WISchip is offering a pair of Linux 2.6-based reference designs for its Cypher 7108 streaming media encoder SoC (system-on-chip). A PVR (personal video recorder) design targets portable media player “filling stations,” while a camera design targets standalone IP (Internet protocol) cameras that stream video over… HTTP.

The Cypher 7108 and dev board

WISchip's Cypher 7108 is a highly integrated audio/video stream media encoder/decoder that includes a 166MHz MIPS32 core and a variety of standard PC I/O, along with encoder/decoder engines for various media formats.

The Cypher 7108 is a streaming media processor that includes a MIPS32 core
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According to WISchip, the Cypher 7108 supports MPEG-4 Advanced Simple Profile (without GMC) MPEG-2/1, Motion JPEG, and H.263. It supports video resolutions up to 720×480, and two-channel MPEG-1/2 Layer I & II Dolby Digital (AC-3) audio at bitrates up to 448Kbps, the company says.

Additional features of the Cypher 7108 chip include a 32-bit DDR SDRAM memory interface, and direct connections for ATAPI, Ethernet MAC, PCI 2.2, Host Parallel Interface (HPI), USB 2.0 (OTG), I2C, and I2S, WISchip says.

Both reference designs are based on a development board the size of a 3.5-inch hard drive. The board offers an SATA drive connector, USB 2.0 OTG (on-the-go) port, a mini-PCI connector, and two 10/100 Ethernet connectors.

PVR design

WISchip describes its PVR design as a small form-factor, fanless development kit for an audio/video capture, storage, and streaming consumer electronics device that can serve as a digital “filling station” for personal media players. The design supports uPnP and Rendezvous (zeroconf), for instant configuration.

WISchip's PVR reference design
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The company says the MPEG-4 encoding supported by its PVR design halves bandwidth requirements compared to MPEG-2, supporting wifi streaming of high-resolution content.

WISchip's IP camera design (Click to enlarge)

IP Camera design

WISchip says its IP camera design can be used to develop a standalone network IP camera that can stream video in real time over the web. The design supports wired and wireless network connections, with static or leased IP addresses.

WISchip 1708 IP camera design
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Director of Marketing Jim Nguyen said, “We're seeing pent up demand for audio/video storage and distribution solutions for the digital home, and our network PVR reference design addresses this demand head on.”

Availability

The WISchip reference designs reached general availability in September, 2005.

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