Mario Manninger
austriamicrosystems

This paper discusses the development of austriamicrosystems' second generation multimedia platform and derivative products. The advantages of the System-in-a-Package (SiP) solution over System-on-Chip solutions are explained in detail. Performance-critical IP-blocks were developed by an austriamicrosystems design team; other IP blocks from different vendors were used to speed up development time and reduce cost.

The criteria for selection and purchase of IP blocks are investigated and problems with integration of some of the blocks are discussed. Many different computer-aided design (CAD) tools were used in development, but there are still tasks, especially in the area of hardware/software co-design and in the design of SiP, which cannot be effectively managed with commercially available tools. Close cooperation between the hardware and software teams was therefore required to achieve optimal performance.