CSSP solution offers simultaneous LCD and video output for handheld devices

In conjunction with development partner, Chrontel the folks at QuickLogic can now enable handheld device developers to add simultaneous video output to their products without sacrificing battery lifetime or burdening the host application processor. The QuickLogic/Chrontel solution has already been adopted by a leading smart phone manufacturer and can be customized to fit a wide range of design needs required by other adopters.

Working in conjunction with Chrontel, QuickLogic addressed three major challenges associated with the simultaneous display of images on both LCD screens and external video devices such as televisions and VGA projectors which have different scan directions.

The first challenge was providing the memory control to manage frame buffers using an X-Y pixel swap that provides correct simultaneous image display on both the portrait-mounted LCD panels common to handheld devices and the landscape-oriented displays of television and video projectors. The second challenge was to accommodate frame- and pixel-rate differences between LCD and various television standards, including NTSC and PAL. The third was to provide this functionality without making excessive demands on system battery power and without requiring host processor intervention beyond setup and configuration.

QuickLogic's CSSP solution leverages the company's ultra-low power programmable fabric technology to implement the memory interfaces, RGB interfaces, X-Y Swap conversion logic, and active power management needed to address these challenges, all in a single device. When coupled with Chrontel's CH7013 TV Encoder and a mobile SDRAM frame buffer, the total design handles all rate conversions and voltage level shifting needed to get input data from the LCD display controller on the application processor and drive the TV encoder device.

Availability
As with all of their CSSP designs, the folks at QuickLogic say that they can adapt their X-Y swap system block to meet a customer's specific needs, speeding time-to-market for developers having unique requirements. For more information and to discuss requirements, contact QuickLogic sales at www.quicklogic.com/sales.