[kwlug-disc] hot new ARM-based digital media SoC

[Andrew Kohlsmith (mailing lists account)]

On Wednesday 14 April 2010 05:41:56 pm Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> http://focus.ti.com/docs/prod/folders/print/tms320dm368.html?DCMP=dm368_041
> 410&HQS=Other+OT+dm368prod
> 
>     *  High-Performance Digital Media System-on-Chip (DMSoC)
>     * 432-MHz ARM926EJ-S Clock Rate
>     * Two Video Image Co-processors (HDVICP, MJCP) Engines
>     * Supports a Range of Encode, Decode and Video Quality Operations
>     * Video Processing Subsystem
>           o HW Face Detect Engine
>           o Resize Engine from 1/16x to 8x
>           o 16-Bit Parallel AFE (Analog Front-End) Interface Up to 120 MHz
>           o 4:2:2 (8-/16-bit) Interface
>           o 3 DACs for HD Analog Video Output
>           o Hardware On-Screen Display (OSD)
>     * Capable of 1080p 30fps H.264 video processing
>     * Peripherals include EMAC, USB 2.0 OTG, DDR2/NAND, 5 SPIs, 2 UARTs, 2
>  MMC/SD/SDIO, Key Scan * 8 Different Boot Modes and Configurable
>  Power-Saving Modes
>     * Pin-to-pin and software compatible with DM365
>     * Extended temperature (-40°C - 85°C) available
>     * 3.3-V and 1.8-V I/O, 1.35-V Core
>     * Debug Interface Support
>     * 338-Pin Ball Grid Array at 65nm Process Technology
> 
> happy now, andrew?

Actually I saw TI's release announcement of that on Twitter today.

It looks like it's aimed more as a camera/camcorder processor than a media 
CPU. I've looked at the datasheet and yes, this thing looks very, very 
impressive. If the hardware coprocessors are not locked behind some kind of 
NDA firewall which would prevent active Linux development of these subsystems, 
I would be very happy indeed.

Sadly, neither of the coprocessors is listed in the peripheral document list, 
and you see nothing of h.264 nor hardware motion compensation listed in 
anything but the feature list. They may be keeping information under less 
restrictive wraps, but my experience has shown that if the info's not just out 
there, then it's under NDA, which kills any OSS development.

The six month lead time is a bit of a buzzkill as well.

-A.