Application Processor Brings 3D Gaming To Life

Video mail and phone services are expected to become a big hit in the consumer marketplace. Meanwhile, mobile-phone users can already enjoy advanced applications like online gaming. To inspire the growth of these sophisticated applications, Renesas Technology America has announced the SH-MobileV2 processor. This high-performance processor offers an advanced 3D gaming platform. It vows to greatly enhance image-processing functions and performance for Java-based applications.

The device is built on the SuperH RISC architecture. It offers enhanced functionality, such as an on-chip MPEG-4 accelerator function, extension interfaces for connectivity, and power-management capability. The SH-MobileV2 processor also offers an enhanced LCD controller for advanced thin-film-transistor (TFT) LCD panels. This combination should maximize the visual impact of graphics-intensive applications.

In addition, the SH-MobileV2 offers image-processing functions like a UXGA (2-megapixel equivalent) camera interface; a fast, low-power MPEG-4 full-hardware accelerator; and a 2D/3D graphics engine. At the heart of this application processor is a 32-b, 133-MHz SH3-DSP CPU core. It boasts built-in DSP functions, a cache, and 192 KB of RAM for user-defined functions.

The on-chip peripheral modules include a color-management unit, which generates color conversions tailored to the characteristics of various LCD modules. It also houses an LCD controller that supports TFT color LCDs; a video output unit; an IrDA interface; a USB 2.0 interface; and a two-channel sound I/O unit. That unit produces up to 64 chords for audio outputs.

The multimedia middleware that is available for this new processor includes MPEG-4, JPEG, and MP3 applications. To jumpstart the system-development process for sophisticated multimedia applications, Renesas offers a development platform that's equipped with a keyboard, small LCD panel, and cell-phone-class camera.