LONDON — The Metagence division of graphics chip IP company Imagination Technologies Group plc has released the Meta 122 IP core, the latest version of its multi-threading processor, which is intended for use in multi-function consumer entertainment.
Imagination Technologies Ltd. has been developing the Meta multithreading DSP processor since 1995. The original Meta core has been at the heart of Imagination's PowerVR graphics and digital audio intellectual property. It has been used within Imagination's graphics accelerator cores since 1996 and it has been offered for license by Imagination's Metagence division since 2001 (see May 4, 2001, story)
Meta was the first licensable IP core supporting hardware multithreading, Imagination claimed, saying that Meta 122 now takes the threading idea further with "super-threading", allowing threads to run in parallel, which enables maximum usage of on-chip resources.
Conventional multi-threaded processors perform hardware context switches so that when one thread can no longer run another immediately runs in its place with a minimum of lost processor cycles
The Meta 122 is a full-featured general-purpose processor and offers additional features found on DSP devices, with VLIW-like capability for complex DSP operations providing the functionality of up to four instructions combined in a single cycle. Hardware multithreading allows
fast, synchronous, real-time environments to coexist with complex operating system and user interface environments, the company said.
"The window for developing complex multi-function CE devices continues to narrow, development costs continue to rise and verification takes up a significant portion of development time. It is therefore imperative for customers to be able to standardize on a flexible technology platform that offers scalable performance and reduces development risk across a complete family of end products," said David McBrien, vice president of business development at Imagination.
"The Meta family has already proven its capabilities, becoming the de-facto standard for DAB digital radio, with approximately 70 percent global market share, and now being deployed in DAB, T-DMB, DVB-T and TV devices," he added.
In terms of processing performance: a four-threaded Meta cantypically perform 2-DMIPS/MHz, and combine up to four instructions in a single cycle, and thus a 250-MHz clock frequency four-threaded Meta can achieve a peak performance of 1000-MIPS.
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