3D graphics hardware IP uses OCP bus interface

Graphics in embedded systems such as user interfaces and games continue to evolve and improve, with enhancements such as moving from 2D based to 3D based interactive graphics. PlayStation Portable (PSP), for example, has adopted the PlayStation 2 class 3D graphics quality into the handheld device. On the other hand, in PC graphics, the programmable shader scheme, where developers can configure functionality in the vertex and fragment level, has been the major approach on DirectX and OpenGL API infrastructure, and this kind of hardware creates extremely rich content and experiences on consoles such as the Xbox360 and PlayStation 3. The graphics in embedded systems, however, create many issues and challenges that developers must address, such as low power consumption for keeping long battery life, minimized system components due to space constraints, and limited gate count for low cost.

The Khronos Group is defining the various media APIs for the embedded space, and has released a graphics API, OpenGL ES. At present, this OpenGL ES is releasing two versions 1.x and 2.x, for fixed graphics pipeline and programmable graphics pipeline, respectively, and this approach is the same as in PC graphics.

DMP graphics cores overview
DMP provides scalable high performance low power 3D graphics cores to the embedded space for handheld devices, mobile phones, vehicle navigation systems, amusement game console, and all other embedded graphics spaces. PICA200 is the latest 3D graphics IP core covering all the previously mentioned application areas.

The core consists of several components including OpenGL ES standard functions and our own original graphics technology. The component is built per customer requirements and target systems with custom components such as performance, memory bandwidth and power consumption. It is difficult to assume what the customer demands for such a wide range of applications will be when choosing an IP interface scheme. DMP has been extremely successful in adopting the Open Core Protocol (OCP) as the standard bus interface for our components.

Figure 1: PICA200 demonstration scene developed by Futuremark and DMP collaboration

Maestro technology
The graphics core has achieved high performance with low power consumption by employing the OpenGL ES 1.1 and our own extension graphics API called Maestro. These Maestro functions include frequently use and good looking graphics functions in target applications that include various lighting and shading models such as Phong, Cook-Torrance, and BRDF, shadow effect, polygon subdivisions, and procedural texture.

Next: Maestro functions, lighting, shadow and particle effects