Designed Into Printers and Scanners
Tensilica's Xtensa processors have been designed into printers and scanners from major manufacturers, including HP and Epson. This recent flury of design-in activity is indicative of a major shift going on in the printer market. Image processing has shifted from the PC to the printer as host-less printing, direct from camera, has become a popular option. Multiple Xtensa processors are used, often throughout the entire processing chain.
Often multiple customized Xtensa processors are used throughout the printer architecture.
Xtensa processors let printer companies have a programmable platform used in dozens of printer models. Xtensa processors have been designed into:
HP Laserjet Printers
HP Laserjet color and b&w printers by Tensilica licensee Marvell - originally Agilent in 2002, then Avago, now Marvel. These are some of the printers that use Xtensa processors:
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HP Laserjet 1018 |
HP Laserjet 1020 |
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HP 1022 & HP 1022N |
HP Color Laserjet 2600n |
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HP Laserjet P1005 |
HP Laserjet P1006 |
HP Multifunction Printers
Xtensa processors are inside HP's LaserJet M1005 MFP, a 14-ppm b&w printer that also scans and copies.
HP Scanners
HP Scanjet 8200c scanners by Tensilica licensee Avision. “We picked Tensilica’s Xtensa processor because we liked the speed, low power and off-the-shelf development tools,” stated Charlie Chou, Vice President of Avision Inc. “Rather than implement the entire image processing algorithm set in traditional hardwired RTL datapath, we extended the processor with additional instructions that gave us excellent performance and required much less design time and fewer engineers. Xtensa helped us achieve rapid success in the development of the critical image processing chip.”
Epson Ink Jet Printers
Multiple Xtensa LX processors are used in Epson's latest photo-capable inkjet printers and multifunction printers (MFPs), including the newly announced Colorio PM series MFPs. Epson's engineers added TIE instructions to customize different Xtensa LX processors, each for a unique step in the inkjet image processing chain. By utilizing unique features of the Xtensa LX processor, which allow direct high-speed data communication between the processors and thereby avoid the time delays of bus-based data traffic, Epson's engineers were able to reduce the time required to rint a single page to less than a third of that required by previous generation inkjet printers. These new printers can print borderless 4x6 hotos as fast as the highest printing speed for black and white text. See press release.
Here are the models with the new-generation REALOID chip:
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PM-T990 (Japan only) |
PM-A970 (Japan only) |
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PM-D870 (In Japan)
Epson Stylus Photo R380 (In US)
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PM-A920 (Japan only) |
Alps Dye Sublimation Photo Printers
Alps uses the Xtensa processor in a number of dye sublimation photo printers that are OEM'd to leading US and Japanese camera makers.
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