The high-definition SV-IP01 video-decoding core is "working 100 percent" in an FPGA implementation, running in modes "fully compliant with the H.264 standard, just frozen last March," Besen said. Sand Video demonstrated the core implemented in two Xilinx Inc. FPGAs at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

The H.264 main profile delivers two to three times the compression performance of MPEG-2, Sand Video said. The 20-Mbit/second data rate, used for the high- definition MPEG-2 video stream, can be reduced to "6 to 7 Mbits per second," Besen said. The algorithm is drawing interest from a growing number of cable and satellite TV operators seeking more efficient compression and from consumer electronics manufacturers interested in leveraging the emerging standard for a new generation of set-top boxes, personal video recorders and high-definition DVD players.

The SV-IP01 is capable of decoding the H.264 main profile with support for all broadcast formats up to 720 progressive and 1,080 interlaced. Because it can also decode high-definition MPEG-2 video streams, the core can support existing codec applications, Sand Video said.

Founded by former executives from Oak Technology Inc.'s Imaging Division, Sand Video hopes to energize the nascent H.264 market on several fronts. Aside from licensing its H.264 decoder core, the startup plans to launch an H.264 decoder and an H.264 encoder/decoder in the first quarter of 2004. It is also developing a "companion chip" designed to work with a third-party MPEG-2 video decoder that's already been designed into today's DVD players and set-tops. Although the SV-IP01 core only decodes video, Sand Video said that its upcoming decoder and encoder/decoder ICs will integrate audio encoding and decoding capabilities.

Sand Video said its primary focus will be in developing and selling H.264 chips, not in licensing cores. But the market's need for an integrated H.264 capability convinced the company to license this one. "We are very aggressive about enabling the H.264 market. We see this as a necessary step," said Besen. Asked whether such licensing would help create competitors, Besen said, "We still believe we'll be the first to come out with an H.264 encode/decode chip." Sand Video now plans to launch that codec in February. "We also have a significant lead on the H.264 encoding side," he said.

Sand Video is closely guarding the details of its H.264 core. Besen would say only that its cost and size are "similar to those of high-definition MPEG-2 cores." Offered in Verilog or in an Artisan Components Inc. library, the core is available to OEMs for a license fee plus royalty.

The SV-IP01 is essentially a hardwired unit, integrated with an unnamed 32-bit RISC processor running at 166 MHz. "The RISC unit, used for parsing, helped to add some flexibility when the standard was in the process of finalizing," said Jonathan Goldberg, director of product marketing at Sand Video. "But we think DSPs fall short if you need to support a full tool set of H.264." DSP companies, including Texas Instruments Inc. and Equator Technologies Inc., are also working on H.264 solutions. Many MPEG-2 chip providers-including LSI Logic Corp., STMicroelectronics and Broadcom Corp.-are also said to be developing chips that implement H.264 video compression, although none has demonstrated hardware as yet.

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