Product category:
Microprocessors, Microcontrollers and DSPs
News Release from: Sharp Microelectronics Europe | Subject: LH7A400 and LH7A404
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 11 March 2005
MCUs beef up for mobile multimedia
Sharp Microelectronics Europe has enhanced the performance capabilities of its BlueStreak ARM9-based 32bit SoCs.
To support the growing market for media-rich applications such as portable media players, audio jukeboxes, gaming products and other handheld devices, Sharp Microelectronics Europe has enhanced the performance capabilities of its BlueStreak ARM9-based 32bit SoCs Operating at clock speeds of 250 and 266MHz, respectively, the LH7A400 and LH7A404 provide the extra boost in performance needed to support multimedia applications that require MPEG4 or WMV
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 16 May 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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Higher clock speeds also enable these components to meet the demands required by new and emerging functionality.
Additionally, the extra headroom allows engineers the flexibility of boosting performance as needed for future application designs.
Sharp has designed these SoCs to meet the demanding processing requirements found in feature rich operating systems such as WinCE.
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Additionally, the enhancements will drive larger displays and support higher frame rates, which are required elements of many emerging multimedia centric applications.
At the higher speeds, these SoCs can decode up to 24 to 30 frames per second of MPEG4 encoded content at a QVGA resolution under an operating system such as WinCE or Linux.
This level of performance is needed for the majority of media players under development, which are expected to run at QVGA resolution.
"Building on the success of our line of ARM-based SoCs and our media player reference designs, the enhancements in the LH7A400 and LH7A404 provide the performance necessary to support more demanding applications", said Gunter Wagschal, Product Marketing Manager of the BlueStreak MCUs at Sharp Microelectronics Europe.
"By using one of these two microcontrollers, engineers get more functionality at a speed that meets the needs of emerging media markets".
Based on the popular ARM922TTM core, Sharp's SoCs feature peripherals such as a programmable LCD controller with integrated touch screen support.
Sharp offers low cost development tools to support these components.
Available from its distributors, the development tools include a low-cost software development kit, developed by Logic Product Development.
In addition, comprehensive software and documentation is available via Sharp's BlueStreak Software Library.
The LH7A404 SoC is also a key component in the new QVGA media player reference design released by Sharp for mid-range media applications, including handheld audio/video players, digital photo albums and multimedia toys.
This reference design integrates Sharp's 3.6in native landscape amorphous silicon (A-Si) TFT-LCD (LQ036Q1DA01), which is specifically designed for portable media applications.
Overall, the reference design provides the complete hardware and software solution to allow design engineers to quickly bring products to market, while providing product differentiation, and enabling lower system costs.
Samples of the enhanced LH7A400 and LH7A404 SoCs are available in Q1 2005, through Sharp's global network of sales offices and third-party distribution partners.
Sharp will make these components available in quantity in April and June, respectively.
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