1998-02-02 , S/IC-2004/460

Philips Semiconductors has announced its  TriMedia™ Developers' Kit to support designers developing multimedia software applications and products. Based on the award- winning TM-1000 media processor and some of the industry's most advanced software tools, the new Developers' Kit provides users with all the necessary hardware and software to design multimedia applications for the TriMedia processor.

"The Trimedia Developers' Kit includes innovative software development tools that enable multimedia application creation and performance tuning entirely in C and C++ as opposed to the machine level coding necessary on other programmable media processors," said Luciane Marques, director of marketing for Philips Semiconductors' TriMedia Product Group. "The Kit brings the TriMedia processor's powerful, programmable architecture to a much broader array of multimedia developers."

The new Kit features a TriMedia Reference Design Board with a TriMedia processor, the TriMedia Software Development Environment (SDE), including the unique very-long instruction word (VLIW) C compiler, a simulator, application code modules, extensive documentation, and video training materials. The SDE streamlines development, porting and optimisation of applications, and its compilation system handles all of the VLIW instruction scheduling which allows a TriMedia TM-1000 processor to achieve up to 4 billion operations per second.

The Kit also includes access to an online Web discussion group and password access to the TriMedia Developers' Web site, which provides additional technical information, FAQs and application notes. Video and modem cables are included with the Kit. System requirements include a PC with at least one available PCI slot, at least 60MB disk space and 32MB RAM.

The Trimedia Developers' Kit is available in the USA now through Philips Semiconductors. Third-party companies will also offer TriMedia Developers' Kits based on the software, documentation and reference designs. Momentum Data Systems (MDS) in the USA will be the first vendor to sell and distribute the Kit. They will also manufacture boards, offer live customer support, conduct training classes and develop optimised code modules.

"Philips Semiconductors has designed a comprehensive Kit for third party developers who are looking to develop new software algorithms and applications based on the company's flexible technology," said Jerry Purcell, president and chief executive officer of MDS. "Our partnership with Philips Semiconductors' TriMedia Product Group is a natural extension of our commitment to provide high-quality hardware complemented by software that is intuitive and easy-to-use."

The TriMedia Developers' Kit is priced at $4,995 USD, which includes tax and shipping costs. To stimulate and encourage academic projects and developments, there is a special program available to qualified universities. To order, please call +1 408-991-3838.

Philips Semiconductors' TriMedia Product Group was established in 1994 and is based in Sunnyvale, California. The mission of the product group is to bring to market high- performance, programmable multimedia processor technology that will power the next generation of multimedia products at an affordable price. The TriMedia Product Group's Web site is  http://cdrom.semiconductors.com/trimedia/.

Philips Semiconductors, a division of Philips Electronics NV, headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, is the ninth largest semiconductor supplier in the world and the fourth largest supplier of discretes in the world. Philips Semiconductors' innovations in digital audio, video, and mobile technology position the company as a leader in the consumer, multimedia and wireless communications markets. Sales offices are located in all major markets around the world and are supported by systems labs.

TriMedia is a Trademark of Philips Electronics North America Corporation. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.