Tear Down: PortalPlayer media processor drives the Samsung YH-820MC MP3 player

Since the inception of the iPod, PortalPlayer has been integrated into all but one variant. That trend is about to change, as PortalPlayer recently announced that its next-generation audio processor "has not been selected by Apple Computer, Inc. for use in its mid-range and high-end flash based iPod." There were many speculations about who would take the coveted place in Apple's designs, which Samsung have now claimed to have won (see Samsung scores iPod Nano).

To prove that PortalPlayer wasn't a one-trick pony, I looked at some of the other systems that have implemented the company's components. One of the first I identified added to my concern about PortalPlayer—Samsung's YH-820MC MP3 player (Fig. 1).

The YH-820MC is a 5-Gbyte player with a 1.5-in., 65,000-color CSTN LCD display that shows pictures at a resolution of 128 by 96 pixels. The 1-in. hard-disk drive stores about 1200 hrs. of music, while the 3.7-V Li-Ion battery play up to 8 hrs. of music on a charge.

In addition to the MP3 and WMA playback, the device functions as a voice recorder. With dimensions of 1.96 by 3.47 by 0.54 in., it's slightly thicker than one might expect. For example, Apple's 4-Gbyte Nano player is just 0.27 in. thick. However, the Samsung unit is based on a rotating disk drive, while the Nano employs solid-state flash memory. Along those same lines, the YH-820MC weighs in at 3.2 oz., more than double the Nano's 1.5 oz.

1. Samsung's YH-820MC MP3 player is built with a traditional hard-disk drive.

The IC of interest within the YH-820MC is the PortalPlayer PP5020 (Fig. 2). While nearly 90% of PortalPlayer's revenues were generated from Apple, the company did have designs in other systems. For example, the same media processor is used in other MP3 players, such as iRiver's H10.

2. PortalPlayer's PP5020 media processor is at the heart of the MP3 player.

The PP5020 was an early component of PortalPlayer's digital media management system-on-chip. The dual ARM7 microprocessors supported 160 MIPS for encoding and decoding. It offers real-time decoding of MP3, WMA, AAC, and ACELP.NET formats, as well as JPEG and MJPEG formats.

While the recently announced PP5024 also integrates a dual ARM7 microprocessor, it supports a higher performance level—200 MIPS. As a result, it not only supports the same audio and image formats, but it's also capable of displaying MPEG-4 at 30 frames/s. In addition, the package is smaller, coming in at 10 by 10 mm (see the table).

With Samsung claiming the media processor socket, does that mean that they'll also provide the media processor in their own MP3 player designs, closing another door on PortalPlayer?

PortalPlayer does not plan to be counted out yet. Gary Johnson, president and CEO of PortalPlayer said, “Over the past year, we have invested in integrating analog, advanced video, and wireless capabilities.”

That could be just what's needed to revitalize their offering. Given the transition to video functionality, and the increasing growth of video content on the iTunes Music Store, Apple might be looking for an integrated solution. If that integrated solution was designed properly, it could cover both the video processor (provided by Broadcom in the 5G) and audio processor (provided by PortalPlayer), as well as other features, and would reduce the chip count, potentially lowering the bill of materials, form factor, and power consumption.

But Samsung isn't the only company eying Apple’s design. Many other solutions are available, or are in development, that could service the MP3 player's needs. One such available solution is the Texas Instruments OMAP2 platform. With an architecture that can split tasks across four multiple processing engines, it can run basic functionality with an ARM1136 core, has a DSP for audio applications and MP3 encoding/decoding, a dedicated 2D/3D graphics processor, and an imaging and video accelerator. Each of these engines can be independently turned on and off depending on when they're needed, which reduces the power consumption. The OMAP2420 has been used in handsets, and if Apple is looking to the future, this solution, or something similar might be in its plans. It could be the first steps towards an iPhone that is not the ROKR.

Of course, a stand alone solution might not be the only answer. PortalPlayer has other competition dedicated to the same space, such as SigmaTel, who hasn't yet convinced Apple to integrate its device into an MP3 player other than the Shuffle. But SigmaTel has been building out its IP portfolio. In January, the company announced that it was expanding its IP Licensing Program with the acquisition of original MP3 player patents. It's possible they've found a gem in their new portfolio that could cause additional problems for PortalPlayer from a legal perspective.

About the author
Gregory A. Quirk is a technology analyst for Semiconductor Insights. He can be reached at gregoryq@semiconductor.com.

This article is excerpted from Semiconductor Insights' Handset Design Win (HDW) subscription service.