HL3.OCT–RM–Sierra Semiconductor
Graphics accelerator chip integrates 24-bit RAMDAC
All the functions of a VGA board and GUI accelerator shrink to a single
chip, except for VRAM/DRAM
The Swift single-chip VGA accelerator includes a 24-bit palette, a
dual-clock generator, a super-VGA controller, and a coprocessor for
BITBLT, line drawing, pattern fill, and text acceleration. Its output
video rate ranges from 25 to 80 MHz. Besides the usual benefits of higher
integration–smaller board area and fewer solder joints–the Swift also
has a 24-bit data path to its internal palette, rather than the 8-bit path
found in discrete-chip solutions. Two versions of the chip work with
dynamic RAM (SC15010) or video RAM (SC15012) frame buffers. The company
expects DRAM-based boards using the 15010 to retail at about $150 next
summer. All VGA modes will work using a standard VGA BIOS, such as
PhoenixView. The enhanced modes support VESA Super VGA BIOS extensions.
The vendor offers a product development kit. Options range from schematics
to turnkey packages. The chips were developed jointly with Weitek, under a
cross-license that gives Weitek the Sierra RAMDAC technology and gives
Sierra the Weitek accelerator technology. The digital part of the new chip
consists essentially of the Weitek W5286. Both chips come in 160-pin
plastic quad flatpack. Weitek has a higher-end accelerator�20chip, the
Power 9000, which will be a candidate for RAMDAC integration next year. It
is an adaptation of the company's 8720 graphics engine for Sparc, meant for
EISA and local-bus applications. (SC15010, $30 ea/10,000; SC15012, $40
ea/10,000–samples now, prod qty December; W5286, $20 ea/5,000–available
now.) Sierra Semiconductor San Jose, CA Zaheer Hassan 408-263-9300 Fax
408-263-3337 Weitek Corp., Sunnyvale, CA Bob Butchko
408-738-8400 Fax 408-738-4374
CAPTION FOR DIAGRAM:
Sierra Semiconductor's Hicolor-24 RAMDAC is married to Weitek's low-end
graphics accelerator in the SC15010 single-chip video subsystem.
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