Equator Targets Streaming Video Designs

By Bernard Cole
iApplianceWeb
(05/20/02, 02:37:38 AM EDT)

Birmingham, England --- Tetra, a new hardware platform reference design for video streaming and processing from Equator Technologies Inc. is now available to allow rapid development and deployment for a range of multimedia iAppliance designs such as IP smart cameras, digital video recorders and IP-based streaming video designs.

Powered by the company's BSP family of high-performance Broadband Signal Processor chips, including the MAP-CA and BSP-15 processors, the platform has been designed modularly with an open peripheral interface for add-on modules, and a growing list of add-on 'personality' modules. All common CPU board core features, including the BSP family of chips, memory sub-system, Ethernet interface, and power circuitry, are consolidated on the Tetra CPU board. The resulting design can be used from product to product without modification. Extremely compact in size, the Tetra CPU board measures in at 2.75" x 4.00", making it an ideal hardware reference design for iAppliance applications that require a small footprint, such as IP cameras.

Designed so that application-specific I/O functionalities can be rapidly prototyped are a number of add-on personality modules that provide additional I/O functionality such as audio/video input/output, compact flash and serial interfaces.

In addition to support for both the BSP-15 and MAP-CA processors, the board includes 64MB SDRAM and 4.0MB Flash; support for Digital RGB and analog RGB display; analog audio out and SPDIF audio in/out; 10/100BaseT Ethernet; Consumer IR, and GPIO. Support is provided for either the Linux or VxWorks operating systems. The first Tetra module for audio-visual includes Video input/output, audio input/output; 4 digital alarm input, 1 relay output;s two serial ports; a Southbridge SuperI/O chip that provides IDE, compact flash and RS232 interfaces; and real time clocks.

For more information to http://www.equator.com.