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A back-end decoder must be able to handle different operating systems and separate
middleware--Java for Blu-ray and Microsoft's HDi for HD. Some HD-DVD players are
based on Windows CE, others on Linux. ST's universal player platform, for example,
is built on Linux so as to cater to both HD and Blu-ray.
"You need to pay close attention to each spec, anticipate changes in the future and
architect a chip with the right partitioning of software and hardware so that there will
be a built-in flexibility," said ST's Lagomichos.
Broadcom's Shulsinger said the specs must be compared carefully to ensure that
each device supports the more stringent requirements of the two. The specs
themselves can be a moving target. Blu-ray Profile 2, for example, requires the
system to connect to the Internet and decode two video streams. The chip decodes
the primary stream in high definition and the second either in standard or high def,
though dual HD streams may soon be required. That would mean "adding more
memory to a chip”, Shulsinger said.
More difficult challenges include cases in which one format supports items that the
other does not, Shulsinger said. For example, both formats support the Advanced
Access Content System, but Blu-ray requires an additional layer of encryption,
known as BD+. An even bigger hurdle is the different programming environment.
"It's the underlying software infrastructure that requires the huge effort" to make the
decoder chip's software robust enough to work properly in both environments,
Shulsinger said.
Both ST and Broadcom plan to enter the front-end IC business as well. ST is working
with a Japanese chip vendor that supplies ICs for optical drives. Broadcom is
considering partnering with another vendor strong in the optical drive market. It's
inevitable that a DSP and the analog chips used in the front end will be integrated
into the back-end decoder IC, said Shulsinger.
The optical side looms as a daunting technical issue. "The bottleneck is optical
units," said NEC's Niitsu.
Either a dual-format optical pickup unit or two separate optical pickup units would be
necessary for any universal player, said iSuppli's Crotty, because each format stores
information at a different depth on the disk.
Ricoh, for one, is developing an objective lens that can read and write disks of both
formats. NEC has developed a front-end chip set consisting of two processors: the
µPC3360, an analog signal processor that controls the optical pickup and reads out
data from disks, and the µPD63410, a digital signal processor for data processing
such as error correction.
NEC's chip set is designed to control read/write operations and process data from all
the disks of 16 formats, including Blu-ray, HD-DVD, standard DVD and CDs (and I
add, “according to other sources this chip would start shipping Apr 07”).
ST's Nurser predicted that the cost delta for dual drives will become "very low" in
2007. Asked how much, he declined to comment, noting that he received the
information under a nondisclosure agreement.”
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