inSilica tapes out next generation camera processor with BA22 embedded RISC processor

SANTA CLARA, USA: inSilica Inc., a leading developer of image processing application specific products for the high volume mobile phone and camera market announced today that it has taped-out its next generation image processor using the BA22 embedded processor from Beyond Semiconductor.

The new product is implemented in 65nm process technology, and includes extensive proprietary imaging and video processing technology from inSilica, as well as the BA22 32-bit embedded RISC processor. Engineering Samples and evaluation kits with this product will be available to customers starting December 2009.

"We went from licensing the BA22 processor tape-out in just 5 months," said Ram Rangarajan, VP of Imaging Products at inSilica. "After our announcement on July 9th both the hardware and software teams got to work integrating the IP and starting software development. Despite our stringent requirements, integration and software development was straightforward. The BA22 has certainly met our goals."

Since all of inSilica's imaging products require low power design, special attention was paid to power management in the processor. By using the extensive power management features of the BA22 embedded processor, inSilica was able to build a product with several advanced features as well as lower power consumption.

The software development used Beyond Semiconductor's integrated tool suite, based on Eclipse and GNU software tools including GCC, GDB and BinUtils. inSilica's product development teams were able to simulate software versions using Beyond Semiconductor's simulator and hardware development platforms.