Standardized video interface eases design process and reduces time-to-market

Video ICs are composed of several signal processing units that perform different tasks such as filtering, changing the sampling rate or mixing different data streams. In most cases these blocks are connected to form a processing chain, where one block receives signals from the preceding one. To develop an IC more effectively, it is desired to reuse the known cores. The design of several video ICs in the past resulted in a lot of cores being available. The problem, however, is that all blocks are defined by their own timings which rarely fit into new surroundings. Therefore the adaptation, or even the revision of one or more blocks may become necessary. The paper describes a general approach to unify the interfaces of all video processing cores, so that a core-based design is simplified. A newly developed 100 Hz upconversion IC is presented whose processing blocks are equipped with the interface described.