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The folks at eASIC, a provider of zero-mask charge ASIC devices, say that AVTECH, a Taiwanese manufacturer of low-cost surveillance systems, reduced the system cost of its new dome IP surveillance camera by 45%. This was achieved by replacing a low density FPGA with eASIC's zero-mask charge Nextreme ASIC. The Nextreme device consolidated multiple high-performance image processing functions and enabled AVTECH to increase the camera features while significantly reducing overall system cost and power consumption.
AVTECH is one of an increasing number of IP video surveillance equipment suppliers that are lowering system costs using eASIC's Nextreme devices. Traditional cost reduction paths involving standard cell ASICs are becoming less viable as NRE costs soar and the market demands the fast introduction of new features. eASIC's Nextreme family of zero mask-charge and no minimum order ASIC devices provides designers with the low cost benefits of traditional ASIC, combined with a rapid design cycle and only a four to five week silicon turnaround time.
"In addition to the substantial system cost saving, we were pleasantly surprised at how quick we received working devices and how much lower the power consumption was compared to the low-density FPGA we were using," said Kevin Chiang, R&D Manager of AVTECH. "eASIC's zero-mask charge, fast turnaround ASICs helped us to make quick changes to keep up with the latest requirements from our customers and also rapidly ramp into high volume production."
According to Simon Harris, senior research director at IMS Research, "Network cameras are one of the fastest growing areas of the electronic security market, with shipments forecast to increase by nearly 40% per annum over the next three years. As production volumes increase, manufacturers of network cameras will strive for increased functionality at lower cost, and rapid time to market in order to be competitive."
"This is a classic example where the costs of the FPGA make them prohibitive in high volume production," said Jasbinder Bhoot, Senior director of Marketing at eASIC Corporation. "AVTECH took full advantage of the FPGA cost reduction program we launched recently, and were able to integrate more functionality while dramatically reducing cost, thus allowing AVTECH a unique advantage to further gain market penetration in the IP surveillance camera market," added Bhoot.
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