Micronas NIT
The first NSDC at RT-RK
Beginnings
Micronas NIT was the first NSDC by RT-RK. Cooperation with Micronas GmbH (at the time ITT Intermetal) from Freiburg began in 1997 with projects in three major areas:
- DSP optimization – work on first voice codecs (G728, G723.1, G729) had continued with audio decoders’ AC3 and WMA speed and memory optimization
- Development of tools had started with DSP compactor (automatic code size optimization) and continued with C compiler
- Chip verification and FPGA rapid prototyping. First verification for WorldSpace – first single chip satellite radio. The activities had continued with digital TV SoC rapid prototyping
Team growth
The team had grown from 2001 (the year of Micronas NIT foundation) to 2009, from the first 17 up to 192 engineers. In 2009 Micronas decided to step out from the consumer business. Today, Micronas is part of TDK family known as TDK-Micronas GmbH.
Progress in major domains
TV software: From 2002 to 2009 the team had been engaged on analog SoCs (VCTX, VGCB, Premium) and digital TV SoCs (MDB, MDD, PremiumD) forming the native part of the software factory led by Dr. Uwe Strohbeck. At its peak this team had over 100 R&D engineers serving customers such as: Vestel, Grundig, Loewe, METZ, TechniSat, LG, Samsung, JVC, Panasonic, and many others.
Tools: Development of the second-generation compiler with support for fix point Harvard architecture.
Major achievements in this period
- Team growth from 17 to 192 engineers
- TV knowledge boosting
- First time ISO 9001 and business processes certification
- Access to worldwide market and leading OEMs
Onto next NSDC