Chromatic Research
Encyclopedia
Chromatic Research Inc. was a company based in Mountain View, California
that developed a multifunction multimedia device for PCs called the MPACT! The company was formerly known as Xenon Microsystems Corporation. Chromatic Research, Inc. was founded in 1993. The founders came from Kubota
, Showgraphics, Convex
and RAMBUS
. The hardware technology for the MPACT! was a programmable
VLIW and SIMD
media processor that implemented a video
, audio
and modem
device. The purpose of the solution was to be a single chip or add-in card that removed the need for separate graphics, audio and modem devices. The MPACT briefly sold as a fully functioning add in card and as a DVD
decoder solution.
of the MPACT! media processor was distinguished in that it used a large addressable SRAM
in place of registers
, but had 4 special purpose registers for being able to address its 72 bit SRAM entries indirectly (a feature also seen in Intel's Itanium
processor). By being based on 9 bit
byte
s instead of 8 bit bytes, this was the equivalent of adding a sign bit
to each byte which is very useful for MPEG decoding. One of the founders was also a founder of RAMBUS, and not surprisingly, the MPACT used RDRAM
as its memory technology. The chip could DMA
data into contiguous SRAM entries asynchronously with other ALU
operations which made the design very parallel and able to absorb the long latencies of RAMBUS's RDRAM while sustaining high throughput.
The MPACT was unlike other fixed functionality hardware solutions in that the hardware only supplied the bare minimum hardware support (the various DACs
) along with the MPACT! processor. All of the higher level functionality was handled in software
written for the MPACT!. This made the solution highly flexible. So even though the DVD standard was established after the creation of the MPACT!, a decoder
solution was developed without impact on the chip design. Similarly, the 56K modem
standards were developed after the original MPACT! chip design was completed.
In a press release, the company claimed to make the first device capable of sustaining a billion operations per second (a "BOP"). This feat (remarkable considering that the part ran at 120 MHz) was due in large part to its specialized SIMD MPEG instructions. Similar instructions were eventually added to Intel's MMX x86 instruction set
extensions.
CPU that did not see the light of day.
Chromatic Research was noted for having a very large number of employees (around 350 at its peak) given the limited scope of what it was doing throughout its lifetime.
makers made it impossible for the company to sustain its overhead. During the development of the MPACT, 3D graphics
became an important feature for PCs and the MPACT was not well designed for 3D. So although it delivered excellent 2D graphics
performance, state of the art audio capabilities and accelerated video playback (in a time when CPUs could not perform DVD playback unassisted), the lack luster 3D performance was fatal to its market acceptance.
High level discussions reportedly took place between Chromatic Research and 3DFX
at a time when Chromatic did not have a good 3D story, and 3DFX did not have a good 2D story. However these discussions did not bear fruit as Chromatic underestimated the importance of 3D, and 3DFX decided to invest a lot of time and energy to integrate 2D into their Voodoo line of GPUs.
Another difficulty for the company was the burden of creating all of the different software libraries required by the different market segments was being shouldered entirely by the company itself. The company was not able to interest its customers to create this software nor create a revenue stream that was large enough to cover its development cost.
Of note, is the fact that it went through more than 5 rounds of funding. The lifespan of the company was roughly 1994 to 1998. In 1998 the company laid off half its employees and shortly thereafter was acquired by ATI
Technologies.
Mountain View, California
-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...
that developed a multifunction multimedia device for PCs called the MPACT! The company was formerly known as Xenon Microsystems Corporation. Chromatic Research, Inc. was founded in 1993. The founders came from Kubota
Kubota
, is a tractor and heavy equipment manufacturer based in Osaka, Japan. One of its notable contributions was to the construction of the Solar Ark. The company was established in 1890.The company produces many products including:...
, Showgraphics, Convex
Convex Computer
Convex Computer Corporation was a company that developed, manufactured and marketed vector minisupercomputers and supercomputers for small-to-medium-sized businesses. Their later Exemplar series of parallel computing machines were based on the Hewlett-Packard PA-RISC microprocessors, and in 1995,...
and RAMBUS
Rambus
Rambus Incorporated , founded in 1990, is a technology licensing company. The company became well known for its intellectual property based litigation following the introduction of DDR-SDRAM memory.- History :...
. The hardware technology for the MPACT! was a programmable
Computer program
A computer program is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer. A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor. The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute...
VLIW and SIMD
SIMD
Single instruction, multiple data , is a class of parallel computers in Flynn's taxonomy. It describes computers with multiple processing elements that perform the same operation on multiple data simultaneously...
media processor that implemented a video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
, audio
Sound
Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.-Propagation of...
and modem
Modem
A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
device. The purpose of the solution was to be a single chip or add-in card that removed the need for separate graphics, audio and modem devices. The MPACT briefly sold as a fully functioning add in card and as a DVD
DVD-Video
DVD-Video is a consumer video format used to store digital video on DVD discs, and is currently the dominant consumer video format in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia. Discs using the DVD-Video specification require a DVD drive and a MPEG-2 decoder...
decoder solution.
The MPACT!
The architectureMicroarchitecture
In computer engineering, microarchitecture , also called computer organization, is the way a given instruction set architecture is implemented on a processor. A given ISA may be implemented with different microarchitectures. Implementations might vary due to different goals of a given design or...
of the MPACT! media processor was distinguished in that it used a large addressable SRAM
Static random access memory
Static random-access memory is a type of semiconductor memory where the word static indicates that, unlike dynamic RAM , it does not need to be periodically refreshed, as SRAM uses bistable latching circuitry to store each bit...
in place of registers
Processor register
In computer architecture, a processor register is a small amount of storage available as part of a CPU or other digital processor. Such registers are addressed by mechanisms other than main memory and can be accessed more quickly...
, but had 4 special purpose registers for being able to address its 72 bit SRAM entries indirectly (a feature also seen in Intel's Itanium
Itanium
Itanium is a family of 64-bit Intel microprocessors that implement the Intel Itanium architecture . Intel markets the processors for enterprise servers and high-performance computing systems...
processor). By being based on 9 bit
Bit
A bit is the basic unit of information in computing and telecommunications; it is the amount of information stored by a digital device or other physical system that exists in one of two possible distinct states...
byte
Byte
The byte is a unit of digital information in computing and telecommunications that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, a byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the basic addressable element in many computer...
s instead of 8 bit bytes, this was the equivalent of adding a sign bit
Sign bit
In computer science, the sign bit is a bit in a computer numbering format that indicates the sign of a number. In IEEE format, the sign bit is the leftmost bit...
to each byte which is very useful for MPEG decoding. One of the founders was also a founder of RAMBUS, and not surprisingly, the MPACT used RDRAM
RDRAM
Direct Rambus DRAM or DRDRAM is a type of synchronous dynamic RAM. RDRAM was developed by Rambus inc., in the mid-1990s as a replacement for then-prevalent DIMM SDRAM memory architecture....
as its memory technology. The chip could DMA
Direct memory access
Direct memory access is a feature of modern computers that allows certain hardware subsystems within the computer to access system memory independently of the central processing unit ....
data into contiguous SRAM entries asynchronously with other ALU
Arithmetic logic unit
In computing, an arithmetic logic unit is a digital circuit that performs arithmetic and logical operations.The ALU is a fundamental building block of the central processing unit of a computer, and even the simplest microprocessors contain one for purposes such as maintaining timers...
operations which made the design very parallel and able to absorb the long latencies of RAMBUS's RDRAM while sustaining high throughput.
The MPACT was unlike other fixed functionality hardware solutions in that the hardware only supplied the bare minimum hardware support (the various DACs
Digital-to-analog converter
In electronics, a digital-to-analog converter is a device that converts a digital code to an analog signal . An analog-to-digital converter performs the reverse operation...
) along with the MPACT! processor. All of the higher level functionality was handled in software
Computer software
Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....
written for the MPACT!. This made the solution highly flexible. So even though the DVD standard was established after the creation of the MPACT!, a decoder
Codec
A codec is a device or computer program capable of encoding or decoding a digital data stream or signal. The word codec is a portmanteau of "compressor-decompressor" or, more commonly, "coder-decoder"...
solution was developed without impact on the chip design. Similarly, the 56K modem
56K modem
56k modems are voiceband modems nominally capable of download speeds up to 56 kbit/s . In the late 1990s, they were the most popular access method for personal Internet usage, but their use had declined as broadband technologies such as DSL gained wider availability.-Speed:The 56 kbit/s...
standards were developed after the original MPACT! chip design was completed.
In a press release, the company claimed to make the first device capable of sustaining a billion operations per second (a "BOP"). This feat (remarkable considering that the part ran at 120 MHz) was due in large part to its specialized SIMD MPEG instructions. Similar instructions were eventually added to Intel's MMX x86 instruction set
X86 instruction listings
The x86 instruction set has been extended several times, introducing wider registers and datatypes and/or new functionality.-x86 integer instructions:...
extensions.
Miscellaneous
In a parallel project, the company was also working on a media enabled x86 compatibleX86 architecture
The term x86 refers to a family of instruction set architectures based on the Intel 8086 CPU. The 8086 was launched in 1978 as a fully 16-bit extension of Intel's 8-bit based 8080 microprocessor and also introduced segmentation to overcome the 16-bit addressing barrier of such designs...
CPU that did not see the light of day.
Chromatic Research was noted for having a very large number of employees (around 350 at its peak) given the limited scope of what it was doing throughout its lifetime.
The Demise
There were many reasons for the demise of the company, however, primarily the lack of interest from PCPersonal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
makers made it impossible for the company to sustain its overhead. During the development of the MPACT, 3D graphics
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
became an important feature for PCs and the MPACT was not well designed for 3D. So although it delivered excellent 2D graphics
2D computer graphics
2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models and by techniques specific to them...
performance, state of the art audio capabilities and accelerated video playback (in a time when CPUs could not perform DVD playback unassisted), the lack luster 3D performance was fatal to its market acceptance.
High level discussions reportedly took place between Chromatic Research and 3DFX
3dfx
3dfx Interactive was a company that specialized in the manufacturing of 3D graphics processing units and, later, graphics cards. It was a pioneer in the field for several years in the late 1990s until 2000 when it underwent one of the most high-profile demises in the history of the PC industry...
at a time when Chromatic did not have a good 3D story, and 3DFX did not have a good 2D story. However these discussions did not bear fruit as Chromatic underestimated the importance of 3D, and 3DFX decided to invest a lot of time and energy to integrate 2D into their Voodoo line of GPUs.
Another difficulty for the company was the burden of creating all of the different software libraries required by the different market segments was being shouldered entirely by the company itself. The company was not able to interest its customers to create this software nor create a revenue stream that was large enough to cover its development cost.
Of note, is the fact that it went through more than 5 rounds of funding. The lifespan of the company was roughly 1994 to 1998. In 1998 the company laid off half its employees and shortly thereafter was acquired by ATI
Ati
As a word, Ati may refer to:* Ati, a town in Chad* Ati, a Negrito ethnic group in the Philippines* Ati-Atihan Festival, an annual celebration held in the Philippines* Ati, a queen of the fabled Land of Punt in Africa...
Technologies.