needs of their applications, developers also need hardware and software that has been integrated into a configurable or easily programmable digital video subsystem.

Just as the transition from assembly language to C language enabled developers to focus on developing higher-level functionality, DaVinci technology frees developers from the specific technical details of digital video. Now, developers no longer need to understand the details of implementing a specific CODEC engine (such as MPEG-2, H.263, WMA9) in their video applications. Using an API that allows developers to use the ideal CODEC without modifying the upper-level application code, we can significantly simplify the specific low-level details of video CODEC processing.

Freedom from CODECs was an important step toward widespread adoption of digital video. Innovation has come to developers when they can build on previously developed functionality. For example, in the past, engineers needed to do gate layout to develop electronic devices for even the most basic functions. For many years, companies such as TI have been working on integrating functionality into silicon chips, laying the foundation for devices that exceed their functional expectations while also reducing the amount of engineering required to achieve the desired goals. For example, the advent of DSPs has driven decades of technological innovation by providing a computing engine that significantly accelerates signal processing tasks.

With DaVinci technology, TI can once again achieve a new level of innovation. It is the advent of DSP that brought computing acceleration, so DaVinci technology will provide application acceleration based on TI's DSP. Developers no longer need to understand the mechanisms behind various audio, video, imaging and voice CODECs.

For developers who want to rely on the DSP tree, the opportunity still exists. However, DaVinci has made it an option rather than a must-have. By providing production-ready software such as hardware drivers, manually optimized CODECs, and application code for managing audio/video synchronization and data flow in the network, DaVinci technology enables developers to implement first-class video functions without having to understand how to program the DSP.

Open platform development using Da Vinci technology

The complexity of digital video systems is primarily due to the numerous components that developers must create and manage. Writing code for these many components and managing the interactions between them greatly increases the difficulty of integrating a complete system.

DaVinci technology reduces system complexity by providing an open platform - on which TI and its third-party partners have developed and integrated the various components needed to form a digital video system. They have also integrated the hardware and software needed to enable any engineer to achieve digital video innovation.

The effectiveness of open platforms is unquestionable. For example, open development platforms in the PC market have sparked an explosion of innovative applications that are increasingly being developed. TI's OMAP platform environment has taken mobile phone application development to a new level - by integrating hardware and software, software developers can still use existing systems and focus on developing new markets and new revenue sources, such as developing text messaging, ringtone downloads and other advanced applications in mobile phones.

DaVinci technology incorporates the concepts of the OMAP environment into a wide range of digital video applications. At the chip level, TI's expertise and historical experience in video products have enabled it to develop highly optimized coprocessors and development tools to extend the capabilities of its chip-based DSP technology. However, developers do not need to worry about the details of how to program and optimize the code for their basic innovations. DaVinci technology makes these innovations available through a simpler and easier-to-use combination of standard APIs - these APIs allow easy use of production-ready codecs, allowing developers to focus on developing products that maximize added value.

The open development platform provided by DaVinci technology also expands applications. DaVinci software will initially support Linux, and will support other operating systems in the future. Linux support includes peripheral drivers, real-time application management, application-level APIs, and production-ready code. The overall combination of integrated DSP, dedicated development tools, tuner drivers, CODECs, and system-level application code that is carefully optimized for video enables developers to implement complete and complex digital video systems, providing encoding and decoding functions with only a few function calls.

The world is changing, and the ready availability of digital video will certainly enable and inspire new applications that we have never heard of. However, innovation will only be possible if engineers focus on developing new ways to use existing technology without the trouble of reinventing the wheel. DaVinci technology has already realized the complex details behind digital video, and all engineers have to do is easily bring low-cost digital video to the consumer market.