A low power MPEG-4 video codec LSI with the capability for core profile decoding is presented. A 16-b DSP with a vector pipeline architecture and a 32-b arithmetic unit, eight dedicated hardware engines to accelerate MPEG-4 SP@L1 codec, CP@L1 decoding and post video processing, 20-Mb embedded DRAM, and three peripheral blocks are integrated together on a single chip. MPEG-4 SP@L1 codec, CP@L1 decoding and post video processing are realized with a hybrid architecture consisting of a programmable DSP and dedicated hardware engines at low operating frequency. In order to reduce the power consumption, clock gating technique is fully adopted in each hardware block and embedded DRAM is employed. The chip is implemented using 0.18-µm quad-metal CMOS technology, and its die area is 8.8 mm 8.6 mm. The power consumption is 90 mW at a SP@L1 codec and 110 mW at a CP@L1 decoding.

High accuracy, high reliability, and high performance have to be simultaneously satisfied to achieve high productivity of the latest processing equipment. High flexibility is also required because many options are available and processing equipment is modified frequently. A high-assurance-system (HAS) model for processing equipment has been developed according to the concept of an Autonomous Decentralized System (ADS). Heterogeneous devices, that have same function and diverse qualities, are utilized to assure the different requirements of high accuracy, high reliability, and high performance simultaneously. The Data Property (DP) and Assurance Manager (AM) are proposed in this model. Different accuracy, reliability, and performance indices characterize each device, and the DP describes the differences of the properties of the data transmitted from these heterogeneous devices. The AM assures not only high reliability but also high performance and high accuracy by utilizing the heterogeneity of data described by the DP. The HAS model was applied to a device-level system used in processing equipment, and its effectiveness was verified by simulating a pressure-control system.