Texas Instruments recently outlined its new OMAP 3 architecture, a platform that aims to integrate work and entertainment into one mobile phone.
TI’s first OMAP 3-based device, the OMAP3430 processor, will be the industry’s highest-performing application processor, the company claimed, and is believed to be the first wireless processor to use 65nm process technology. The OMAP 3 family is based on the new ARM Cortex-A8 superscalar microprocessor core, which delivers three times more performance than the ARM11 core used in OMAP 2 processors. That increased ARM performance, combined with TI’s DSP technology, boosts productivity and entertainment applications on the mobile phone, the company said.
Specifically, the latest OMAP aims to integrate improved capabilities from both consumer and enterprise worlds. The OMAP 3 processor offers a high-definition (HD)-quality player, with the OMAP3430 processor also offering the first DVD-quality camcorder capability in a phone, a four times improvement from the OMAP2430 processor. The DVD-quality application is enabled by IVA 2+, a second-generation, power-optimized version of TI’s imaging, video and audio accelerator used in TI’s DaVinci technology and also allows for improved videoconferencing.
The OMAP3430 processor will support all known mobile DTV decode standards worldwide, complementing TI’s Hollywood mobile DTV chip. The OMAP3430 processor will also include S-video output support for higher quality video display on an external TV monitor or projector for easy sharing of multimedia presentations. And, by leveraging the combination of ARM performance and 2D/3D graphics core, the OMAP3430 will further accelerate the rapid momentum of gaming applications in mobile phones, TI said.
The company further pointed out enhanced camera phone capabilities that capture images at 12 megapixels with less than one second shot-to-shot delay, a two times improvement over the OMAP2430 processor.
The OMAP3430 processor was designed to support all major high-level operating systems (HLOS), including Linux, Symbian OS and Windows Mobile.
TI’s OMAP3430 multimedia processor is expected to sample in mid-2006, with volume production scheduled for 2007.
