VideoCore
Encyclopedia
VideoCore is a low-power mobile multimedia processor architecture originally developed by Alphamosaic Ltd, now owned by Broadcom
. Its two-dimensional DSP architecture makes it flexible and efficient enough to decode as well as encode a number of multimedia codecs in software, while maintaining low power usage.
The VideoCore II-based BCM2722 processor notably provides video capabilities for Apple's 5th generation iPod.
The VideoCore III-based BCM2727 processor provides video, still and 3D graphics capabilities for the Nokia N8
.
The VideoCore IV BCM2763 processor improves on the VideoCore III with support for 1080p encode and decode, along with higher resolution camera support and faster 2D and 3D graphics, all at very low power.
Low-power laptops use low-power processors and graphics chips, and therefore often struggle to play video at full frame rates. It isn't desirable or practical to port Windows onto a VideoCore chip, so only the video decoding need be offloaded onto a video accelerator board (e.g. using the BCM70015 chip).
Blu-ray players can also use it as a low-power video accelerator.
Noting that VideoCore chips were usually used with ARM based chips, the latest chips have VideoCore and ARM processors.
Broadcom
Broadcom Corporation is a fabless semiconductor company in the wireless and broadband communication business. The company is headquartered in Irvine, California, USA. Broadcom was founded by a professor-student pair Henry Samueli and Henry T. Nicholas III from the University of California, Los...
. Its two-dimensional DSP architecture makes it flexible and efficient enough to decode as well as encode a number of multimedia codecs in software, while maintaining low power usage.
The VideoCore II-based BCM2722 processor notably provides video capabilities for Apple's 5th generation iPod.
The VideoCore III-based BCM2727 processor provides video, still and 3D graphics capabilities for the Nokia N8
Nokia N8
The Nokia N8 is a Symbian^3 smartphone of the Nokia Nseries and Nokia's flagship device of 2010. It was released on 23 September 2010 at the Nokia Online Store before being released in markets around the world on 1 October 2010. The N8 features a 12 megapixel camera, a pentaband 3.5G radio and...
.
The VideoCore IV BCM2763 processor improves on the VideoCore III with support for 1080p encode and decode, along with higher resolution camera support and faster 2D and 3D graphics, all at very low power.
Multimedia system constraints
Mobile multimedia devices require a lot of high-speed video processing but at low power for long battery life. The ARM processor core has a high MIPS per watt figure, and thus dominates the mobile phone market, but requires video acceleration coprocessors and display controllers for a complete system. The amount of data passing between these chips at high speed results in higher power consumption. A single processing unit has to be clocked very fast for video processing, and power is proportional to clock speed, so a single-processor solution will be power hungry.VideoCore key features
- Instruction set written with video processing in mind from the start. For example, saturation arithmeticSaturation arithmeticSaturation arithmetic is a version of arithmetic in which all operations such as addition and multiplication are limited to a fixed range between a minimum and maximum value. If the result of an operation is greater than the maximum it is set to the maximum, while if it is below the minimum it is...
so that the sum of two bright pixels does not 'wrap around' into dark values. - An array of graphics processing units for parallel computingParallel computingParallel computing is a form of computation in which many calculations are carried out simultaneously, operating on the principle that large problems can often be divided into smaller ones, which are then solved concurrently . There are several different forms of parallel computing: bit-level,...
of video data at relatively low clock speed - Very high integration puts CPU, GPUs, memory and display circuitry on a single chip, removing the power burden of driving fast off-chip buses.
VideoCore ICs
| Device | VideoCore | 2nd core | Max display | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BCM2702 | 2 | none | SD PAL/NTSC | |
| BCM2705 | 2 | none | SD PAL/NTSC | |
| BCM2722 | 2 | none | SD PAL/NTSC | Apple's 5th generation iPod |
| BCM2724 | 2 | none | SD PAL/NTSC | |
| BCM2727 | 3 | none | 720P | Nokia N8 Nokia N8 The Nokia N8 is a Symbian^3 smartphone of the Nokia Nseries and Nokia's flagship device of 2010. It was released on 23 September 2010 at the Nokia Online Store before being released in markets around the world on 1 October 2010. The N8 features a 12 megapixel camera, a pentaband 3.5G radio and... |
| BCM2763 | 4 | none | 1080P | Nokia 600, Nokia 700 Nokia 700 The Nokia 700 is a Symbian Belle ultra slim smart phone, announced on 24 August 2011. It was released in September 2011.-References:... , Nokia 701 Nokia 701 The Nokia 701 is a multi-touch Symbian Belle smartphone released in Q4 2011. It has a very bright and robust 3.5" IPS-LCD display with 640 x 360 pixels. The brightness of the display is 1000 nits and the used Gorilla Glass makes the display very robust. Nokia announced the phone on 24 August... |
| BCM2820 | 4 | ARM1176 | 1080P | |
| BCM2835 | 4 | ARM1176 (700 MHz) | 1080P | Raspberry Pi Raspberry Pi The Raspberry Pi is a single-board computer developed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. Scheduled for public release in December 2011, the foundation plans to release two versions that range from US$25 to $35... prototype, Roku 2 |
| BCM21654 | 4 | ARM9 + ARM Cortex R4 |
1080P | |
| BCM28150 | 4 | ARM9 dual core | 1080P | Aimed at 3G baseband processing, powerful enough to run Android OS. |
| BCM70010 | 1080P | AVC/VC-1/MPEG PCI Express HD Decoder Chipset for Netbooks/Nettops | ||
| BCM70012 | 1080P | AVC/VC-1/MPEG PCI Express HD Decoder Chipset for Netbooks/Nettops | ||
| BCM70015 | 1080P | AVC/VC-1/MPEG PCI Express HD Decoder Chipset for Netbooks/Nettops | ||
VideoCore products
VideoCore chips can run complete applications - they are not simply video DSP chips that require a separate processor to supply and collect data. In practice they are often used like this, as companies usually prefer to cautiously assimilate new technology rather than take a big risk in porting a large amount of application code from an existing ARM based design. The Apple video iPod is a good example of this approach.Low-power laptops use low-power processors and graphics chips, and therefore often struggle to play video at full frame rates. It isn't desirable or practical to port Windows onto a VideoCore chip, so only the video decoding need be offloaded onto a video accelerator board (e.g. using the BCM70015 chip).
Blu-ray players can also use it as a low-power video accelerator.
Noting that VideoCore chips were usually used with ARM based chips, the latest chips have VideoCore and ARM processors.