Renesas Technology Releases SH-MobileR Application Processor for One-Seg Capable Car Navigation Systems and Portable Media Players

Tokyo, September 28, 2006 −− Renesas Technology Corp. todayannounced that it will begin expansion into application areas other than mobilephones for the company’s SH-Mobile^*1 application processors. Theinitial product being released for this purpose is the SH-MobileR (productname: SH7722), which is suitable for use in car navigation systems and portablemedia players supporting One-Seg^*2 terrestrial digital broadcastingfor portable and mobile terminals. Sample shipments will begin in October 2006in Japan.

The main features of the SH-MobileR are summarized below.

The SH-MobileR offers a rich variety of middleware, including H.264, MPEG-4,and suchlike moving-image middleware and MP3, AAC (Advanced Audio Coding), andother audio middleware. The use of middleware equipped with a DRM (DigitalRights Management) function, which has already begun to be offered, enablesimplementation of next-generation audiovisual systems and so forth requiringprotection of audio content. The high-performance CPU core can provide smoothoperation of these various kinds of middleware, offering a total systemsoftware solution.


< Product Background >

With the establishment of full-fledged terrestrial digital broadcasting inrecent years, multimedia terminals such as mobile phones, car navigationsystems, and portable media players equipped with terrestrial digital broadcastreception capability are appearing on the market. In the car navigation field,in particular, demand is expected to grow for the ability to view clear,high-quality TV images inside vehicles, and an increase in the number ofsystems incorporating terrestrial digital broadcast reception capability isanticipated.

Renesas Technology was quick to release SH-Mobile Series products supportingterrestrial digital broadcasting in mobile phone systems, and these are used inmany mobile phones. Subsequently, demand has grown for the use of such productsin application areas other than mobile phones, due to such considerations asvaried and comprehensive functions and configurations, as well asuser-friendliness. Against this background, Renesas Technology has nowdeveloped the SH-MobileR incorporating various peripheral functions ideallysuited to a variety of multimedia terminals, including One-Seg capable carnavigation systems and portable media players, as the initial-phase product forsuch applications.


< Additional Product Details >

The SH-MobileR incorporates a VPU4 high-performance moving-image processing IPcore. The VPU4 supports both the H.264 video compression standard used interrestrial digital broadcasting and the MPEG-4 standard used up to now forvideo recording and playback, and provides fast, powerful, high-image-qualityprocessing supporting transmission speeds of up to 8 Mbps.

The SH4AL-DSP CPU core achieves high processing performance of 478 MIPS andunit-frequency performance of 1.8 MIPS/MHz at a maximum operating frequency of266 MHz. Connection to external SDRAM is also possible via a maximum 64-bit buswidth, ample for operating a browser supporting terrestrial digitalbroadcasting.

A wide variety of on-chip peripheral functions are provided, including manyoffering multimedia support. A camera interface is included that allows directconnection of a 5-megapixel camera module, making it possible to capture largevolumes of image data from a high-definition camera at high speed, and performvarious kinds of display, such as electronic image zoom display, screenoverlapping, and so forth, by means of an OSD (On Screen Display) function, HWC(Hardware Cursor) function, and the like. A 24-bit TFT color LCD controlleroffers high-quality image display, and a 2D graphics accelerator allows fastand sophisticated rendering even for a menu display using a complex GUI. Avideo output unit is included that supports NTSC and PAL TV broadcastingsystems, making it easy to implement display on a TV monitor, and enablingcaptured images to be viewed on a TV screen. A JPEG hardware acceleratorperforms high-speed snap photos of JPEG still-image data, offering JPEG dataprocessing speeds of 0.02 second per VGA-size image and 0.1 second perSXGA-size image, for example — ideal for security camera applications and thelike.

A variety of interfaces and other peripheral functions are also provided,including a USB 2.0 Function (high-speed compatible) interface necessary forhigh-speed interfacing to a PC or the like, a 4-Gbit NAND/AND flash memoryinterface with ECC error correction capability improved from 3 to 4 symbols,and an SD Memory Card^*4 (SD Memory/SD I/O) interface. The SD MemoryCard interface supports an optional CPRM function, enabling implementation ofterrestrial digital broadcast recording and playback and so forth.

In addition, there are plans for Hitachi ULSI Systems Co., Ltd. to beginoffering middleware and user system development solutions for One-Seg capableapplications.

The package used is a 449-pin BGA (21 mm × 21 mm, 0.8 mm pin pitch).

Renesas Technology will continue to develop SH-Mobile products that keep pacewith advances in increasingly sophisticated multimedia application systems, andto ensure the timely release of products tailored to the needs of themarket.

* Other product names, company names, or brands mentioned are the propertyof their respective owners.


< Typical Applications >

< Price in Japan > *For Reference

< Supplementary Information >

< Specifications >

* I²C bus (Inter IC Bus) is an interface specification proposedby Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands.

Information contained in this news release is current as of the date of thepress announcement, but may be subject to change without prior notice.

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