Equator Introduces MAP1000A Media Accelerated Processor; World's Fastest Programmable Processor for Media and Imaging; Cuts Developer Time, Extends System Product Life.

CAMPBELL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 25, 1999--

The newest in the family of single-chip Media Accelerated Processors for digital imaging and digital media products has been introduced by Equator Technologies.

In Brief: -0-

--   Equator now shipping MAP1000A(TM); world's fastest processor for
     DSP/imaging applications.

--   Newest member of Media Accelerated Processor family, MAP1000A
     moves core functions of set-top box, digital television, and
     imaging products into software.

--   Fully programmable in C. Replaces hardwired video, image and
     signal processing engines with a general-purpose, fully
     programmable CPU.

--   Advanced architecture outperforms all announced CPUs/DSPs, MPEG
     encoders and decoders.

--   Offers advances in performance, developer productivity, product
     flexibility, and system product cost.

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The MAP1000A(TM) is based on a unique, proprietary architecture that delivers the industry's highest levels of signal and image processing power in a general-purpose embedded processor. Equator's MAP family of mediaprocessors provides a platform for system designers to move the core functions of their media-rich products into high-level software, thus improving system flexibility and time-to-market.

Target applications include set-top boxes, digital TVs, personal computers, video conferencing systems, medical imaging products, digital video editing equipment, video and wireless network infrastructure, and office automation products.

Running at 220MHz, the MAP1000A delivers an unprecedented 23 GOPS (Billion Operations per Second) of processing power, the highest available in the industry. This is sufficient to support: -0-

--   two-channel or four-channel MPEG digital TV with audio and
     concurrent browsing;

--   United States HDTV audio and video decoding with concurrent web
     browsing;

--   personal video recorders (PVRs) with full standard-definition
     MPEG-2;

--   multi-channel digital video encoding, transcoding and routing;

--   a wide range of image processing products.

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The MAP1000A is shipping now to a number of leading OEMs of digital media and digital imaging products, including set-top boxes, professional and uplink video systems, and high-end copiers and printers.

Among customers of the existing MAP1000, Tektronix, Inc. is incorporating the MAP1000 processor into a multi-processor architecture to dramatically increase the performance of the PQA200 Picture Quality Analysis System to enable real-time, in-service video applications.

The MAP1000A is a single-chip solution, which integrates Equator's Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW)-based MAP CPU in a system-on-a-chip, with communications, audio, video, memory control and PCI functions combined. Direct connections for AC-LINK, XGA, DVB transport, and 601 video are included.

Equator's approach allows system developers to build products that lead the market in value, flexibility and longevity.

Because their core functions are delivered by application software rather than dedicated hardware, products can be multi-function; for example, the MPEG-2 set-top box can support MPEG-4, H.263 teleconferencing, and a host of other services without incremental cost or complexity. Similarly, the imaging engine in a color printer can be fully soft, and support a wide range of image formats and algorithms at high performance.

This "soft approach" is ideal for Internet-connected appliances and products that need to keep pace with changing standards and evolving media types. The soft approach allows the system manufacturer to provide product upgrades and enhancements to units in the field, thereby eliminating consumer concerns about early obsolescence.

Equator's MAP architecture relies heavily on instruction-level parallel execution. The MAP1000A performs 1300 MIPS, 1800 MFLOPS (32-bit), and 23,000 MOPS on eight-bit data. Its sixteen MAC operations per clock cycle is approximately eight times faster than its most advanced competitors.

The architecture is fully supported by Equator's supercomputer-derived Trace Scheduling C Compiler and cycle accurate simulators. This allows rapid development of media applications, saving OEMs months or years of development time over traditional DSP-type and assembly language approaches.

Price and Availability

The MAP1000A is available immediately. Pricing begins at $110 in quantities of 10K units.

Equator Technologies provides platform technology for the rapid design and deployment of digital media and imaging products. For more information, visit www.equator.com.