Xilinx, OmniTek unveil All Programmable SoCs for broadcast apps

Xilinx Inc. and OmniTek have announced a real-time video processing platform that according to them allows broadcast equipment OEMs to speed up design productivity while reaching higher levels of performance through programmable system integration. Powered by Xilinx's ARM-based Zynq-7000 All Programmable SoC, the OmniTek Zynq-7000 SoC Broadcast Development Kit allows broadcast OEMs to combine their own hardware and software IP with this reprogrammable video processing platform for creating unique and differentiated broadcast equipment that can easily adapt to changing standards, the companies stated.

Xilinx's Zynq-7000 family claims to be the industry's first SoC family to incorporate an ARM dual-core Cortex-A9 MPCore processing system with tightly coupled programmable logic on a single die. This combination dramatically increases performance and thus improves processing-intensive real-time video applications, noted the company.

Broadcast equipment OEMs can also reduce the BOM costs for their equipment using a single Zynq-7000 device rather than multiple chips to achieve their processing requirements.锟紸dditionally, Zynq-7000 All Programmable SoC-based products consume less power compared to multiple chip equivalents, thanks to the tight integration between the ARM processing system and 28nm programmable logic.

The OmniTek Zynq-7000 SoC Broadcast Development Kit includes the 2.0 release of the Xilinx Real-Time Video Engine (RTVE) developed jointly with OmniTek.锟絉TVE 2.0 incorporates OmniTek's advanced video processing IP, along with Xilinx's Video & Image Processing Pack (VIPP). This unique combination enables OEMs to focus on innovation and features-rather than hardware configuration or software systems-so they can quickly develop professional-quality monitors, studio cameras, production switchers and other products with unique functionality and features, added the firms.

Specific enhancements to RTVE 2.0 include support for up to eight channels of video for increased system performance in the same area of silicon-a fourfold increase over version 1.5. It also touts OmniTek's integrated deinterlacer/scaler with multiport VDMA technology to optimize resources used and performance. It integrates Xilinx's VCXO removal technology, further enhancing programmable system integration and also reducing BOM cost and power consumption. Likewise, the solution enables OmniTek's video streaming over the PCI Express block.

Availability of the OmniTek OZ745 Video Development Platform featuring Xilinx's Zynq-7000 All Programmable SoC is currently anticipated for 1Q13. Both the development kit and the RTVE Version 2.0 will be offered through OmniTek.