Distinguishing Features
Supports NTSC/PAL/SECAM video input
Worldwide graphics controller compatibility
PC 98/99 compliant
ACPI and power management
Transport stream DMA for ATSC and DVB
digital broadcast
40 Mbps serial I/O
20 MBps parallel I/O
d i g i t a l i n f o t a i n m e n t p r o d u c t s
Conexant's Fusion
TM
Family of PCI Video
Decoders Integrates Broadcast Video and
Data Capture, and Playback in a Single Chip
The newest addition to the Fusion family of PCI video decoders
is the Fusion 878A. It is a multifunctional PCI device based on
the original Bt878/879 products. The Fusion 878A is pin-for-pin
compatible with the Bt878/879, and adds enhanced performance
capabilities in video and broadcast communication services.
Fusion 878A addresses the current analog TV requirements as
well as the evolving digital TV broadcast standards like ATSC
(American Television Standards Committee) and DVB (Digital
Video Broadcast). The Fusion 878A is PC 98 and PC 99 compliant.
Also, Fusion 878A conforms to the Advance Configuration Power
Interface (ACPI) and power management requirements outlined
in the PCI Bus Power Management Specification 1.0.
Fusion 878A integrates more of the external biasing circuitry, which
reduces the overall bill of materials and improves performance
characteristics of video and clocking. This enables customers to
develop cost-effective, yet flexible solutions addressing analog
and digital video.
PCl Video Decoder
F u s i o n
TM
8 7 8 A
PCl Video Decoder
F u s i o n 8 7 8 A
d i g i t a l i n f o t a i n m e n t p r o d u c t s
General Features
Because Fusion 878A is fully compatible with the
current Bt878/879, upgrading to requirements like
PC 98/99 compliance is a minimal investment. Also,
customers can standardize with one PCI video
decoder to enable multiple configurations of TV
cards that address the broad spectrum of broadcast
requirements around the world. Because Fusion 878A
is based on the Bt878/879, customers can continue
to support their products using one software code
base, adding functionality by including additional
software modules.
Features
Bt878 Fusion 878A
All Bt848A Features
X
X
Mono Audio
X
X
DVCR
X
X
PC 99 Compliance
X
ATSC Digital TV
X
DVB
X
Transport Stream DMA
for Digital Television
The analog and digital audio paths have been modified
for increased bandwidth and functionality. The
asynchronous parallel port, which uses the analog
data path, has an increased raw data rate of 20 MBps.
Additionally, the I
2
S port has been modified to handle
data up to 40 Mbps. This added functionality makes
Fusion the ideal choice for ATSC, DVB, DBS, and digital
cable platforms on the PC.
Driver software is available to move transport packet
streams from a wide variety of digital demodulators
to host memory using the Fusion 878A DMA engine.
Therefore, building next-generation digital broadcast
solutions on the proven Bt878 platform is easy and
low risk since the software is incremental to existing
Fusion software.
PC 99 Compliance
ACPI and Power Management Interface
Fusion 878A supports ACPI and the Power
Management Interface 1.0 specifications, making
the Fusion 878A the product of choice for green PC
and notebook applications.
Vital Product Data
Vital Product Data (VPD) is required by PCI specification
version 2.2. Through the Fusion 878A and the use
of an external EEPROM, manufacturers can store
information that identifies the product down to the
serial number. The data is stored in ASCII format
and is accessible through the configuration space
VPD interface registers. This feature provides board
manufacturers and PC OEMs the ability to more
accurately track their product as well as offer
improved or enhanced customer support.
Worldwide Video Support
The Fusion family supports all the features and
flexibility of the Bt848A video solution, including
the integration of a NTSC/PAL/SECAM composite
and S-video decoder, high-quality scaler, and PCI bus
master on a single device. Like the Bt848A, the Fusion family
can place video data directly into host memory for video capture
applications and into a target video display frame buffer for video
overlay applications.
Fusion Software Drivers
Fusion offers a suite of widely fielded software drivers for
Windows 95 and Windows 98. With the VxD drivers, board
developers can support products using either the Windows 95
or Windows 98 operating systems. VxD and WDM drivers provide
video capture, playback and display in accordance with Microsoft's
Video for Windows and Direct Show 2.0, respectively. Dialog
boxes, tuner, GPIO, and I
2
C modules can be modified and
customized by board developers.
Fusion software drivers are supported by the industry's broadest
base of ISV applications commercially available for video editing,
teleconferencing, compression, television on the PC and video
email. Software is available through retail and OEM channels.
Fusion
878A
MPEG II
All Format
Decoder
(optional)
Bt869
(optional)
Analog
and
Digital
Tuner
I
2
C
Composite
and S-Video
OFDM
DVB
ATSC
I
2
S
CCIR 601
Analog Audio/Video in
Digital
Audio/
Video In
GPIO
Graphics
Memory
System
Memory
PCI
BUS
Disk
Digital RGB Out
Analog
RGB/VGA
What is a PCI Video Decoder?
A PCI bus analog video decoder is used for three
primary PC solutions: video capture and editing,
video teleconferencing, and television receiver cards.
A video signal is generated by a video source, which
can be a camera,VCR or TV tuner. The baseband
video that goes into the PCI decoder is a simple
analog signal that contains video analog data and video
synchronization data, which is used to display the
picture properly at the receiving end. The details of
the signal depend on the video standard used --
NTSC (National Television Standards Committee), PAL
(Phase Alternate Line) or SECAM (Systeme Electronique
Couleur Avec Memoire). To transmit the picture, the
source generates a vertical synchronization signal
(VSYNC). This signal resets the receiver (PC monitor)
so that it begins picture display at the top of the screen.
After the VSYNC signal is sent, the video source
scans the first line of the image. Once the scan line
is complete, the camera generates a horizontal
synchronization signal (HSYNC), which resets the
receiver so that it will display the next line starting
at the left-hand edge of the display. For each line of
the image, a scan line and a horizontal synchronization
pulse are sent. The PCI bus attached to the video
decoder is the access mechanism, or hub, for this video
information traveling to the PC. The need for broadcast
data in the PC is a primary reason analog dedicated PC
television receiver cards are becoming very popular.
The introduction of WebTV for Windows and national
broadcaster support of Vertical Blanking Interval (VBI)
content contribute to addressing the need for a feature
rich, broadcast data function in the PC. PCI video
decoder solutions provide the most effective means
to achieve this.
Digital television receiver for the PC
f e a t u r e s a n d s p e c i f i c a t i o n s
UltralockTM and Scaling Support
Fusion 878A, like the Bt848A, Bt878, and Bt879, utilizes Conexant's patented
Ultralock technology that locks to an incoming analog video signal. Ultralock
is able to recognize unstable video signals caused by VCR headswitches or
any other video source, and adapt the locking mechanism to accommodate
the source.
Fusion is able to scale the video image size both vertically and horizontally,
using arbitrarily-selected scaling ratios. The X and Y dimensions can be
scaled to one-sixteenth of full resolution. Vertical scaling is implemented
with Conexant's industry-leading 5-tap vertical filter.
Byte Alignment
Byte alignment is used to improve video performance in packed color
modes. Often, video applications are written around the planar, not the
packed color mode of operation. The result is video which is not DWORD
aligned. To the end user, the color of the video appears misrepresented,
showing more R, G, or B (Red, Green, or Blue) than is actually there.
Fusion compensates for non-DWORD aligned data by aligning each
DWORD with the correct byte lanes in the targeted address.
Product Features
Supports multistandard NTSC/PAL/SECAM
video decoding
Two DMA channels for simultaneous
transmission of digital video and/or HDTV/
audio/MPEG2 transport data across PCI bus
Supports downstream HDTV transport data
via DMA at rates of 40 Mbps in serial mode
and 20 MBps in parallel mode
Can interface to VSB or OFDM demodulators
Selectable pixel density available - 8, 16, 24,
and 32-bits per pixel
Supports planar YUV, YCrCb, RGB pixel
data formats
Supports complex clipping of video source
and VGA video overlay if needed
Executes Windows 98 `Scatter and Gather'
4 composite and 1 S-Video inputs concurrently
Chroma and luma comb filters/scalers
Horizontal scaling and vertical cropping
Filters and scales Y/C video with a 6-tap
luma/2-tap chroma polyphase circuit block
VBI data capture circuitry and software for
closed captioning and teletext
Accepts mono line level and MIC audio signals
Supports Microsoft's Direct Sound API
Performs audio capture without additional
analog audio cable to sound card
PCI Rev. 2.2 compliant
WHQL-certifiable
Packaged in compact 128-pin plastic QFP
PC 98/99 compliant
Benefits
Worldwide support for all television standards
WHQL certification
Drop-in replacement for the Bt878 and Bt879
Preserves customers existing software
investment in drivers and applications
Supports the transport stream DMA for ATSC
and DVB digital broadcast as well as
hardware digital VCR solutions
Applications
Television on the PC
PC radio
WebTV for Windows
DTV
DBS
Digital cable
Video email, video editing and video phone
Motion video and still frame capture
VBI data services capture (Teletext/NABITS)
www.conexant.com
Further Information
literature@conexant.com
(800) 854-8099 (North America)
(949) 483-6996 (International)
Order # 100532B
00-0416
Digital Infotainment
Printed in USA
World Headquarters
Conexant Systems, Inc.
4311 Jamboree Road
Newport Beach, CA
92660-3007
Phone: (949) 483-4600
Fax 1: (949) 483-4078
Fax 2: (949) 483-4391
Americas
U.S. Northwest/Pacific Northwest
Santa Clara
Phone: (408) 249 -9696
Fax: (408) 249 -7113
U.S. Southwest Los Angeles
Phone: (805) 376 -0559
Fax: (805) 376 - 8180
U.S. Southwest Orange County
Phone: (949) 483-9119
Fax: (949) 483-9090
U.S. Southwest San Diego
Phone: (858) 713-3374
Fax: (858) 713-4001
U.S. North Central Illinois
Phone: (630) 773-3454
Fax: (630) 773 -3907
U.S. South Central Texas
Phone: (972) 733-0723
Fax: (972) 407- 0639
U.S. Northeast Massachusetts
Phone: (978) 367-3200
Fax: (978) 256 - 6868
U.S. Southeast North Carolina
Phone: (919) 858 -9110
Fax: (919) 858 - 8669
U.S. Southeast Florida/
South America
Phone: (727) 799 - 8406
Fax: (727) 799 - 8306
U.S. Mid-Atlantic Pennsylvania
Phone: (215) 244- 6784
Fax: (215) 244- 9292
Canada Ontario
Phone: (613) 271-2358
Fax: (613) 271-2359
Europe
Europe Central Germany
Phone: +49 89 829 -1320
Fax: +49 89 834-2734
Europe North England
Phone: +44 1344 486444
Fax: +44 1344 486555
Europe Israel/Greece
Phone: +972 9 9524000
Fax: +972 9 9573732
Europe South France
Phone: +33 1 41 44 36 51
Fax: +33 1 41 44 36 90
Europe Mediterranean Italy
Phone: +39 02 93179911
Fax: +39 02 93179913
Europe Sweden
Phone: +46 (0) 8 5091 4319
Fax: +46 (0) 8 590 041 10
Europe Finland
Phone: +358 (0) 9 85 666 435
Fax: +358 (0) 9 85 666 220
Asia Pacific
Taiwan
Phone: (886 -2) 2-720-0282
Fax: (886 -2) 2-757- 6760
Australia
Phone: (61-2) 9869 4088
Fax: (61-2) 9869 4077
China Central
Phone: 86 -21- 6361-2515
Fax: 86 -21- 6361-2516
China South
Phone: (852) 2 827- 0181
Fax: (852) 2 827- 6488
China South (Satellite)
Phone: (86) 755 -5182495
China North
Phone: (86 -10) 8529 - 9777
Fax: (86 -10) 8529 - 9778
India
Phone: (91-11) 692-4789
Fax: (91-11) 692 -4712
Korea
Phone: (82-2) 565-2880
Fax: (82-2) 565-1440
Korea (Satellite)
Phone: (82-53) 745-2880
Fax: (82-53) 745-1440
Singapore
Phone: (65) 737 7355
Fax: (65) 737 9077
Japan
Phone: (81-3) 5371 1520
Fax: (81-3) 5371 1501
Conexant and the Conexant symbol are trademarks of Conexant Systems, Inc.
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