Solutions
Amusement
In the field of arcade games and amusement machines, the expressive power of the 3D graphics has risen a notch in recent years. We are now seeing games that give players control from a free perspective in three dimensional space as well as spatial representations that use the depth dimension for displays, and in recent years we have also seen a demand for high resolution, photo-realistic video representations using advanced shader technology and cinematic depictions, as seen in the latest CG animation. As real-time processing allows 3D graphics technology to make further progress to meet these advanced requirements, the entertainment capabilities of arcade games and amusement machines is likely to increase even further.
Application examples
Consumer game consoles, arcade game machines, pachinko machines, slot machines
The advantages of the DMP IP core
Industry standard specifications
The DMP IP core supports various industry standard graphical API specifications that have been established by the Khronos Group. It also complies with industry-standard SoC bus specifications such as OCP and AMBA.
MAESTRO-2G
MAESTRO technology is a 3D graphics extension function that DMP has developed independently, which uses hardware to implement various shader functions. This means that the kind of high quality graphical representations that could previously only be achieved on high end computers are now available for use in various car electronics products, and the procedures for doing so are straightforward.
Super low power consumption
DMP uses optimized graphics pipelines and dynamic clock gating to provide low power solutions that are suitable for amusement machines.
Smaller cores
SoCs for portable devices impose strict cost requirements. (SoC stands for ‘System on Chip’.) The DMP IP core is provided with the smallest gate size of its class available in the industry, which contributes to the development of lower cost SoCs.
Top class graphical processing performance
The DMP IP core does not just have excellent graphical processing performance, it boasts the industry’s highest level of processing performance per unit area of silicon. This delivers efficient graphical rendering at lower silicon cost.
Scalable architecture
The degree of parallelism for the graphics processing pipelines within the DMP IP core can be changed in a scalable manner. This allows the DMP IP core to flexibly support the performance requirements for a wide range of graphics systems, from low-end to high-end graphics systems.
Customization
There are various specifications required for graphics for portable devices. The DMP IP core can be customized flexibly in accordance with your demands, in terms of both software and hardware. IP core customization is supported by DMP’s industry-leading development and testing environment.
DMP IP core products
Handheld game consoles and amusement machines
The MAESTRO technology featured in the DMP IP core can provide a level of shader rendering quality that is normally associated with high end computers, even in amusement machines where the system environment (CPU, memory and so on) is not always fully adequate. The scalable architecture of the DMP IP core can support a wide range of applications, including both handheld game consoles that need to run on batteries and fixed amusement machines where there is a demand for high rendering performance with full high definition resolution. For example, beautiful, realistic 3D video depictions once required high production costs, but by installing the PICA®200 or SMAPH®-S 3D graphics IP cores in handheld game consoles or fixed amusement machines it is now possible to achieve the same level of realism at low cost, and with straightforward procedures.
Case studies of utilizing PICA200
Nintendo Co., Ltd. / Nintendo 3DS™
Graphics LSI designed for the amusement industry/ NV7