New DSPs from Texas Instruments Provide High Speed, Low Power Options

	New DSPs from Texas Instruments Provide High Speed, Low Power

	Company:	Texas Instruments
	Category:	New Products
	Date:	22-Feb-2000

	Texas Instruments has announced two new digital signal processor (DSP) cores today, with one targeting performance applications and the other setting ultra-low power records. These new cores are targeted at consumer and broadband communications infrastructure applications from digital voice and data, to audio and video while maintaining software compatibility with previous generations of TI DSPs. (www.ti.com/newdspcores) The new TMS320C64x™ DSP core will deliver the highest performance DSPs in the world: Clock speeds of up to 1.1 GigaHertz (GHz) 9,000 million instructions per second (MIPS) performance (10x the DSP performance of the TMS320C62x™) VLIW Architecture Quad 8-bit/dual 16-bit instructions enable nearly nine billion, 8-bit multiply-accumulate cycle (MAC) operations per second Special-purpose instructions improve data flow, reduce code size in memory and accelerate key application tasks, such as error correction, bit manipulation and motion estimation and compensation. Target markets include broadband communications infrastructure and precision imaging (medical, security and TV-quality networking applications). The new TMS320C55x™ DSP core slashes power consumption: 0.05 mW per MIPS 800 MIPS performance at 400 MHz Scalable instruction word length reduces code size by 30 percent Advanced power management design techniques automatically power down inactive peripherals, memory and core functional units for minimal power consumption Dual-MAC architecture doubles the number of instructions per cycle while reducing power per function Target markets include battery powered applications including, music, photography and medical applications such as hearing aids, as well as cell phones. TI's C54x is used in 70 percent of the world's cell phones. Both new DSP cores are software-compatible with TI's previous DSP products. TI's integrated development environment, eXpressDSP™ Real-Time Software Technology, supports the new C64x and C55x DSP cores by providing a complete, open DSP software environment with the tools and software to begin development today. Industry Comments "The C5000 and C6000 programmable DSPs from Texas Instruments are key engines for the new Internet Ecosystem that converges data, voice and video into packetized, standards-based, interoperable applications," said Roland Acra, VP and General Manager of Cisco's Remote Access Business Unit. "TI's new C55x and C64x DSP cores are viewed as key to our roadmap to continue leading the Internet revolution for applications ranging from Voice Over Packet (VOP) to the most powerful Broadband Infrastructure Systems." "With the C64x and C55x announced today, TI is providing Ericsson with the processing power to create breakthrough products for the new telecommunications world," said Gosta Lemne, Ericsson's Vice President of Corporate Function Technology, Access Technology Management. "Moreover, code-compatibility within each platform protects Ericsson's investments in software, while providing capacity for future growth in functionality." "TI's 'C54x family is a recognized success in the wireless communications industry," said Yrjo Neuvo, Senior Vice President of Product Creation, Nokia Mobile Phones. "With the breakthrough power efficiency and leading-edge performance of the 'C55x announced today, TI is extending its leadership in the competitive industry." "Texas Instruments has raised the performance bar again," said Will Strauss, President of DSP market watcher Forward Concepts. "These new C64x and C55x DSP cores offer the highest performance and lowest power announced to date in the industry while maintaining code compatibility with their present DSP family products. This approach enables TI's customers to dramatically and quickly improve their present products, while also enabling them to easily offer new products that were not possible until now. Clearly, the commitment to a product roadmap that emphasizes software compatibility, while continually offering improvements in chip performance, is keeping TI the number one vendor in the DSP market." Building on the VelociTI ™ advanced VLIW architecture, the C64x VelociTI.2™ extensions accelerate communications and imaging applications, and pack more DSP operations into fewer cycles. The combination of super-fast clock rates and the innovative architectural enhancements boost performance 10 times over the current industry leader for key applications. The new C55x DSP core pushes power-efficient performance beyond TI's highly successful C54x core. The C55x is a superset of the C54x, supporting new programming capabilities, while maintaining software compatibility with existing C54x code. "These new cores will be the heart of the next revolution in digital electronics," said TI Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Tom Engibous. "Designers will be able to combine voice, audio, data and video into very exciting new applications such as personal communications products that keep people constantly connected to the Internet." "The C64x is the world's highest performance DSP core and the C55x is the lowest power DSP core to ever hit the market," Engibous added. "We already have the tools, the software, the analog solutions and the third-party network in place to support these new cores. Add programmability and code compatibility and you've got the quickest path ever to getting new products to consumers." Pricing and Availability First devices using the new C55x core are planned for announcement this spring. Initial devices using the new C64x core will be announced this summer with speeds ranging from 600 to 800 MHz. Pricing will be similar to what the two platforms already offer.

Microcontrollers for Embedded Systems Designers

New DSPs from Texas Instruments Provide High Speed, Low Power

Microcontrollers for
Embedded Systems
Designers