DM365 Announced Today!

I stickied this post for a couple of weeks to help get the word out.

If anyone has any questions on the new DM365 release feel free to reply here or make a new thread if you believe you have a seperate specific topic.

After going through the datasheet, I understand it has two coprocessors for video encoding/decoding, namely  MJCP(as in DM355) and HD-VICP(as in DM6467). Could you tell whether the HD-VICP is same as that of DM6467 ? If yes, will there be two possible ways of migrating code(from either DM355 or DM6467) ?

Could you tell something about comparison of prices and power profiles among other alternative SoCs, like DM355, DM6446 and DM6467 ?

SandipRay said:

Could you tell whether the HD-VICP is same as that of DM6467 ? If yes, will there be two possible ways of migrating code(from either DM355 or DM6467) ?

The HDVICP will have the same basic functionality, however the DM6467 also has reliance on the C64x+ core (not present in DM365) depending on the codec you are running, so not everything will be directly migrate-able to the DM365 from DM6467, on the other hand the DM355 is even more similar with the MJCP. From an application software perspective all three of the parts will run about the same as they are all ARM9 devices running Linux and similar DVSDK software stacks, the difference will be on the codec back end which is typically done by TI anyway.

SandipRay said:

Could you tell something about comparison of prices and power profiles among other alternative SoCs, like DM355, DM6446 and DM6467 ?

From a power consumption perspective DM355 will be the lowest followed by DM6446 and DM365 (I have not seen power numbers for 365 yet but it should be > 355 but < 6467) with the highest power consumption being the DM6467. Note that power figures are highly dependent on your application, so depending on what you do with the parts which uses more may vary.

From a cost perspective for 100 unit quantities assuming base speed grade you are looking at around: DM355 - $14, DM365 - $36, DM6446 - $39, DM6467 - $77, of course you want to work with your local distributor for a real price quote, these are just figures from the TI website and are a rough guideline.

Thanks for the useful information.

It has been mentioned in SPRAAU4–March 2009 that "The DM36x HD-VICP is similar to the HD-VICP in the DM6467 SoC". In another section it is mentioned as "Hardwired video accelerator for H.264 and WMV-9/VC-1, including ARM968".

Could you tell what is the programming model for HD-VICP in DM365 ? Is it a single high level API(like process call in xDM) or several lower level APIs implemented for various modules of H.264 codec. I am thinking whether it is a fully hardwared H.264 codec or there are scope of programmability to tune the encoded bitstream.

From a user perspective, my understanding is that it will be a black box setup, essentially with the full software package you should receive ARM/Linux codec software that will leverage the HDVICP/MJCP hardware behind the scenes, how configurable this codec black box will be is yet to be seen as it is still being developed.

Typically only third party codec developers will have access to programming the hardware accelerators directly, so if you are looking to develop your own codec you will probably want to work with your local TI sales office as you may need NDA and local support to use the accelerator hardware directly (which not everyone qualifies for). Typically I would suggest avoiding this route if at all possible as the accelerators are highly complex, in most customer use cases the provided codecs are the best route.

Is it possible to use the DM365 for real time 720p/1080i/1080p24 HD MPEG-2 encoding? The input would be digital YCbCr 4:2:2 and the output a transport stream. I read that the TMS320DM6467 could be used for this by doing chroma subsampling with the VDCE, video encoding with HDVICP, and handling the transport stream with the TSIF module. However, the DM365 lacks VDCE and TSIF. Could this be done with the DM365 alone? or perhaps with some external help (FPGA)?

What BSP DM365 uses? Which MontaVista? How is it different form DM355 SDK? We just ordered evaluation board for DM365 and I would like to start explore DM365 BSP ASP and port our system to it. How can I get BSP before evaluation package?

Chuckylo said:

Is it possible to use the DM365 for real time 720p/1080i/1080p24 HD MPEG-2 encoding?

Currently the plan is for up to 1080p24 support with MPEG4, there is a MPEG2 on the roadmap though I have not seen any peformance figures for it, there should be a beta MPEG2 codec around June/July by the current schedule. I would consider this preliminary, there should be more solid numbers for codec capability as the codecs themselves become available.

The BSP is Monta Vista Pro 5 with Linux kernal 2.6.18 including full peripheral driver support for the DM365 EVM.  Once you get your board, you will have an the BSP included in DVD form to get started right away.  You'll also be given specific instructions on how to register to receive SW updates.  The DM365 BSP includes additional drivers for an added EMAC, voice codec, host processor interface and more.  It also offers H.264 enc/dec as well as MP3 enc/dec in addition to what's included in the DM355 BSP.  If you have would like to recieve an early SW drop or need more specific information, please contact your local TI representative who can provide even more assistance.

Constantine Shulyupin said:

What BSP DM365 uses? Which MontaVista?

There will be a support package for the DM365 based on Monta Vista Pro 5.0.

Constantine Shulyupin said:

How is it different form DM355 SDK?

The big difference at the moment will be the move to MV Pro 5.0 (which is coming to DM355), and of course the drivers that support DM365. Also note that the SDK you get with the early adopter EVM you have ordered will not have the full DVSDK package yet (i.e. no multimedia software stack, codecs, codec engine, etc), it will just have the basic Linux functionality and driver package. Once the full DVSDK is ready (targeting April/May) than the software package will look almost the same as the DM355 version, just with some different codecs and drivers.

Constantine Shulyupin said:

We just ordered evaluation board for DM365 and I would like to start explore DM365 BSP ASP and port our system to it. How can I get BSP before evaluation package?

The initial SDK (BSP) is not yet publicly available, once you receive your EVM you will get an access code to download the SDK (this is explained by the paperwork in the box). At the moment there is no way to get the SDK without first getting the board, though keep in mind the porting should be fairly straight forward, since you end up using the same driver and codec engine interfaces, your application code should be almost the same. Also note that the SDK as it exists today is probably not capible of handling your full system as the codecs and multimedia stack are still being developed (even the SDK/BSP itself is still changing), so even if you had it, it would do you little good for a full port, the initial release is primarily to allow the board to get into customer hands with some basic functionality, getting the software installed and building ARM side code.

Note that all timelines mentioned here are preliminary and are potentially subject to change.

EDIT: Stephanie has the most up to date information on the release plans posted above, I ended up not seeing her update until after I hit the post button on this one.

I have very actual and important question. DM365 overview states next features: video stabilization, face detection. Can you clarify this capabilities? I just need few word about functionality placed in Image Signal Processor (ISP).

1.  I tried ordering the EVM online but the website says the shipping will only start in may. Is it possible to get the software before that date so that work can start without the board.

2. The DM365 FAQ (sprt514.pdf) says "The DM365 processor at 270 MHz is priced at U.S. $21.20 at 100 units" but I can't find this figure anywhere else on TI website. Is that figure correct? Its the most important thing for my project.

3. What is the performance difference between 270 and 300Mhz processor in terms of feature support?

PSP said:

DM365 overview states next features: video stabilization, face detection. Can you clarify this capabilities? I just need few word about functionality placed in Image Signal Processor (ISP).

There is hardware support for face detection built into the ISP, as well as acceleration for video stabilization, so the ARM loading from these should be relatively small. These features will cost extra over the base DM365 (for example a part number variation for the DM365 with face detection), however I do not have details on that yet which is why I was delaying in answering.

Ali Danish Rizvi said:

1.  I tried ordering the EVM online but the website says the shipping will only start in may. Is it possible to get the software before that date so that work can start without the board.

Currently there is not, the software is still somewhat incomplete as well, though by the time the boards ship there will be a beta version of the DVSDK available.

Ali Danish Rizvi said:

2. The DM365 FAQ (sprt514.pdf) says "The DM365 processor at 270 MHz is priced at U.S. $21.20 at 100 units" but I can't find this figure anywhere else on TI website. Is that figure correct? Its the most important thing for my project.

Currently the only pricing listed is for the 300MHz on the product folder, as the device transitions to the production version the additional clock frequency options will be added to the product folder. Note that for finalized pricing you will want to work with your preferred authorized distributor.

Ali Danish Rizvi said:

3. What is the performance difference between 270 and 300Mhz processor in terms of feature support?

This just provides extra ARM bandwidth, currently there are no features lost by the 270MHz version.

For some additional details on DM365 please see this new Wiki article DM365 Introductory Information, including on going updated information such as the codec availability schedule.

Hello, Can you elaborate: what are the latency figures that can be acheived using the DM365 (and the HDVICP inside it)

to encode D1 stream in H.264 and send it over the 100pbs Ethernet interface?

For example, for a standard D1 IP-camera application, what will be the latency in mili-seconds from analog frame input

to IP stream output (H.264 encoded)?

Is there a need for special coding techniques or a special software package in order to minimize the latency?

Are there any published details on the video stabilizer. It is mentioned on DM365 Introductory Information, the main TI page, and the front page of the datasheet and that's all I can find. It isn't mentioned in the VPFE at all.

I presume there is (or was) going to be a special chip variant with this support like there is with the Face detection?

Will this module do the calculations and provide feedback to a optical stabiliser to stabalise the image? i.e. it needs to be used in conjunction with a suitable lense and it provides the motor control signals to the lense. I can't really see how it could correct each frame on the way through the VPFE

Russell said:

I presume there is (or was) going to be a special chip variant with this support like there is with the Face detection?

I believe this is the case, you probably want to work with your local TI contact on any details though, there is no public specification of the capability I am aware of. In general details of how the video stabilization works would be under NDA if it is available at all.

mr bernie

i have more trouble in starting the steps to install the dvsdk software im working in tms320dm365

i follow the procedure  http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/GSG:_DVSDK_2.0_Software_Setup_in_Ubuntu

but im getting upto EVM mode ,after that i getting some error like as follows

DM365 EVM:>setenv nfshost 192.168.72.136

DM365 EVM:>setenv rootpath /home/dms365/workdir/filesys

DM365 EVM:>setenv bootargs 'console=ttyS0,115200n8 noinitrd rw ip=dhcp rootdelay=10 root=/dev/nfs nfsroot=$(nfshost):$(rootpath),nolock mem=76M video=davincifb:vid0=OFF:vid1=OFF:osd0=720x576x16,4050K dm365_imp.oper_mode=0 davinci_capture.device_type=4'

DM365 EVM:>saveenv

DM365 EVM:>boot


Wrong Image Format for bootm command
ERROR: can't get kernel image!

i followed only the above  website,do i want to install the following:

• linux-davinci-staging.tar.gz 
• linuxlibs-####.##-armv5te.tar.gz 
• dvsdk_#_##_##_##_Setup.bin
• arago-demo-image-dm####-evm.tar.gz

please reply me eagerly waitng

VS