Imagination Defines Embedded Processors for 'The Internet of Things' at DesignWest 2012

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- DesignWest / ESC Silicon Valley Expo -- Imagination Technologies, a leading multimedia and communications technologies company, says that technology vendors targeting 'The Internet of Things' need to provide far more than small conventional microcontrollers if products are to deliver the promise of everything being truly internet connected.

Imagination also announced the PowerVR VXD395MP video decoder with support for resolutions up to 4Kx2K thanks to a unique multicore architecture.

Embedded Processors

Tightly integrated Wi-Fi functionality, ready-made baseline and value-added internet services and cloud portal technology specifically designed to service the needs of the embedded community, all brought together as a tightly-integrated turnkey package, will become the 'must-have' technology platform for product developers, says Imagination. This will enable the billions of new connected products expected across every electronic market category, in particular for those products falling outside the 'sexier' high volume consumer or mobile segments.

Imagination's MetaFlow Connected Processor IP platforms bring together a high performance 32-bit hardware multi-threaded CPU architecture (with optional 32-bit DSP capability), full 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi capability (extendable to Bluetooth and over 20 other TV and radio communications standards) and Imagination's Flow cloud and portal technologies all in an ultra-low power, highly cost-engineered IP package.

Says Tony King-Smith, VP marketing, Imagination: "The rise of Cloud technologies and applications is creating exciting new markets and discontinuities in existing ones as all devices evolve to take advantage of connectivity. New applications in healthcare, home automation, security, smart energy and elsewhere will all increasingly follow the trend of computing and smart phones, and begin taking advantage of significantly enhanced functionality enabled by Cloud connectivity. And as consumers continue to embrace their world in the Cloud, so everything from cars to toasters will need to become connected to both the internet and each other.

"Given the breadth of Imagination's engineering capabilities across CPUs, RPUs (Radio Processing Units) and Cloud technologies, we are proud to be one of the few companies with the engineering resources and know-how to provide a complete solution to systems and application developers, that offers far shorter and more cost-effective time-to-market for partners who want connectivity but don't want to spend man-years of effort developing 'me-too' platforms."

Imagination is unique in having developed in-house the underlying technologies needed to make connected smart systems happen. From its Ensigma communications RPU (radio processor) IP to enable ubiquitous connectivity, to its Meta CPUs, Flow technologies and portal, Imagination is creating a consistent and comprehensive technology infrastructure enabling connecting devices to the Cloud.

Imagination's MetaFlow reference platforms are available now to selected partners.

PowerVR VXD395MP

4Kx2K video is a core-technology for future TV applications, providing four times the volume of visual information as an HDTV. This enables realistic super high definition quality, multi-stream HD channel browsing, high frame rate support for detailed slow motion footage of sports events and other content, and 'wall of information' applications which combine TV with apps, social media and channel browsing. 

The PowerVR VXD395MP multi-standard, multi-stream video decoder IP core builds on Imagination's highly successful PowerVR VXD Series3 architecture and IP core family, by introducing a multicore architecture that allows performance to be easily scaled for high resolution or high frame rate applications up to full H.264 level 5.2 using today's mainstream silicon processes at ultra-low power consumption.

This unprecedented level of performance enables 4K resolution content to be decoded at a full 60 frames per second, even for very high bitrate streams of up to 300 mbits/sec.

This increase in performance is also of increasing value for 'traditional' full HD 1080P video applications, by allowing any format up to H.264 HP (High Profile) streams to be decoded at speeds significantly faster than real time. This enables a growing number of valuable applications for enhancing user experiences, including: 1920x1080 120fps decoding for playback of high speed slow-motion material; trick play modes; and video editing.

About Imagination Technologies
Imagination Technologies Group plc (LSE: IMG) – a global leader in multimedia and communication technologies – creates and licenses market-leading multimedia IP cores for graphics, video, and display processing, multi-threaded embedded processing/DSP cores and multi-standard communications and connectivity processors. These silicon intellectual property (IP) solutions for systems-on-chip (SoC) are complemented by platform level IP, a strong array of software tools and drivers and extensive developer and middleware ecosystems. Target markets include mobile phone, handheld multimedia, home consumer entertainment, mobile and low-power computing, and in-car electronics. Its licensees include many of the leading semiconductor and consumer electronics companies. Imagination has corporate headquarters in the United Kingdom, with sales and R&D offices worldwide. See: www.imgtec.com.

SOURCE Imagination Technologies