Japan ISDB-T New Middleware from Renesas
Japan ISDB-T, Renesas (NEC) Releases New Middleware for Terrestrial Digital Broadcast Reception to Strengthen its Platform Solutions for Automotive Information Devices
Renesas Electronics Corporation today announced the development of its new terrestrial digital broadcast reception middleware that supports the ISDB-T (Integrated Service Digital Broadcasting Terrestrial, Note 1) standard for platform solutions of automotive information systems.
Recently, the automotive information devices have seen not only a shift from single-function products, such as car navigation systems, to fusion with the cloud and other IT technologies such as smart phones but also integration of functions for safer operation, such as monitoring the area around the car with in-car video cameras. Thus there are new desires for multimedia systems with even higher functionality and performance and users are facing problems such as increases in the difficulty of developing software that can implement these systems, increased development costs, and longer development periods.
Renesas has been providing a wide range of middleware products to the market. In 2005, Renesas led the industry by releasing middleware for ISDB-T (one-segment) broadcast reception for use in car navigation and other automotive information devices. Then, in 2009, Renesas developed middleware for ISDB-T (full-segment) broadcast reception. Renesas has also released a sequence of SoC products for automotive information devices, including the R-Car H2 and the R-Car M2, which were released in March 2013 and September 2013, respectively.
Given this background, Renesas is now providing middleware for terrestrial digital broadcast reception that supports the R-Car H2 and R-Car M2 SoC products developed using the technologies accumulated in these earlier efforts as solutions that can easily construct terrestrial digital broadcasting viewing reception systems for automotive information equipment. Key features of the new middleware:
(1) Optimized for the hardware
The new middleware efficiently controls the video image processing (synthesis, enlarge/reduce, IP conversion and other functions) hardware included in the R-Car H2 and R-Car M2 using dedicated drivers, and this allows optimization so that the maximum performance of the SoC device is acquired. This allows terrestrial digital broadcast viewing systems to be implemented without complex hardware control by the user system.
(2) Powerful error tolerance functions
The middleware includes the powerful error tolerance functions required in automotive information devices. In particular, it provides both fade processing for audio noise reduction and video complementation processing using concealing processing to supplement missing data so that it can output as smooth audio and video as possible even in cases where television broadcast reception conditions are poor. This can contribute to achieving smooth television viewing even when reception conditions are degraded during vehicle motion.
VCAN think Renesas chipset is recommended and stable since using at car TV tuner for DVB-T2010HD.