Another mobile media player reference design that lacks Linux
Aug 17, 2004 — by LinuxDevices Staff — from the LinuxDevices Archive — 3 views
Sharp has announced two hardware/software reference design kits for portable multimedia devices such as handheld video players, digital photo albums, audio jukeboxes, and multimedia toys. However, the kits are not yet available with embedded Linux software.
Freescale (formerly Motorola) Semiconductor last month launched a very similar reference design kit — also without support for embedded Linux.
Both of Sharp's reference designs include a development board, bill of materials, schematics, operating system software, video and audio codecs, board support package (BSP), and technical support. The designs are:
- The QVGA reference design utilizes a unique 3.6-inch “native landscape” Amorphous Silicon (A-Si) TFT-LCD specifically developed for portable media applications.
- The QCIF+ reference design uses a 2.2-inch A-Si TFT-LCD, also developed for mobile applications. Both LCD panels are said to provide excellent color saturation and low power consumption with LED backlighting.
Media Player Reference Design Specifications
| Item | QCIF+ Design | QVGA Design |
| Processor | Sharp LH7A404 ARM9 SoC | |
| Video Formats | WMV, MPEG4 | |
| Audio Formats | WMA, AAC, MP3 | |
| Picture Formats | JPEG, TIFF, BMP, GIF | |
| Hard Drive Technologies | 1.0-in. CompactFlash Microdrive | 1.8-in. IDE ATA support |
| Removable Media | MultiMediaCard and Secure Digital | |
| Data Interface | USB 2.0 Full Speed | USB 2.0 High Speed |
| Audio Interface | Stereo headphone jack | |
| LCD TFT Display | 2.2-in A-Si transflective, 176 x 220 QCIF+ resolution |
3.6-in. A-Si transmissive, 320 x 240 landscape mode |
| Battery | Li-Ion battery charge circuit | |
| Power | 5V DC input, battery or USB | |
| Operating Systems | Windows CE .NET, μC/OS, ThreadX, VxWorks | |
About the LHA7A404 SoC
The Sharp LH7A404 ARM9 system-on-chip (SoC) processor is a key component in both reference designs. According to Sharp, the LH7A404 provides all the major interfaces needed for hand-held portable media players in a single package including an interface to Sharp's latest generation LCD panels, AC97 audio, CompactFlash, MMC/SD, USB, NAND Flash, SDRAM support, and sufficient performance to decode compressed video and audio.
Detailed information on the LH7A404 is available here
This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.