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Product category: Analogue and Mixed Signal ICs
News Release from: Hitachi High-Technolgies (Electronic Components) | Subject: NTT VASA LSI
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 11 August 2003

Single-chip MPEG-2 HDTV
codec is a "first"

A new VASA LSI provides a single-chip HDTV 4:2:2 encoding and decoding solution

VASA (versatile and advanced signal processing architecture) is a single-chip codec, also available as the VASA-C (encoder) and VASA-D (decoder). In the past, due to the huge volume of calculations needed for the transmission and compression of images, several dedicated chips have been required.

For the first time, NTT has achieved this using a single chip.

This now brings advanced image processing capabilities to applications ranging from high-performance HDTV to low-cost interactive video communications systems.

In order to make this significant advance, NTT Electronics has developed a new encoding method (layered parallel encoding) to rapidly supply data and efficiently control the encoding process.

The new VASA architecture consists of triple encoding cores, a decoding core, a multiplexer/demultiplexer core, and several dedicated application specific hardware modules with a hierarchical flexible communication scheme for high performance data transfer.

Furthermore, by adopting an advanced commercial 0.13um CMOS technology, the 60 million transistors required for this operation are integrated into the single chip.

Low power consumption and low latency are two of the main features on this single chip VASA architecture, along with its ability to work in full spec MP@HL and 422P@HL and MP@H-14L environments while demonstrating high bitrates up to 300Mbit/s (TS).

The VASA chip processes high quality MPEG-2 video in 1080i, 1080/24P, 720P, 480i and 480P formats with a power consumption of less than 3W.

Typical encoder delay (I frame) is 66ms.

The VASA LSI has also been incorporated into two modules, the SC10K-E (HD encoder module) and SC10K-D (HD decoder module).

With added DDR (double datarate memory), these modules greatly reduce design time and eliminate the time consuming and intricate task of having to lay down 1008-pin BGA (ball grid array) packages.

With the "era of HDTV" rapidly approaching, there is a growing need for professional quality, smaller and more economical codec devices and NTT Electronics is leading the way.

These new technologies will bring the reality of high quality, high resolution digital cinema as well as enabling the production of richer and more diverse HDTV programming, particularly important in areas such as sports broadcasting and live music and news events.

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