Via subsidiary WonderMedia Technologies announced that its ARM9-based system-on-chip (SoC) now supports Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3. The Prizm 8510 is aimed at "smartbooks," digital picture frames, media players, and other devices, according to the company.
Announced in June, the Prizm 8510 (right) includes an ARM926EJ-S core, a programmable digital signal processor (DSP), gigabit Ethernet, and a wide variety of interfaces, WonderMedia says. Other variants of the Prizm family have not been publicized by WonderMedia itself, but apparently include the VT8430 and VT8500, parts that have cropped up in devices such as the Sungworld netbook and NorhTec MicroClient TC.
According to WonderMedia, its newly released BSP (board support package) supports Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 "throughout the WonderMedia Prizm range of silicon, including its SmartFrame, SmartClient, and network projector designs." New features include an Adobe Flash Lite plug-in that enables a browser to render media-rich Web sites, a new Internet Explorer browser that supports both touch and gestures and allows for smooth panning and zooming, and a Connection Manager that manages access to data connections and handles interactions between voice and data connections, the company says.
Additionally, WonderMedia says, it has integrated third-party software such as Tencent QQ Messenger, said to be the most popular instant messaging program in Mainland China. This makes Windows CE 6.0 R3 "especially suitable for use in the WonderMedia Smartbook, a new class of ultra-portable broadband device offering rich multimedia and communication suites," according to the company.
Tzumu Lin, CEO of WonderMedia Technologies, stated, "Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 delivers some strong new features, such as Adobe Flash support, to the Windows Embedded CE platform. By offering full support with our WonderMedia PRIZM platform we are able to create added value for our customers and provide consumers with a more satisfying user-experience."
Background
According to WonderMedia, the Prizm 8510 is aimed at devices that include ARM-based netbooks, which the company calls "smartbooks," Internet-enabled digital picture frames (DPFs), stereo entertainment devices, digital signage, networked projectors, and thin clients. As seen in the diagram below, the SoC is built around an ARM926EJ-S core and an MMX-enhanced, programmable "uDSP 2.0" digital signal processor (DSP). The Prizm also offers video decoders for MPEG 1/2/4, H.264, and JPEG, a video co-processor, and engines for 2D graphics and security acceleration, the company says.
Prizm 8510 architecture (Click to enlarge)
The Prizm is equipped with a gigabit Ethernet MAC, as well as interfaces for WiFi, 3G, Bluetooth, camera input, PATA/SATA, USB 2.0, Smart Card, and a DVB-ready MPEG-TS interface. For display output, it supports 656/DVO and TV/VGA/LVDS/LCD displays. Other I/O, including I2C, SPI, UART, and GPIO, can be seen in the diagram above.
The SoC appears to support a wide variety of memory types, and WonderMedia touts the Prizm 8510's "low power consumption," though further details of this haven't been offered as far as we know. Operating system support, prior to today's announcement of Windows CE 6.0 R3 compatiblity, was said to include Windows CE 5.0/6.0, MontaVista Linux Professional Edition 4.0/5.0, and Android.
Not pictured on the WonderMedia website, but said to have been shown off at June's Computex show in Taipei, are four different Prizm reference platforms, described by the company as follows:
SmartBook -- Notebook or tablet systems offering a long battery life and an "extensive application set that allows for rich multimedia and communication suites"
SmartFrame -- An Internet-enabled digital picture frame (DPF) providing access not only to online photos, but also email, games, video, news, documents and a "whole host of web services"
SmartPlayer -- A specialized media player that takes content from a variety of sources, such as websites, memory cards, or DLNA-enabled digital media servers, and displays it on a TV
SmartTouch -- A touchscreen DPF device that also includes a webcam and VoIP software
In addition to the above, the Prizm 8510 is apparently destined for low-cost, compact thin clients. Earlier this year, Thai design integration firm NorhTec announced the MicroClient TC (below), a compact, fanless thin client using a Prizm SoC.
NorhTec's little MicroClient TC (Click to enlarge)
According to NorhTec, the MicroClient TC actually employs the Via VT8500, which is similar to the Prizm 8510 but lacks some multimedia extras. Clocking the SoC at 300MHz, the MicroClient TC includes 256MB of DDR2 memory and 4GB of flash storage, along with an SD slot, IDE connector, three USB ports, Ethernet, and optional WiFi.
About WonderMedia
WonderMedia Technologies is a fully owned subsidiary of Via Technologies that is headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, with teams in Shenzhen and Beijing, China, and Silicon Valley, Calif. The parent company is primarily known for its x86-based processors and chipsets for the mobile and embedded markets, including the Eden and Eden ULV, the C7-M ULV, and most recently, the 64-bit Via Nano, a 65nm design with an out-of-order execution unit.
In 2006, however, Via announced that it had expanded its licensing agreement with ARM to include the ARM926EJ-S and ARM968E-S processors, after previously having licensed ARM7 cores. At the time, Via said the processors were licensed to help Via and its subsidiaries improve products aimed at mobile phones, set-top boxes, telematics, and personal media players.
Tzumu Lin, president and CEO of WonderMedia, stated at the time, "The future of the computer and communication industries is converging on networked multimedia devices able to provide full access to Web-based entertainment and information. The WonderMedia Prizm merges the very latest in SoC and software technologies to give system developers all the tools with which to create these stylish new cloud-connected devices."
Windows CE 6.0 R3
Microsoft announced Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 at September's Embedded Systems Conference (ESC), describing the upgrade as "the next generation platform of the componentized, real-time Windows Embedded CE operating system."
The first significant upgrade to Windows CE since the release of Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R2 in November 2007, the revised operating system continues to run on x86, ARM, MIPS, and Hitachi SuperH processors. A key addition is an "out-of-browser, native code implementation" of Microsoft's Silverlight technology, allowing developers to "dramatically improve user interface capabilities," according to the company.
Other added features in Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 include the following, according to Microsoft:
New touch and gesture capabilities, including flicking and scrolling
A revised version of Internet Explorer (IE) that allows zooming and panning around web pages
PDF viewing capabilities, supplementing the existing viewers for Microsoft Office documents
An enhanced Connection Manager, making it simpler for programs to access every type of connectivity available to a device
According to David Wurster, a Microsoft product manager for Windows Embedded CE, the new Silverlight for Windows Embedded is implemented as C++ code rather than as a managed .NET backend, and will allow OEMs to create custom user interfaces "within days." Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 will include a "fully integrated implementation of Flash Lite," allowing display of rich media Web content, he added.
WonderMedia provided an informal look at Prizm-based reference designs as far back as January's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Source: Via Technologies (click to play)
Further information
More information on Via/WonderMedia's Prizm SoC may be found here.
Announced in June, the Prizm 8510 (right) includes an ARM926EJ-S core, a programmable digital signal processor (DSP), gigabit Ethernet, and a wide variety of interfaces, WonderMedia says. Other variants of the Prizm family have not been publicized by WonderMedia itself, but apparently include the VT8430 and VT8500, parts that have cropped up in devices such as the Sungworld netbook and NorhTec MicroClient TC.
