PacketVideo Gets Shot In The ARM From Intel
Intel Corp.'s (Santa Clara, CA) StrongARM processor is starting to make its mark--especially for consumer products. Operable from 0.75 V to 1.3 V, the latest StrongARM core is ready for an oncoming wave of portable computer OEM developers. "The Intel StrongARM processor family will be a very attractive choice for OEMs in handsets and PDAs," contends PacketVideo Corp. (San Diego, CA) CEO James Z. Carol.
Carol's company, a developer and supplier of multimedia communication software for transmission over different networks, announced today that Intel has made an investment in the company. Carol says PacketVideo will use the Intel funding to pump up development of its existing embedded software. The software is used for transmission of video over packet-based networks--both wireless and wired.
"We will now optimize our multimedia communication software for OEMs using StrongARM processors," adds Carol.
StrongARM Gets Stronger
Although Intel licenses the StrongARM from Advanced RISC Machines, it can customize the core architecture as it sees fit. For example, Intel can go beyond ARM's three-stage or five-stage pipeline and deploy a seven-stage seven-stage pipeline. This can give a StrongARM the ability to crank through 700-plus Mips while dissipating less thanh half a watt. "That ability to deliver very high performance at very low power levels will enable the new classes of Internet appliances, computers, and communication products," says Mark Casey, director of marketing for Intel's StrongARM division.
"This adds exciting capabilities for OEMs developing consumer computing products," says Casey. "Especially for portables. Scalable video technologies such as PacketVideo's can enable these devices to deliver a multimedia experience for wireless and wired devices."
To get the ball rolling, PacketVideo has established contracts with a number of communications companies, including NTT DoCoMo in Japan and Siemens in Europe. These firms will use PacketVideo's standards-compliant multimedia compression software to address present bandwidth challenges they're facing over a variety of networks.
Win CE Multimedia Too
At the Windows CE Developers Conference this month, PacketVideo also provided an exciting demonstration of a multimedia application. A realtime (five frame/second) live demo was shown consisting of MPEG-4 video decoding under WinCE on one of the latest palm PDAs.
The MPEG-4 video encoder ran at PacketVideo's offices in San Diego. The PDA was located at the conference center in Denver, and was connected to a CDMA cellphone. A call was placed over the Sprint national PCS network, a circuit switched cellular system running at 14.4 kbits/second.
"Such possibilities are endless," exclaims Dr. James Brailean, PacketVideo's chief technology officer. "Our live encoder delivered MPEG-4 Simple Visual Profile video at five frames per second. The demo raised excitement about the many possibilities of wireless video, and the particular capabilities of embedded systems running the latest in multimedia standards.
"As you can see, wireless video is a reality today over second-generation systems," avows Brailean. "Thanks to the power of PacketVideo technology, as wireless system capabilities improve with the advent 3G cellphones, we will be able to deliver technology to OEMs."
PacketVideo, 10350 Science Center Dr., San Diego, CA 92121. Phone: (619) 455-2500.