Fujitsu's Graphics Controllers for Vehicle Navigation

Onboard automotive navigation systems sound like a good idea as long as you pull over before looking at the things or have your co-pilot give you directions. These devices have their own graphics requirements and Fujitsu is one of the companies who are working on making them look good. Fujitsu's new set of graphic display controller devices include two-dimensional and three-dimensional rendering, flexible layers for vehicle navigation requirements, and support for a screen resolution up to XGA 1024 x 768. They include alpha-blending and anti-aliasing capabilities, along with a CPU interface for direct connection to embedded microcontrollers. The MB86290A (named "Cremson") and the enhanced-performance MB86291 "Scarlet" versions provide a range of graphics control, including Z-buffering, flat or Gouraud shading, and bilinear texture mapping. The MB86291 "Scarlet" version is a superset of Cremson. It adds 16 Megabits of embedded SDRAM and accepts video input for display on one of the overlay panels. The Scarlet also doubles graphics processing power and performs 3D rendering operations including transport, clipping, screen projection, and triangle setup. The multiprocessing core, combined with the high-memory bus bandwidth, lets the Scarlet controller specify a sustained rate of one million polygons per second. The Cremson and Scarlet versions provide overlay plane console, window, middle and base-overlay plane layers. The screen can be split into two separate panels and each side can display different information. Alternatively, the panels can display the same map with one side zooming in or out or scrolling up and down while the other remains stationary. Each side can have at least one independent overlay panel that makes use of alpha-blending enabling buttons, arrows and other images to be semi-transparently imposed over the map or other image. Two additional overlay panels, which cover the entire display and cannot be split, are also available.

Two other controllers are also available. The MB87J2120 "Lavender" version offers two-dimensional rendering functions for dashboards, user interfaces in consumer applications, and control panels. The bit-stream formatter and backlight controller are intended to ease connections with LCD panels. The controller supports CRTs and other progressive scanned monitors and displays that are connected through the analog RGB output. The 64MHz Lavender comes with a 32-bit SDRAM interface. The MB87P2020 "Jasmine" controller is an enhanced version of the Lavender, but adds 8 Megabit embedded SDRAM and a video-input interface that accepts a wide range of formats and works with video decoder devices. The Jasmine IC also includes a programmable converter matrix (YUV to RGB) that lets users write YUV formats to layers and then convert them to RGB for scanning. All the new graphics controllers are built using Fujitsu's 0.25 micron CMOS process. Each has an I/O voltage of 3.3V and an internal voltage of 2.5V. A set of evaluation boards is also available now. The MB86290A Cremson version comes in a 240-pin QFP; the MB86291 Scarlet is available in a 208-pin QFP. The MB87P2020 Jasmine and MB87P2120 Lavender come in 256-pin BGA packages. Prices begin at $20 each in 10,000-unit volumes. Keep your eyes on the road.