Japanese technology company Digital Media Professionals Inc (DMP) has launched what it calls the "world’s smallest GPU IP core" targeting wearables and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The new GPU is called the ultra-small GPU IP core, or 'ant' for short, yet its surface area is just a 0.5mm square, which would be dwarfed by an average ant...
You may not have heard of DMP before but the company has an established track record in 2D and 3D visuals. It specialises in solutions for embedded and automotive markets but has also made GPUs for consumer electronics and mobiles. A product that everyone will know that is powered by a DMP GPU is Nintendo's popular 3DS console. In that handheld console you will find the DMP PICA200 GPU playfully thrusting the quasi-3D pixels about.
The new 'ant' chip is expected to be used in even smaller electronics devices than handheld consoles. DMP sees it becoming a key component in the wearables and IoT markets which everyone expects to be huge, any day soon. Its small size is perfect for supplying the graphics required by small displays such as those built into smartwatches or smartglasses. The GPU is optimised for rendering characters, numerals, figures and forms used in overlay graphic information systems.
Tatsuo Yamamoto, President and CEO at DMP said that "Size and power are the most important factors in incorporating a GPU into the small display with touch panel". The 'ant' is capable of achieving the "lowest power consumption," yet providing a rich UI experience, we are told. "We see the miniaturization of GPUs as a key driver of the small display with rich user interface such as wearables and IoT devices," Yamamoto added.
We should hear more about the exact specifications of the 'ant' at the Computer Vision Seminar 2014 later this month.
