A Low-Power Multimedia SoC with Fully Programmable 3D Graphics for Mobile Devices

Abstract

A low-power multimedia SoC integrates a fully programmable 3D graphics for mobile devices with an MPEG4/JPEG codec and H.264 decoder for mobile devices. A mobile unified shader achieves programmable vertex shading and pixel shading in a single die, reducing silicon area and power consumption by 35 percent and 28 percent, respectively. A logarithmic lighting engine and specialized lighting instruction improve the vertex fill rate, including transformations and lighting, to 9.1 million vertices per second. Implemented on a 6.4 mm × 6.4 mm chip with 0.13 ¿m CMOS logic, the SoC consumes less than 195 mW for 3D graphics applications at 1.2 V supply voltage and 100 MHz operating frequency and less than 152 mW for video applications.