14 DAY TRIAL // In an era where major CE manufacturers have started putting special effort into integrating Internet connectivity into their entire product lines (whether those products are TVs, radios, cameras, printers etc.), Imagination took the leading role with its newest set of intellectual property cores (IP cores). These products form what Imagination dubbed the Meta Connected Processor family, and are set to merge the company's Meta multi-threaded processors with Ensigma multi-standard programmable communication technologies. Combined, these will be optimized for low power consumption without any negative impact on performance.
“The world is getting so connected that soon creating any chip incorporating a processor without connectivity will seem as alien as designing a chip today without memory or peripherals. Connected devices are now truly past the ‘What If?’ phase – in the future everything from the smallest, cheapest electronic device upwards will have an IP address and be connected to the world via the Internet,” Hossein Yassaie, chief executive officer of Imagination Technologies, said.
True enough, IT seems to be headed in this direction, with cellphones, media players and other products incorporating their own Internet capabilities. Imagination's Meta Connected Processors will, however, do more than just provide Internet connectivity. Because of their optimizations for reduced power usage, they will actually make those products currently exclusive to the high-end market more approachable through cost and reductions. Such products include digital photo-frames, media players, media streamers, printers, toys, connected cameras and others.
Imagination's research seems to indicate that a 70% shift towards Internet-capable electronics will occur within five years. Considering that the company is a leading designer of multimedia chips, one might assume that its research has some foundation. If this widespread Internet connectivity does happen in five years, then, just as Mr. Yassaie said, chips without Internet will be quite unfathomable.
The Meta Connected Processors actually allow designers to use embedded 32-bit processor IP platforms capable of multi-standard connectivity while running on a Linux or RTOS high-performance operating system. The IP solution also has the ability to execute DSP-intensive algorithms. Through all of these features, the IP cores might not only provide universal Internet access, but, because cores can connect directly to each other, they set the basis for a worldwide, direct, universal connectivity.
“The most innovative new products being released now and in the next few years are now all connected, and recognizing this we are developing new low power, connected processor IP cores based on our innovative 32-bit processor and communications architectures to enable an era of ubiquitous Internet connectivity,” Mr. Yassaie added.
Further information on the Meta Processors will be released in the following months.