Embedded Gstreamer for TI DaVinci Chips

TechGranny writes "Linux Devices is reporting that MPEG-4 vendor Ateme has ported the GStreamer framework to the newest generation of Texas Instruments DaVinci chips. This audio/video platform uses an embedded engine dubbed Easee. Ateme says they are targeting applications such as video security, video conferencing, IP-STBs (IP set top boxes), PMPs (portable media players), digital media adapters, and 'many others.'"

Comments

A good development

[Wesley Felter]

Just the other day I was reading about all the complexity and licensing issues that Neuros is having with TI chips, and I thought "if only they had GStreamer".

It remains to be seen what effect this will have on the GStreamer community, as cheap DaVinci hardware may never find its way into hackers' hands.

Adding heterogeneous multiprocessing support to GStreamer may also help when it comes time to run it on the PS3.

Re:A good development

[jwagner95]

It remains to be seen what effect this will have on the GStreamer community, as cheap DaVinci hardware may never find its way into hackers' hands.

What do you mean by cheap hardware? Do you mean fully designed, implemented and commercially available set top boxes, HUDs, etc. or the DaVinci DSPs themselves. The processor is tentatively priced in the $40-50 range for quantities of 1,000. For less than a few hundred bucks you should be able to design a prototype using said processor. If the DaVinci modified GStreamer source code is released (as it should according to the GPL) then it may not be all that expensive money wise for the dedicated hacker. This sounds like a great project to bring open-source hardware (i.e., opencores.org) and open-source software communities together. Of course, the time investment will be expensive, but it shouldn't be overly difficult to develop open source codecs such as OGG-Vorbis to plug in to GStreamer for the DaVinci hardware.

Even the evaluation modules and the development kit aren't too pricey for serious development. For under $15,000 you have everything needed for development. Plus, both versions of the development kit come with MontaVista Linux Professional Edition packaged with them. While that may be too expensive for the average hacker, it's not completely unfeasible to see a development based on the architecture pop up in the open community.

Having an open source starting point such as GStreamer available definitely boosts the feasibility of an open-source hardware and software Tivo-killer, DVR or other set-top box.

Re:A good development

[Wesley Felter]

What do you mean by cheap hardware? Do you mean fully designed, implemented and commercially available set top boxes, HUDs, etc.

Yes. Consider examples such as the Linksys WRT54G, TiVo, Sharp Zaurus, or Neuros products; these have probably enabled ten times as much cool hacking as developer boards have. Besides low price, complete products allow incremental hacking; the product has some useful features when you buy it and thus hackers can focus on adding features rather than starting from scratch (or a fairly low-level base platform, such as MontaVista).

Re:A good development

[jwagner95]

Fair enough. I think with the advent of the GStreamer being ported to the DaVinci platform and the fact that the development kit comes with MontaVista, makes it much more likely that an affordable, hackable device will be released. The device's price range is in the middle of the road as far as DSPs are concerned, so we should be able to see devices in the home theater enthusiast market with open source roots within the next few years.

Would programming on these chips be called...

[jbarr]

DaVinci Code?

[ducks from assorted flying debris...]

Codec we would love to see

[ZivZoolander]

I would love to see these chips be able to decode OGG-Vorbis, but maybe the cheese stands alone on this one.

Yay for trademarkable mispellings!

[Rob T Firefly]

This audio/video platform uses an embedded engine dubbed Easee.

I can hardly wait to write Easee code, possibly while eating Cheez Whiz and drinking Bud Lite, or perhaps Coca Cola Blak, followed up with some Krispy Kreme.

Cool!

[SchwarzeReiter]

This is the 25.000th way of watching Desperate Housewives. How fantastic! Im the only one who misses new developments in areas other than entertainment and gaming? Yeah, the article mentioned security applications, but anyway. We aren't really able to establish an intercontinental phone connection without massive amount of white noise, but we have thousand ways for watching TV while driving.

A good [MPEG2] development

[Anonymous Coward]

"It remains to be seen what effect this will have on the GStreamer community, as cheap DaVinci hardware may never find its way into hackers' hands."

Well there's always the C-Cube iDVx chip

would be amazing

[LordMyren]

world class amazing
sadly proprietary
fucknuts, could have been

a haiku,
-LM