Russian SoC designers take Virage IP for TV

LONDON – Semiconductor circuit licensor Virage Logic Corp. has announced that Microelectronics Research Institute Progress (Moscow, Russia) has licensed the ARC Video 401V subsystem.

MRI Progress is set to integrate the subsystem into a system-chip targeting digital TV applications, a growing market as the Russian Federation begins converting from analog to digital television broadcasts. The ARC Video 401V core combines a programmable video engine with video and audio codecs and includes the Linux-capable and configurable ARC 750D RISC processor.

A Russian digital television project is due to be implemented in Moscow and its environs, St. Petersburg, and Kaliningrad, during 2010, Virage Logic (Fremont, Calif.) said referencing the Itar-Tass news agency as its source. MRI Progress, a 23-year old SoC design group is working to supply chips to OEM customers. Virage did not state where MRI Progess intends to get chips manufactured or whether that would be within Russia or outside.

"We chose the Virage Logic solution because of its small silicon area combined with all the audio and video codecs required to produce a final solution, all supported by Virage Logic's experienced development team based in St. Petersburg," said Igor Korneyev, First Deputy Director at MRI Progress, in a statement issued by Virage. "The company has already developed chips for digital television receiver tuners, QFDM [quadrature frequency division multiplexing], and MPEG-2 decoding. We are in the lead for a number of government programs. In particular, we are creating silicon chips to receive and decode digital television broadcasts, for which Virage Logic's ARC Video 401V subsystem is a key component."

"Virage Logic sees great opportunity in the emerging Russian SoC market," said Alex Shubat, president and CEO of Virage Logic, in the same statement. "MRI Progress is a great customer to begin serving this untapped market. The company is headed by Dr. Vladimir Nemudrov, the Russian Federation Honored Man of Science and Technology, professor, and academician. Under his leadership and with nearly 400 successful chip designs to their credit, MRI Progress has the technical expertise to fully utilize the power inherent in the Virage Logic ARC Video subsystem."

"The company has a track record for developing SoCs, ASICs, and mixed-signal RF integrated circuits for communication, digital TV, navigation, radar system and automotive electronics. Their engineers are experienced in all the major EDA design flows and have taped out designs with major foundries inside Russia and elsewhere. Having MRI Progress adopt the ARC Video 401V subsystem gives Virage Logic a major win in this rapidly emerging market," said Dr. Yankin Tanurhan, vice president and general manager Processor, SoC Infrastructure, Application Specific IP, and NVM solutions business units at Virage Logic.

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