The processors incorporate Freescale's "Smart Speed" technology, whereby hardware accelerators offload the CPU and a crossbar switch increases the system's parallelism. According to Freescale, the 6x5 Smart Speed crossbar switch "nearly eliminates wait states." This allows the i.MX31/i.MX31L processors to achieve performance equivalent to processors with clock speeds up to 3 GHz, but without the power consumption penalty that goes with higher operating frequencies, the company claims.
The new processors are based on an ARM1136JF-S core with 128 KB of L2 unified cache, and also incorporate Jazelle Java acceleration and a vector floating point coprocessor. Freescale says the processors' multimedia engine supports the major video standards, including MPEG-2, MPEG-4, AVI, DivX, H.263, and H.264.
The highly integrated processors also integrate a long list of peripheral interfaces, as shown in the following block diagram.
i.MX31/i.MX31L block diagramFreescale says its i.MX series multimedia applications processors are used in a wide range of Windows Mobile devices including phones and portable media players, and have earned Microsoft's PlaysForSure certification.
"Mobile video is the next hot application for wireless handhelds and Freescale is fueling this trend with our i.MX family of multimedia processors," said Berardino Baratta, general manager of Freescale's multimedia applications division. "i.MX brings the LCD screen to life with crystal clear video quality and vibrant, true colors for a cinematic viewing experience that consumers can enjoy on the go."
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