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        Media-savvy reference design sports touchscreen, DVB-H

        Eric Brown | Date: Jul 7, 2009 | Comments: 1


        L&T Infotech announced a media playback reference board based on the Texas Instruments (TI) OMAP3530 system-on-chip (SoC). Supporting Windows CE, the "TI OMAP3530 Reference Platform" is equipped with a 4.3-inch QVGA touchscreen, a hard disk drive (HDD), and numerous wireless features including DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting Handheld), says the company.



        Developed by L&T Infotech's GDA Technologies subsidiary, the OMAP3530 Reference Platform is said to be aimed at mobile TV devices, portable media players (PMPs), personal navigation devices (PNDs), mobile Internet devices (MIDs), and portable gaming devices, says the company. Board Support Packages (BSPs) are available for Windows CE, Linux, and Android, the company adds.

        The reference platform's BSPs are said to include the following applications:
        • Portable Media Player
        • Portable Navigation Device -- GPS/NEMA references are said to be available
        • Mobile TV -- includes ESG Engine, FLUTE Engine, PSI/SI Manager, PAL (Platform Abstraction Layer), and TV application with electronic service guide
        • Mobile Internet Device
        Like TI's open platform BeagleBoard, as well as the newly announced Empower Technologies EMP3530 single-board computer (SBC), the L&T design is built around TI's OMAP3530, the most powerful of its four OMAP35xx SoCs. Equipped with a 600MHz, superscalar ARM Cortex-A8 core, the OMAP3530 offers both an OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics engine and a TI TMS320C64x+ digital signal processor (DSP) core designed for digital media acceleration.

        Compared to the latest "Revision C" version of the BeagleBoard, the L&T reference board offers the same amount of flash memory at 256MB, but half the RAM at 128MB. Like the BeagleBoard it provides USB connectivity and LCD interface. In addition, it supplies a 4.3-inch, QVGA (480 x 272) TFT LCD touchscreen, a 1.8-inch CE-ATA HDD, and a VGA camera.

        Orderable with an optional Ethernet port, the L&T design is studded with a rich array of wireless communications features. In addition to WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth, the battery-ready board provides DVB-H support for mobile digital TV reception. A Micro-SD slot is said to support a WiMAX radio for MID devices.

        Specifications listed for L&T Infotech's TI OMAP3530 Reference Platform include:
        • Processor -- TI OMAP3530 @ 600MHz
        • Memory -- 128MB DDR II
        • Flash -- 256MB NAND flash
        • Flash expansion -- Micro-SD slot
        • Storage -- 1.8-inch CE-ATA HDD
        • Display -- 4.3-inch, QVGA (480 x 272) TFT LCD touchscreen
        • Networking -- Ethernet port (optional)
        • USB -- USB 2.0 Host and OTG support
        • Wireless connectivity:
          • WiFi
          • Bluetooth
          • GPS
          • DVB-H
          • FM tuner
        • Other features -- VGA camera; 3x3 matrix keyboard
        • Audio -- Speaker, Mic, headset
        • Power -- supports 3.7V, 1AH Li-Ion battery
        • Operating system -- Windows CE 6.0, Linux, and Android 1.1
        Stated Praveen K Ganapathy, Director, Business Development, Texas Instruments India, "We are confident that L&T Infotech's Reference board solution will inspire sleek, optimized and innovative designs across multiple platforms."

        Availability

        L&T Infotech's TI OMAP3530 Reference Platform is shipping now, says the company, which did not mention pricing.


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