News Room : digital signal processing

Texas Instruments introduces lowest cost DSP development tool at $49 with full emulation capabilities and extensive development environment

Nancy Kelly — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:03:00 GMT

New eZdsp™ USB stick eases creation of audio, voice, medical and other portable applications

HOUSTON (Sept. 16, 2009) — For many designers, the cost and time to set up development tools is a major barrier when evaluating a new digital signal processor (DSP) platform. To lower this barrier, Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) today announced the availability of the TMS320VC5505 eZdsp USB stick development tool, which drops the cost of a full-featured emulator and integrated development platform down to $49. This enables rapid creation of DSP applications including portable audio players, voice recorders, IP phones, portable medical devices, biometric USB keys, software defined radios (SDRs), hands-free headsets and metering applications. At this extremely low price point, it is the industry’s lowest cost DSP tool, making development accessible to existing and potential customers, hobbyists, researchers and students. (www.ti.com/c5505ezdsp-prprod).

Comparable to the size of a stick of gum, the C5505 eZdsp stick simplifies development by providing integrated features such as an on-board XDS100 emulator and on-board audio codec and connectors. Taking advantage of the energy efficient C5505 DSP, the eZdsp requires no other components or cables allowing the entire development tool to be powered by the USB port. Designers simply plug into the USB port of any laptop or workstation for hassle-free development and a simple out-of-the-box experience.

TI will offer training and demonstrations of the C5505 eZdsp USB stick at ESC Boston on September 23 in room 204 from 1:15 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.

C5505 eZdsp USB stick development tool key features and benefits:

Based on the C5505 processor, the industry’s lowest power 16-bit DSP with active power consuming less than 0.15 mW/MHz and standby power less than 0.15 mW
Low price point at $49 eliminates cost concerns or barrier to entry
Integrated XDS100 emulator provides complete debug capabilities and visibility inside the processor for algorithm optimization and benchmarking
On-board audio codec and connectors allow developers to evaluate many features of the C5505 processor and quickly optimize complex DSP algorithms in terms of performance and power consumption across a variety of design scenarios
Extension connector allows developers to design and directly connect to daughter cards suitable for their application
Unique form factor plugs into any laptop or workstation, conserving test bench space
Simplifies development tools setup by eliminating power and interface cables
Includes the complete Code Composer Studio™ version 4 integrated development environment (IDE) free of charge
Stereo line in and headphone out connectors making it possible to evaluate many DSP algorithms and listen to them
Users can easily migrate to TI’s C5505 evaluation module that offers additional extensive evaluation options
Makes DSP evaluation and development easy and accessible

Pricing and availability

The feature-rich C5505 eZdsp USB stick development tool is available now at the low cost of USD $49, which includes a full XDS100 emulator and a target version of the industry-leading CCStudio v.4. Special incentives are available for educators, university students and developers actively participating in TI’s online community.
The C5000 platform is supported by TI’s extensive Developer Network, as well as a complete chip support library, comprehensive application notes, reference designs, application guides, videos and online communities.

Find out more about TI’s extensive C5505 eZdsp USB stick and C5505 DSP portfolio by visiting the links below:

eZdsp USB stick development tool product folder: www.ti.com/c5505ezdsp-prprod
Support: www.ti.com/c5505ezdsp-prsupport
C5505 data sheet: www.ti.com/c5505ezdsp-prdatasheet
C5000 DSP product folder: www.ti.com/c5505ezdsp-prhome

# # #

About Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) helps customers solve problems and develop new electronics that make the world smarter, healthier, safer, greener and more fun. A global semiconductor company, TI innovates through design, sales and manufacturing operations in more than 30 countries. For more information, go to www.ti.com.

Trademarks
Code Composer Studio is a trademark of Texas Instruments and eZdsp is a trademark of Spectrum Digital, Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks belong to their respective owners.

Femtocell equipment manufacturers can quickly develop residential and enterprise products with TI's new femtocell DSP family

NewsCenter — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:30:00 GMT

TI offers complete solutions for HSPA residential and enterprise femtocell applications

Femtocells World Summit, LONDON (June 23, 2009) - Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE:TXN) today announced a new family of DSPs (digital signal processors) enabling residential and enterprise femtocell manufacturers and service providers to reduce development time and deliver new products to market quickly. TI's family of multicore femtocell solutions includes a full portfolio of complementary analog solutions, support for Linux, and software solutions from TI third parties, Continuous Computing and mimoOn. These DSPs provide a complete digital solution for HSPA applications, enabling low cost, fully programmable solutions and thus allowing OEMs (original equipment manufacturer) to offer reliable and adaptable femtocell products to market. Using the software reference design available from Continuous Computing and mimoOn, which provides customers with software for Layer 1, 2 and 3 wireless protocol processing, OEMs can quickly develop femtocell products to provide increased wireless connectivity for streaming video files, interactive gaming, music sharing and other bandwidth-intense multimedia tasks.

TI's femtocell product family includes the TMS320TCI6485 with two high-performance 850MHz C64x+ DSP cores delivering 1.7 GHz of overall performance for residential femtocell applications, and the TMS320TCI6489 which includes three 850MHz C64x DSPs delivering 2.55 GHz of performance for enterprise or "super femto" applications. Scaling to meet the varied global requirements of the residential and enterprise market segments, TI's TCI6485 supports up to eight users while the TCI6489 supports up to 32 users. The entire product family is compatible with all major 2G/3G and 4G systems including GSM, CDMA, WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, WiMAX and LTE, and furthermore, is code compatible with other TI DSPs for the wireless infrastructure market, where any previous investments in macro or pico base stations can be reused. TI's longstanding incumbency in the wireless infrastructure space combined with its robust DSP solutions developed specifically for the femtocell market allow OEMs to develop products for this emerging market with confidence. For more information on TI's complete portfolio of femtocell solutions, please visit: www.ti.com/femtocell.

Key features and benefits of the TCI6489 and TCI6485 femtocell DSPs:

The new TCI6489 three-core DSP and TCI6485 dual-core DSP allows femtocell OEMs to use a single device for Layer 1, 2 & 3 processing, reducing the overall BOM (bill of materials) by eliminating the requirement for a separate microprocessor.
Optimized for enterprise femtocell applications, the TCI6489 includes three 850 MHz cores, four lanes of Antenna Interface (CPRI/OBSAI) to connect to the analog front end, 3MB of L2 memory and dedicated accelerators for chip rate and forward error correction processing.
Targeted for the residential femtocell market, the TCI6485 has two 850MHz C64x+ DSP cores that support both higher layer processing and lower layer processing. It also contains two lanes of Antenna Interface (CPRI/OBSAI) for analog RF connectivity, 2MB of L2 memory and dedicated accelerators.
TI's single chip solutions allow manufacturers to take advantage of a customized set of memory, peripheral, accelerator, core and performance features that make it the ideal processor for femtocell applications.
With TI's complete WCDMA software solution for femtocell base stations supported by third parties, OEMs receive a fully operational and tested femtocell software solution, running on TI evaluation hardware, which speeds time-to-market and allows for increased development flexibility. Early versions of the software femtocell reference design will be available in 4Q09.
TI also provides the complete analog signal chain for femtocell applications, including data converters, RF products, power management, clocks and amplifiers, which allow manufactures to develop a complete hardware femtocell solution from a single silicon supplier.

Availability

Both the TCI6485 and TCI6489 will sample in 3Q09 and start production in 4Q09.

Texas Instruments collaborates with Continuous Computing and mimoOn for HSPA and LTE femtocells

NewsCenter — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:00:00 GMT

Integration of third parties' software with TI DSPs offers femtocell OEMs reduced costs and faster time to market

Femtocells World Summit, LONDON (June 23, 2009) - Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE:TXN) announced today the selection of Continuous Computing®, a leader in wireless protocol software, and mimoOn GmbH, a leader in software defined radio solutions, as third parties to offer integrated solutions for HSPA and LTE enterprise and residential femtocells.

Continuous Computing's Trillium® software, and mimoOn's mi!FemtoTM advanced femtocell software, will be integrated onto TI's TMS320TCI6485 residential femtocell processor and TMS320TCI6489 enterprise femtocell processor in order to offer both single and multimode solutions for LTE, HSPA+, and HSPA.

Trillium wireless software from Continuous Computing leverages over 20 years of innovation and consists of a complete protocol solution for the dynamic femtocell access point and femtocell gateway markets. Trillium femtocell software meets the unique requirements of network equipment providers and features comprehensive protocol stack support covering LTE & WCDMA, optimized data and control plane performance, and minimized memory footprint. This powerful and comprehensive offering enables customers to reduce project risk, cost, and complexity while accelerating time-to-market.

"Continuous Computing has been aggressive in tailoring access point software and femtocell gateway solutions for traditional as well as non-traditional vendors," said Manish Singh, vice president of product line management. "Trillium femtocell software plus TI DSP femtocell processors equals a compelling combination for equipment manufacturers to participate in the exciting femtocell market. With Continuous Computing and TI, customers can have high confidence in performance, interoperability, portability, and support."

The mi!FemtoLTETM and mi!FemtoHSPATM software families encompass both H(e)NB PHY and Protocol Stack layers, that are full-featured and certified based on the latest versions of the 3GPP standards. Both software packages are written in high level language and in modular form so they are easy to modify or customize even after being deployed; an important feature as the standards and operator requirements for femtocells continue to be revised.

According to mimoOn's CEO, Thomas Kaiser, "This collaboration is significant in that TI brings its longstanding presence in the wireless base station market along with robust DSP processors, while mimoOn brings its legacy of MIMO algorithms, cognitive radio sniffers, and advanced schedulers, to offer innovative solutions for the key challenges in femtocells. This joint technology solution for single and multimode femtocells will be a strategic advantage for operators and OEMs that are looking to deploy femtocells in 2010 and beyond."

The integrated implementation on the femtocell-optimized TCI6485 and TCI6489 will provide high performance, extremely low power consumption, and headroom for the advanced processing required for LTE and HSPA, as well as offer multi-user support. High channel bandwidths, multiple MIMO configurations, FDD/TDD, and high data rates will all be supported. This software-based femtocell design delivers a turnkey solution to OEMs that allows fast time-to-market, a reduced bill-of-materials, and the ability to evolve with future market requirements.

"Time-to-market and robust performance are key considerations for service providers and equipment manufacturers in successfully deploying femtocell products and services," said Kathy Brown, business manager for TI's wireless baseband infrastructure group. "The integration and testing of the standards-compliant HSPA and LTE software from Continuous Computing and mimoOn with TI's DSP programmable femtocell platform, achieves performance with the ability to differentiate, while offering a rapid vehicle to market.

Bunker Electronics improves sound quality in loudspeaker systems with new audio processor powered by DSP and analog technologies from Texas Instruments

NewsCenter — Wed, 27 May 2009 07:00:00 GMT

New BPD-1 offers the highest quality of sound with a four-way stereo system and six integrated audio control components

ZAPOPAN, JALISCO, Mexico (May 27, 2009) - Professional audio customers requiring simplified management of loud speaker systems with enhanced sound quality can now take advantage of the new Bunker Power Drive (BPD-1) from Bunker Electronics. The BPD-1 is one of the first audio processors to contain a four-way stereo system and six integrated audio control components in a one rack unit space. This allows consumers to experience exceptional audio quality from loud speaker systems in a compact and flexible design. Featuring a floating-point TMS320C67x^TM digital signal processor (DSP), PCM4204 analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and PCM4104 digital-to-analog converter (DAC) from Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN), the BPD-1 is a complete audio solution with advanced signal processing that provides balanced, clean sound. For more information on the BPD-1 and TI, please visit www.bunkeraudio.com and here.

The BPD-1 brings an unparalleled level of professional audio quality to loud speaker systems by integrating a graphic equalizer, parametric equalizer, compressor, sub-harmonic synthesizer, audio crossover and a real-time analyzer into a single unit. In addition to reducing cost by not having to purchase these as separate components, this allows consumers to select the optimum frequency ranges for their loud speaker systems and enhance the bass sound to user preference without worries of any audible deficiencies, alignment delays or saturation.

Bunker leveraged a complete system solution from TI, including the C67x^TM DSP, PCM4204 ADC and PCM4104 DAC. The 32-bit floating-point precision of the C67x DSP allows for programming flexibility and ease while its very-long-instruction-word (VLIW) architecture helps maximize the BPD-1's performance and efficiency. Running at speeds up to 300 MHz, the DSP can handle several channels of audio so the BPD-1 can meet the processing requirements for enhanced sound quality of professional applications. The PCM4204 and PCM4104 audio converters offer four channels of 118 dB conversion, respectively, to capture all audio dynamics, without sacrificing headroom. Their high performance helps ensure that any post processing is done only on the audio signal and not on the noise typically found on lower performance competitive multi-channel converters.

BPD-1 key features and benefits:

Integrates a universal power supply (85-240 VAC 50/60Hz) making the product more robust against voltage variations and allows it to be used in the global market
Includes three analog inputs (left channel, right channel and RTA) and eight analog outputs, which permit the input channel to be in up to four stereo channels, resulting in a wide range of optimized frequencies for speakers
Has ability to program equipment quicker with the help of the graphical user interface (GUI) and easy-to-use menu
Features an easy-to-use, bi-lingual menu allowing users to operate in English and Spanish

C67x key features and benefits:

Eight independent, multi-purpose functional units and up to 64 32-bit registers enables significant reductions in code size, program fetches and power consumption
100 percent code-compatibility with TMS320C6000^TM DSPs provide scalability and protect customer's code investment

Pricing, availability and tools

The BPD-1 is available for USD $500.00. The C67x devices are available for as low as USD $7.85 for quantities of 1,000 units. The PCM4204 is available for USD $7.95 in quantities of 1,000 units and the PCM4104 is available for USD $4.95 in quantities of 1,000 units.

Find out more about Bunker Electronics and Texas Instruments:

New TMS320C6743 DSP from Texas Instruments brings floating-point precision and fixed-point performance to energy-efficient, connected applications

NewsCenter — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:00:00 GMT

Single DSP combines integrated EMAC, increased on-chip memory and offers 100 percent code compatibility with TI's TMS320C6000™ devices

HOUSTON (April 6, 2009) - Combining the ease-of-use and precision of floating-point programming with the connectivity and lower-cost options of fixed-point devices, Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) today announced the availability of the TMS320C6743 digital signal processor (DSP). Based on the TMS320C674x core, the new low-power DSP couples the high precision and wide dynamic range of TI's floating-point TMS320C67x+^TM core with the higher system performance of TI's fixed-point TMS320C64x+^TM core. Additionally, the C6743 is object code compatible with all TMS320C6000^TM devices so developers can easily design a broad range of energy-efficient products by leveraging existing software code. As the industry's lowest-cost networked DSP, it integrates multiple connectivity options, such as an Ethernet MAC (EMAC) and multimedia card/secure digital (MMC/SD) peripherals. This makes the DSP ideal for applications including audio conferencing, power protection systems, industrial monitoring and test and measurement products, such as oscilloscopes. For more information, click here.

C6743 DSP key features and benefits:

Based on the C674x core, which combines the fixed-point C64x+^TM instruction set and the floating-point C67x+^TMinstruction set to provide higher fixed-point performance and single-precision/double-precision floating-point for wider dynamic range in a single device
100 percent upward code compatible with devices based on the C6000^TMfixed- and floating-point cores so developers can get to market faster
Scalable and pin-to-pin compatible with C674x and TI's OMAP-L137 low-power devices allow for the ability to expand an entire product portfolio ranging from low- and high-end designs using the same hardware and software platform
Wide range of connectivity options with an integrated EMAC and MMC/SD for designs that require high data transfer or Internet access, which also helps reduce cost by eliminating the need to purchase separate components to add network or wireless connectivity
Efficient EDMA 3.0 engine for higher system performance and better debug with exception handling and cache coherency visibility
192 KB of on-chip memory saves both power and cost by removing the need for external memory
Low power consumption with 490mW total power and 60mW in standby mode gives developers the ability to lower heat dissipation and increase battery life depending on use case scenarios

Pricing, availability and tools

The TMDX320C6743 DSP is available for sampling and is priced at USD $7.85 for quantities of 1,000 units. To jumpstart designs, developers can use the OMAP-L1x/C674x Starter Kit, TMDXOSKL137BET, which is priced at USD $395, includes a board-specific Code Composer Studio^TM IDE and supports DSP/BIOS^TM kernels. TI also provides complementary power management and analog signal chain solutions, including high-efficiency DC/DC converters, LDOs, battery charger ICs, ADCs, DACs and touch screen controllers.

Find out more about TI's C6743 DSP by visiting the links below:

OEMs can deliver network-connected HD AVRs with TI's HD audio decoding DSP with ARM®-based applications processor solution

NewsCenter — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Networked AVR Software Developer's Kit and audio-specific algorithms allow programmers to quickly design AVRs, home theaters and mini/micro component systems

HOUSTON (December 15, 2008) - In response to increased consumer demand for immediate access to their remote music collections and streaming Internet radio service on inexpensive, advanced systems, Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) today announced its third-generation DA830 and DA828 Aureus&#8482 digital audio processors. The highly-integrated, dual-core DA8x product line offers the combined features of an ARM-based applications processor and an audio digital signal processor (DSP) core, as well as a wide range of peripherals. This compilation results in a high-performance, cost-effective solution for consumer products such as network-connected Audio/Video Receivers (AVR), Home Theater in a Box (HTIB) and mini/micro component systems. Thus, designers can enable consumers to have access to endless amounts of music while enjoying the cinema quality sound they are accustomed to in their home theater system, but at a lower price. For more information on the DA8x generation, visit www.ti.com/da8x.

For those designing AVRs, HTIBs and mini/micro component systems, the cost savings is a result of the integration of a 300MHz 64-bit floating/fixed point audio DSP engine with a 300MHz ARM926EJ-S core, an Ethernet MAC, two USB ports, an SD/MMC interface, PWM processors and an LCD controller, which eliminates multiple system components and reduces PCB board space. To ease design, TI provides a networked AVR Software Developer's Kit (nAVR SDK) with an integrated Performance Audio Framework (PAF) that includes standard, multi-channel decoding and post-processing algorithms required for AVRs, including all HD audio decoders, Dolby&#174 TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD, integrated into the on-chip ROM. Trendsetting manufacturers can utilize the fully programmable ARM and DSP cores to create differentiated products as well as drive high-end features - such as smart volume, room correction and connectivity - into entry level audio systems.

"We've worked with TI's audio processors for several years and they consistently provide the cutting-edge features and functionality that help us remain innovative in the AVR market," said Nobuaki Okuda, executive officer, Onkyo Corporation. "With customers becoming more advanced and desiring more sophisticated, modern systems, we must provide end equipment that is second to none. As a leading provider of scalable solutions for the AVR market, TI's technology gives us this advantage."

Performance improvement for audio processing

Through sophisticated and innovative processor design, TI achieves performance and memory efficiency improvements, making the DA8x significantly more powerful compared to earlier generations of 300MHz DSPs. With a 20 percent performance improvement and 25 percent code size reduction for lossless HD decoders, a single DA8x device can execute DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel decoders at a sample rate of 192kHz while still providing vast performance headroom and memory for OEMs to add differentiating post-processing algorithms.

Ease of programming

The DA8x devices are fully programmable using industry standard tools and operating systems, enabling OEMs to bring unique solutions to the market quickly. They leverage the same development tools and build on an established eco-system. As part of the nAVR SDK, TI provides an industry standard Linux&#174 operating system (OS) for the ARM926EJ-S core. Additional programming tools and support for the Linux OS can be acquired from MontaVista&#8482. Finally, a number of third parties can provide applications for the DA8x platform including support for Internet Radio and DLNA/uPNP.

The PA Framework on DA8x is software compatible with all previous Aureus devices, meaning any differentiated post-processing algorithms created by OEMs or audio third parties on previous Aureus devices are fully re-usable on the DA8x platform. The Aureus devices are supported by all leading audio third parties including Audyssey Laboratories&#8482, DiMAGIC, Dolby Laboratories, DTS, Inc., Expamedia, Inc., Neural Audio, QSound Labs, Inc., SRS Labs, Inc. and Trinnov Audio, enabling OEMs to easily add innovative features to customize their products. For more information on TI's Developer Network, visit www.ti.com/tidevnetwork.

The DA8x allows extremely fast development of network-connected AVRs and significantly reduces time to market for OEMs. For more information about TI's audio solutions, visit www.ti.com/audio.

Pricing and availability

The DA830 is available from TI for USD $19.44 at 100u, for more information, please visit www.ti.com/da8x. Evaluation modules will be available through Spectrum Digital. For information on the EVM, visit www.ti.com/da8xevm.

Engineers can quickly design connected, high-precision products at a low price using TI's new low-power, floating-point processors

NewsCenter — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Connectivity, low cost and low power merge with floating-point in TI's new DSPs and floating-point-DSP-plus-ARM applications processor

HOUSTON (September 30, 2008) - Engineers of audio, medical, industrial and emerging applications have traditionally implemented floating-point digital signal processors (DSPs) because they offer dynamic range and high precision for data accuracy and easy algorithm programmability. Today, Texas Instruments Incorporated (NYSE: TXN) (TI) announced three new devices that transcend traditional floating-point processors, enabling engineers to easily design more portable, connected, cost-efficient and high-precision end products. The three new devices, based on TI's new C674x DSP core, merge the inherent advantages of floating point with a combination of connectivity peripherals, low power and low cost that, until now, has only been available with fixed-point devices. Giving developers the flexible solutions they need to design both basic and advanced product lines, TI's new processors include the industry's lowest power floating-point DSPs - the TMS320C6745 DSP and TMS320C6747 DSP - as well as the OMAP-L137 floating-point-DSP-plus-ARM applications processor. For more information, go to www.ti.com/lowpowerprocessors.

"For applications like audio and medical, the high precision and wide dynamic range provided by floating point have always been paramount because end users demand fidelity and data accuracy," said Corey Chao, low power processors marketing manager, TI. "In recent years, consumers have also begun to require more portability and connectivity. In response to that demand, developers have asked TI for new low-power, floating-point processors with a wealth of integrated peripherals, so that is exactly what we are providing."

Integration of connectivity and other peripherals saves development time and system cost

TI's new C6745 DSP, C6747 DSP and OMAP-L137 applications processor include USB 2.0/1.1, 10/100 Ethernet and multimedia card/secure digital (MMC/SD) peripherals to ensure that developers can easily add connectivity options to their designs. Traditionally, these peripherals have only been available on fixed-point devices or via separate components but are needed for a broad range of applications that require connectivity for high data transfer or networking/Internet access. In addition to connectivity components, TI's new processors offer varying levels of other on-chip options that provide developers with system performance and prices to best fit their application. With the on-chip integration of TI's new processors, engineers can eliminate the significant investment in development time and cost associated with adding multiple external components.

The new C6745 DSP, which runs at up to 300 MHz, includes an extensive set of serial ports for system control as well as multichannel audio serial ports (McASP) with up to 16 serializers and FIFO buffers. It also includes two external memory interfaces: an 8-bit external asynchronous memory interface (EMIFA) for NAND/NOR flash and a higher speed 16-bit synchronous external memory interface (EMIFB) for SDRAM.

For increased system performance, the C6747 DSP includes all of the features of the C6745 DSP and incorporates an additional 128 KB of on-chip RAM. The EMIFA and EMIFB on the C6747 are also upgraded to 16-bit and 32-bit, respectively. An LCD controller is on-chip, allowing designers to quickly add quarter video graphics array (QVGA) or other displays to their end products.

The OMAP-L137 applications processor includes the C674x floating-point DSP core plus an ARM9, providing up to 300 MHz per core. With the on-chip ARM9, developers can leverage the floating-point DSP for real-time, processing-intensive computations while off-loading non-real-time tasks to the ARM. This functionality enables developers to design more feature-rich end products that include graphical user interfaces (GUIs), touch screens and/or networking stacks. Additionally, developers can use the ARM to implement various high-level operating systems such as VxWorks, WinCE or Linux. The OMAP-L137 is also pin-to-pin compatible with the C6747 DSP, allowing customers to simultaneously develop multiple products with varying feature levels using the different processor options.

More portability with industry's lowest power floating-point digital signal processors

Power continues to be a primary design consideration for engineers bringing new products to market, so TI is focused on developing the most energy-efficient processors. Using half the standby power and less than one-third the total power of previous generation floating-point DSPs, the C6745 and C6747 are the industry's lowest power floating-point DSPs. These new power levels give developers the ability to lower heat dissipation, improve ergonomics and bring more portability to end products that require the high precision and wide dynamic range of floating point. Both processors consume 62 mW in standby mode and 470 mW in total active power mode. For detailed use case scenarios, visit www.ti.com/c6747 and www.ti.com/c6745.

The OMAP-L137 applications processor also operates at significantly low power levels, using 62mW in standby and 490 mW total active power. For detailed use case scenarios, visit www.ti.com/omapl137.

Silicon and tools availability and pricing

The C6745, C6747 and OMAP-L137 are object code compatible with all devices based on the C64x+^TM and C67x+^TM DSP cores, allowing developers to easily port code to the new lower power, more integrated floating-point devices. TI is committed to providing customers with a broad range of floating-point solutions, including C67x DSPs, OMAP-L13x applications processors and F2833x microcontrollers.

Customers can now place orders for the C6745 DSP, C6747 DSP and OMAP-L137 applications processor, starting at $10.41, $11.72 and $18.93 (100 unit pricing), respectively. The C6745 DSP, C6747 DSP and OMAP-L137 applications processor are supported by the OMAP-L137/C6747 Floating-point Starter Kit which offers the flexibility of Linux and DSP/BIOS^TM kernels. Order entry is also open for the kit, which is priced at $395.

Gain seamless access to the Internet, media and TV with new ARCHOS Internet Media Tablets powered by Texas Instruments OMAP™ 3 applications processors

NewsCenter — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:00:00 GMT

OMAP 3 applications processors provide laptop-like performance and support multi-format video for the new ARCHOS 5, ARCHOS 5G and ARCHOS 7 IMTs

DALLAS, TX and IGNY, FRANCE (September 10, 2008) - Transforming the way consumers access the Internet, media and TV anywhere and anytime, ARCHOS today announced its new line of Internet Media Tablets (IMTs) are powered by the OMAP^TM 3 applications processors from Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN). Delivering laptop-like performance and multi-format video support, the new ARCHOS 5, ARCHOS 5G and ARCHOS 7 IMTs are the industry's first implementation of the OMAP 3 processor based on the 600 MHz superscalar ARM® Cortex^TM-A8 processor. Since the OMAP 3 solution is optimized for an environment where battery life is critical, the ARCHOS IMTs redefine how consumers access media and data on the go by providing unparalleled performance at power-sipping levels in a handheld tablet. The OMAP 3 processors also feature TI's advanced video digital signal processor (DSP) technology, enabling ARCHOS to push the boundaries in designing ultra-thin, ergonomic, yet powerful products that features advanced user interfaces, no-compromise web browsing and an advanced multimedia experience with high-definition (HD) video playback. For more information, please visit www.ti.com/omap35x and www.archos.com.

The new handheld tablets allow consumers to seamlessly explore and navigate the Internet and media on an incredibly high-resolution screen for sharp, DVD or HD quality video. The ARCHOS 5 offers 60 to 250 GB of memory and an optimal mix of Wi-Fi&#174 technology, high-quality video and long battery life. The 30-GB ARCHOS 5G IMT features 3.5G-ready technology for seamless connectivity and Internet browsing through a cellular network. The ARCHOS 7 couples greater storage capacity with 160 or 320 GB options, and a larger screen for increased viewing and multimedia comfort.

"The innovative architecture of TI's OMAP 3 processors provides the high-end performance, low power levels and video flexibility that allow our customers to experience rich multimedia on the go," said Henri Crohas, CEO, ARCHOS. "Building on our expertise in portable media players, ARCHOS is able to harness TI's advanced processors to design a new generation of devices for the Mobile Internet Device market."

Harnessing OMAP 3 technology

Taking advantage of the ARM Cortex-A8 processor, the new IMTs achieve more than 1200 million of instructions per second (MIPS) to run faster code execution for a no-compromise web browsing experience. With this unprecedented performance, users gain faster access to full Web pages, TV and video clips, and are able to read, write and download email, audio and video attachments on a five or seven inch touch screen display. This means users no longer need to zoom in or out to view content on a Web page and no more endless waiting for pages to be loaded.

The OMAP 3 processors are highly integrated system-on-chips (SoC) that offer HD video with a TMS320C64x+&#8482 DSP core, video and imaging accelerators, and video-centric peripherals all tuned to support multi-format video. With MPEG-4 ASP and WMV9 advanced profile at 720p as well as DVD-quality H.264 and MPEG-2, the ARCHOS devices can decode popular video formats on the web today for a true media-on-the-go experience.

Battery life was a critical factor when designing the ARCHOS IMTs. ARCHOS leveraged the multi-core design of the OMAP35x devices, which integrates power management technologies that fully optimize the ARM and DSP engines to maximize efficiency. The architecture also utilizes TI's SmartReflex&#8482 power and performance management software to dynamically control voltage and frequency based on the IMTs activity use and modes of operation. This elevated flexibility yields longer battery life, giving users four hours of video playback on the devices' 800 X 480 resolution display.

"TI is committed to helping ARCHOS develop high-quality products that take advantage of the world's first implementation of the superscalar ARM Cortex-A8 processor. Coupled with a TI C64x+&#8482 DSP core, the OMAP 3 processors provide the necessary performance and multimedia features for enhanced functionality on the ARCHOS devices," said Suman Narayan, general manager, Catalog Processors and Emerging End Equipment, TI. "As consumers continually demand HD video, media-rich data and connectivity anytime and anywhere, ARCHOS pushes the boundaries as a leading innovator with its new IMTs."

Complete system-level solution

TI's complete system-level solution - including the scalable OMAP 3 applications processors, power management ICs, logic components and touch screen controllers - allows ARCHOS to integrate full functionality on a single platform. These solutions not only enable the high performance and video capabilities but also incredibly low power levels, which alleviates consumers' concerns about devices running out of battery. For more information on where to buy these ARCHOS IMTs, please see www.archos.com.

Developers can bring portability to more products with TI's breakthrough advancements in power-efficient DSPs and applications processors

NewsCenter — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:00:00 GMT

New low-power roadmap reveals more than 15 new processors for portability and performance including industry's lowest power fixed- and floating-point DSPs

HOUSTON (July 22, 2008) - As developers look at their next designs for medical, audio, industrial and emerging applications, there is greater demand for portability with superior features, such as a consumer-friendly graphical user interface (GUI). The balance between power and performance of a processor has traditionally meant trading off one or the other; now that is no longer the case. Giving engineers the scalable solutions they need to design both basic and feature-laden portable end products, Texas Instruments Incorporated (NYSE: TXN) (TI) today introduced its breakthrough low-power processor roadmap with more than 15 new devices across four product lines. For the first time, designers will be able to easily bring portability to applications requiring high-precision floating-point processor capabilities, as TI's new roadmap includes the industry's lowest power floating-point digital signal processor (DSP). TI's new devices also enable significantly longer battery life with the industry's lowest power fixed-point DSP. Additionally, customers will have the option to design portability and feature rich GUIs into their products using TI's new ARM9^TM and ARM9-plus-DSP applications processors. For more information, including product bulletins, visit www.ti.com/lowpowerprocessors.

"Throughout recent years, customers big and small have approached TI with a focus on pure performance, but there has been a shift in the last year or so and developers' first question is now, 'This is my power budget; how can TI help me do more with it?'" said Gene Frantz, TI principal fellow. "The answer is somewhat simple - decades of experience allow TI to cut power consumption, improve ease-of-use and drive performance within its architectures through better process technology, peripheral integration, parallel processing, analog, connectivity and power management software and tools."

Days and weeks of battery life without losing performance

The types of products that benefit most from very low power fall into three general power budget categories. First are those that draw current from a low power source, such as a USB port. Next are devices where consumers expect batteries to last an entire work day, and the third category includes devices that consumers expect to function for two or more weeks without a battery change. Throughout the next 12 months, TI will offer an embedded processor solution for each of these power categories with more than 15 new devices within four product lines.

Low power and high precision with new TMS320C674x^TM DSPs: For the first time, developers will have the ability to bring portability to audio, medical, industrial and other applications requiring the precision, wide dynamic range and time-to-market benefits of floating-point DSPs. Using three times less power than existing floating-point DSPs, the C674x^TM devices deliver 24-32 bit accuracy and are the industry's lowest power floating-point DSPs. Slated for delivery in Q4 2008, the power consumption is as low as 6 mW in deep-sleep mode and 420 mW total power in active mode. For more information on power specifications, see the product bulletin at www.ti.com/c674xpb.
High performance at half the power with TMS320C640x^TM DSPs: The C640x^TM DSPs use half the power of existing high-performance devices in TI's TMS320C6000^TM DSP platform, giving system designers the ability to add portability to processing-intensive applications including software defined radio, industrial instrumentation and emerging markets. Based on TI's high-performance C64+^TM core, the devices offer power consumption as low as 6 mW in deep-sleep mode and 415 mW total power in active mode. Through pin-for-pin and software compatibility with various OMAP-L1x and C674x products, the C640x processors offer a new level of scalability and will be available in early 2009. For more information on power specifications, see the product bulletin at www.ti.com/c640xpb.
Multimedia performance and low power with OMAP-L1x applications processors: Enabling developers to integrate feature-rich GUIs as well as networking and touch screen capabilities into their portable designs, the new OMAP-L1x product line includes ARM9 and ARM9-plus-DSP architectures. The new devices will offer a variety of peripherals for networking and will run Linux or the DSP/BIOS^TM real-time kernel for operating system flexibility. The product line is also pin-for-pin compatible with various devices in the new C674x and C640x product lines. Power consumption ranges from 6 mW in deep-sleep mode to 435 mW total power in active mode, and the devices will be available in early 2009. For more information on power specifications, see the product bulletin at www.ti.com/omapl1xpb.
Maximize battery life with TMS320C550x^TM: For developers requiring the longest battery life, TI will be extending the low-power leadership of its TMS320C5000^TM DSP platform with new C550x^TM devices. The new DSPs include large on-chip memory as well as an optimized FFT coprocessor for faster analysis and still cut core power consumption levels to 6.8 uW in deep-sleep mode and 46 mW total power in active mode - half the power of existing C5000^TM devices. Applications such as multi-parameter medical, noise reduction headphones and portable audio/music recording will benefit from the performance and peripheral scheme of the C550x DSPs. The devices will be available in Q1 2009. For more information on the power specifications, see the product bulletin at www.ti.com/c550xpb.

Need for portability addressed with decades of low power experience

TI's new processor product lines are rooted in the company's 30-year-old commitment to addressing low-power design challenges, which has been demonstrated with innovations like the MSP430, the industry's lowest power MCU; the ADS7953, the lowest power, 16-channel precision analog-to-digital converter; the OPA369, the lowest power zero-crossover op amp; and a complete portfolio of power management solutions for any energy-efficient power design. Over the years, TI has taken a system level approach to power optimization and high performance, providing customers with industry leading signal chain, power management, processor and software solutions. This focus on low power extends far beyond the need for portability as TI recognizes the global necessity for energy conservation. By enabling products that are inherently lower power, TI is helping developers make it easy for consumers to use more environmentally friendly products.

Pricing and availability

C674x silicon and associated software and tools will begin sampling in Q4 2008 and other product lines will roll out throughout the next 12 months. Suggested retail pricing will vary by device but will start at less than $9 (100 units). Various processors within the C640x, OMAP-L1x and C674x product lines offer software and pin-for-pin compatibility, allowing engineers to start their development efforts today with existing devices and then lower power consumption and add features with new devices in the near future.

New TI TMS320C2000™ DSCs provide fixed point affordability and floating point ease-of-use to enable energy-efficient industrial applications

NewsCenter — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Complete hardware and software compatibility allows manufacturers to create greener industrial applications faster, more economically

HOUSTON (February 19, 2008) - Embedded control engineers prefer the simplified programming provided by floating-point architectures, but are often deterred by the higher cost. Addressing this paradox, Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) today announced the first fixed-point digital signal controllers (DSCs) that are entirely compatible in hardware and software with high-performance floating-point DSCs. TI's new TMS320F282x series of DSCs combine the affordability of a fixed-point architecture with the faster software development inherent to floating-point devices. Floating-point algorithms that previously required significant recoding for fixed-point operation can now be recompiled in minutes to run on the F282x devices. The DSCs bring savings in time-to-market and manufacturing costs, enabling developers to design energy-efficient, less expense industrial applications such as servo controllers, automotive radar, solar inverters and wind turbines. For more information, go to www.ti.com/f282x.

Fully compatible fixed- and floating-point options for high-end embedded control

The new fixed-point F282x DSCs build on the success of TI's recently introduced TMS320F283x floating-point DSCs, which double performance and cut development time in half from TI's previously leading DSCs. The F282x controllers operate at up to 150 megahertz, are 100 percent code-compatible with F283x devices and can be programmed using the same development tools. The F282x controllers are also completely pin-to-pin compatible with the F283x series. This means that for the first time, a developer can create a control system using floating-point operations for greater accuracy and rapid programming, then recompile the same source code to be used on a fixed-point device for cost efficiency without re-designing any hardware.

Applications that do not need the full performance of a floating-point controller can be prototyped and debugged using F283x DSCs, then manufactured using F282x DSCs to take advantage of fixed-point economy. The parallel fixed- and floating-point devices not only save significant time in development but also allow manufacturers to target both performance and cost-conscious market segments using the same software and hardware engineering.
"By offering the capabilities of fixed- and floating-point operations in fully compatible DSC families, TI is providing embedded control customers with a new level of performance, convenience and affordability," said Andrew Soukup, worldwide C2000 marketing manager, TI. "The ease of use of floating point and the cost efficiency of fixed point will enable control system developers to introduce more products that save power at a time when energy efficiency is becoming increasingly important in all markets."

Faster, greener development for advanced embedded control systems

TI's F282x DSCs bring high performance, ease of development and greater affordability to a wide array of advanced embedded control applications. For instance, in variable speed AC drives and servo controllers, TI DSCs provide the performance needed to execute the most precise and responsive control algorithms. End applications such as industrial tools, robotics and computer numeric control (CNC) systems can use smaller, less expensive motors that operate with greater precision while drawing less power and supplying a more consistently high output. Similar advantages are seen in power inverters for alternative energy systems, which achieve peak efficiency through Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithms and dynamic algorithm adjustments when the wind speed drops or the sky becomes cloudy. Enhancements such as data logging, power line communications (PLC) or inverter synchronization to the utility grid are also possible with the high level of performance offered by TI DSCs.

For applications such as these, developing code using floating-point operations saves time and expense; then by recompiling the developer can run the same software on a fixed-point controller. The tedious job of recoding and debugging using fixed-point numeric representations has been eliminated, and one version of the source code can continue to support ongoing development for both fixed- and floating-point controllers. Code development for F282x controllers follows the same easy-to-use, proven flow as that for F283x devices, except that resetting a single compiler command directs TI's IQ Math^TM library of numeric functions to link the source code to the appropriate operations for fixed-point implementation. All of the F282x and F283x DSCs are also fully code-compatible with TI's earlier TMS320C28x DSCs, allowing manufacturers to easily upgrade older designs to TI's highest-performing controller families.

System-level integration, in-depth development support

Development support for F282x fixed-point DSCs is already available in the same tools used for F283x floating-point DSCs. To help jump start development, TI offers its F28335 eZdsp^TM starter kit, which comes complete with an F28335 DSC target board and TI's Code Composer Studio^TM Integrated Development Environment. Other support from TI includes commonly used control algorithms, and a wide variety of tools and software modules are also available from TI's extensive network of third parties.

Availability and device specifications

TI's new TMS320F28235 digital signal controllers are now sampling in limited quantities. Volume production is scheduled for all F282x fixed-point and F283x floating-point DSCs in the second quarter of 2008.

Incotex automated meter management systems improve energy efficiency and accuracy using TI controller technology

NewsCenter — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Incotex distributed power and management solution helps electrical utilities become greener by reducing energy losses by up to 30 percent

NICE, FRANCE and MOSCOW, RUSSIA (January 29, 2008) - Improving energy efficiency for electric metering systems by up to 30 percent and helping streamline utility business operations, Incotex Co. Ltd., Moscow is leveraging multiple technologies from Texas Instruments (TI) (NYSE:TXN) in its meter management solutions now being implemented throughout Russia, Kazahstan, the Ukraine and Belorussia. TI's MSP430 microcontroller (MCU) and TMS320C2000^TM digital signal controller (DSC) technologies help utility companies comply with environmental protection standards, minimizing power leakages while also advancing customer service with automatic outage detection and more accurate, timely readings. Based on TI's TMS320F28015 DSC, MSP430F155 and MSP430FE427 ultra-low power MCUs and data converters, Incotex's automated meter management (AMM) systems for electrical power distribution networks are optimized to deliver advanced efficiency capabilities to utility providers and end-users around the world. For more information, go to www.ti.com/microcontroller.
Exemplifying Incotex's energy efficient offerings, the company's Mercury AMM system for electrical power distribution networks utilizes TI controller technology to provide automated data collection directly from consumer energy meters over power lines. This makes it possible for electrical utilities to easily detect and correct the location of energy losses. TI's ultra-low power MSP430 MCU helps reduce the meters' energy loss up to 30 percent through detection of electric energy loss and theft.
"Energy efficiency is paramount, and Incotex, together with TI, is committed to delivering technologies that enhance products and services while reducing power usage," said Mr. Batrakov Nikolay, technical manager, Incotex Co. Ltd. "Based on TI's analog and digital solutions, Incotex's meter management products demonstrate how technology can save energy and simultaneously improve business operations and the quality of service provided by utility companies."
With Mercury PLC AMR, utilities also have the ability to enable "time of day pricing" in order to better match prices to the cost of generating and delivering power. Consumers also receive more accurate and timely information on electrical consumption, which helps them reduce costs by making better energy purchase decisions. Substantial cost reductions are also possible through the elimination of manual meter reading at the consumers' site through powerline communication between the utility and meter.
High-performance signal processing is critical to ensuring that two way communications between the utility and meter are received and sent over power lines, as the infrastructure was not initially designed to handle communications traffic. Incotex's Mercury PLC AMR transmits data at up to 100 different frequencies in two directions, ensuring reliable and accurate transmission in high noise conditions. The Mercury PLC utilizes TI's F28015 DSC to simultaneously provide orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), which transmits multiple signals simultaneously over a single path. Additionally, the TI DSC is used for phase shift keying (PSK) of the frequency hopping carrier, which varies the phase of the transmitted signal to convey information. TI's DSC also handles OFDM signal processing through the implementation of Fast Fourier Transform calculations that analyze the frequencies contained in a sampled signal.
TI's TMS320C2000 DSCs provide 32-bit fixed-point and floating-point offerings with up to 150 MHz performance, 512-kbyte flash and 68-kbyte of SRAM memory. The 60MHz TMS320F28015 controller used in the Mercury PLC modem is a single-chip solution with a fast 12-bit ADC and PWM generators that perform the digital to analog conversion. The F28015 is widely available today for a suggested resale price of $3.80 at 100u.
Ultra-low power MSP430 MCUs offer a combination of low power consumption and analog integration currently unmatched in the industry. Devices within the MSP430FE42x series are energy measurement system-on-chips (SoC), providing for distributed energy metering applications. MSP430FE42x devices integrate an energy measurement subsystem that consists of three independent, high precision 16-bit analog to digital converters (ADCs) along with an LCD display driver, temperature sensor, hardware multiplier and energy calculation algorithms. This highly integrated solution eliminates the need for the multiple external components and ICs traditionally responsible for measuring and calculating energy, providing the real time clock and driving the LCD display. Additionally, the measurement subsystem can be calibrated and initialized to accurately calculate energy, power factor and other parameters for a wide range of metering sensor configurations.

TI Enables Innovation with Broad Range of Controllers

From ultra-low-power MSP430 and 32-bit general purpose TMS470 ARM7&#174 family-based MCUs to high-performance TMS320C2000 digital signal controllers, TI offers designers the broadest range of embedded control solutions. Designers can also accelerate their design to market by tapping into TI's complete software and hardware tools, extensive third party offerings and technical support. For more information on the broad range of TI's controllers, see www.ti.com/mcu.

TI Announces Industry's First Approved DTS-HD Master Audio DSP Implementation for Audio/Video Receivers

NewsCenter — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 07:00:00 GMT

TI's DA7xx Audio DSPs Enrich Audio Quality for Consumers Watching HD DVDs and Blu-ray Discs

HOUSTON (October 31, 2007) - Committed to innovations that provide the highest performance audio quality, Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) today announced that its audio digital signal processors (DSPs) are the first embedded implementation approved with DTS-HD master audio at 192 kHz for unparalleled audio quality in home theater systems. Audio/video receivers (AVRs) based on TI's award-winning DA7xx generation of DSPs have the power to fully support eight channels of 192 kHz lossless audio that is bit-for-bit identical to the original audio source, which allows home theater systems to sound exactly as the filmmaker intended. With the full certification of DTS-HD Master audio and DTS-LBR (Low Bit Rate), DA7xx DSPs are the first audio processors approved for both DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD, and can support all audio formats present on next-generation HD DVD and Blu-Ray discs. For more information please visit www.ti.com/pa6.

"The consumer electronics industry continues to demand the highest quality surround sound in home theater systems," said Brian Towne, senior vice president and general manager, DTS. "With TI's DSP-based A/V receivers that are DTS-HD certified, consumers will now have unprecedented audio that matches high-definition video images for a truly all-encompassing HD home theater experience."

Cost-Effective Performance

Decoding the highest quality DTS-HD master audio streams, eight channel/192kHz lossless audio and all essential post-processing can be handled on a single DA7xx DSP. By supporting DTS-HD master audio in a cost-effective, single-chip solution, manufacturers can incorporate crisper, fuller and more dynamic audio quality into lower-priced home theater systems. TI integrated the new DTS-HD audio decoders into the existing DA7xx software solution and system framework, allowing manufacturers to get DTS-HD products to market quickly without any compatibility problems.

TI's audio framework enables original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to easily plug in differentiating post-processing modules from TI or TI third parties, including Audyssey MultEQ XT, Neural-THX Surround, SRS Circle Surround II and THX Ultra 2.

The Aureus Engine

TI's DA7xx DSPs or Aureus processors target a wide range of home theater and automotive products requiring multi-channel decoding and high-speed encoding. TI's Aureus product line consists of a 32/64-bit floating-point programmable DSP and a comprehensive software solution, enabling multi-channel decoding applications.

TI offers a wide range of complementary high-performance analog and DSP products for home entertainment audio, including audio data converters, Class-D and PurePath DigitalTM audio amplifiers and audio clocks. TI provides the silicon, software, systems expertise and support for the entire audio signal chain, enabling customers to get to market quickly. For more information see the Audio Solutions Guide at ti.com/audio.

Customer Accolades

"TI was the first audio DSP vendor to provide an approved Dolby TrueHD implementation for AVRs and is now again at the forefront of the industry with the first implementation with DTS-HD," said Masao Kimura, general manager, Marantz Brand Company, D&M Holdings Inc. "This offering made TI's DA7xx audio DSP as the obvious choice for Marantz's first HD audio/video receiver."
"Onkyo takes advantage of TI's complete software and hardware solutions, which includes the industry's first HD decoders required to support next-generation DVD formats, so we can concentrate on developing differentiated features to deliver unique, compelling AVR products," said Miwa Mori, software design manager, Onkyo.
"TI continually improves its audio DSP solutions with the highest performance and fully certified decoder software, empowering Yamaha to quickly bring to market our flagship RX-Z11 AVR, the first AVR capable of decoding 192 kHZ DTS-HD master audio," said Akihiro Muramatsu, department manager, Yamaha.

Availability and Packaging

The 32-bit floating point DA7xx HD decoder solutions are currently available in production volume in a 256-ball BGA package and 144-pin TQFP package through select TI regional third party providers. TI's audio DSPs and the accompanying software solution and system framework are in production today and supported by TI's Code Composer StudioTM development tools.

For more information see:

TI DSP Third Party Network: www.ti.com/3P

TI Performance Audio: www.ti.com/pa6

New TI Floating-Point F28335 eZdsp™ Starter Kit Speeds Development for Greener Industrial Applications

NewsCenter — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 00:30:00 GMT

TI digital signal controllers and analog solutions provide innovation for higher energy efficient industrial applications

BANGALORE (October 4, 2007) - Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE:TXN) has made it easy for engineers to evaluate and develop software on its recently introduced floating-point TMS320F2833x digital signal controllers (DSCs) by introducing the F28335 eZdsp^TM starter kit. Now sampling, the F28335 controller is the industry's first floating-point DSC, supplying developers of industrial systems with the inherent floating-point advantages of performance and simplified software development over fixed-point devices. In addition to these digital processing solutions, TI offers engineers a broad portfolio of complementary analog solutions for development of greener variable speed motor control, digital power supplies and intelligent sensing applications. For more information, see www.ti.com/f28335ezdsp.

Stand-Alone Module Provides Wide Range of Features to Simplify Evaluation and Development

The F28335 eZdsp starter kit, produced by Spectrum Digital, Inc., a member of the TI DSP Third Party Network, is a stand-alone tool that provides developers a platform to easily develop software for the F2833x controllers. Only $495, this low-cost development platform provides all the hardware and software necessary for evaluation and software development, ultimately cutting design cycle time and associated costs.

The F28335 eZdsp comes complete with an F28335 target board, TI's Code Composer Studio^TM Integrated Development Environment (version 3.3), universal AC power adapter and USB cable. The target board features the 150MHz/300 MFLOPS F28335 DSC with 512KB flash and 68KB RAM, 128Kx16 off-chip SRAM.

Performance and Reduced Development Time Help Enable Greener Industrial Applications

The simplified software development and performance boost common to floating-point processors offer better power efficiency for greener industrial applications. For example, the F2833x devices enable variable speed alternating current (AC) drives, which use one-eighth the energy compared to constant speed counterparts. The floating-point devices also enable clean energy through solar power inverters that more efficiently convert energy from photovoltaic (PV) panels.

The new F2833x floating-point controllers can increase performance by an average of 50 percent over TI's previous leading digital signal controllers while operating at the same 150 MHz clock rate. Some algorithms, such as a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) used for complex calculations, will see a 200 percent improvement over an equivalent 32-bit fixed-point implementation.

Embedded software engineers typically prefer to design and prototype control systems in floating-point arithmetic, but final designs are usually implemented in fixed-point arithmetic. By removing the need to convert from floating point to fixed point, F2833x devices can save weeks or months of development time and eliminate the required modifications to scaling, saturation and adjustment of numerical resolution.

Complementary Analog Products for System Solutions

For industrial applications, TI also provides customers with a broad range of complementary analog solutions including high-performance data converters (ADCs and DACs), amplifiers, interface, low-power RF and power management products. For more information, go to www.ti.com/analog.

Silicon and Tools Availability

Developers can now order samples of the TMS320F28835 from TI or any TI authorized distributor. Samples of the F28335 are available in the 176-pin TQFP package and ready for delivery. Complete documentation supporting the F2833x controllers is available for download from www.ti.com/f2833x.

Developers can also place orders for the F28335 eZdsp kit today. The eZdsp will be available through TI distributors or on the web at www.ti.com/f28335estore. Shipments of the F28335 eZdsp kit will begin on October 15.

TI Enables Innovation with Broad Range of Controllers

From ultra-low-power MSP430 and 32-bit general purpose TMS470 ARM7® family-based MCUs to high performance TMS320C2000^TM digital signal controllers, TI offers designers the broadest range of embedded control solutions. Designers can also accelerate their design to market by tapping into TI's complete software and hardware tools, extensive third party offerings and technical support. For more information on the broad range of TI's controllers, see www.ti.com/mcu.

New TMS320C6452 Broadens TI's DSP Portfolio Delivering 2x the Channels Per Dollar for High Performance Applications

NewsCenter — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 08:00:00 GMT

TI also Expands Roadmap with its C6455 1.2-GHz, Fastest Single Core DSP for Telecom Infrastructure, Medical and Emerging Applications

HOUSTON (October 2, 2007) - Designers of telecom access infrastructure equipment can now double the number of VoIP and conferencing channels per dollar, lowering system cost and power while boosting overall performance. Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) today announced the availability of the high-performance, cost-effective TMS320C6452 digital signal processor (DSP) designed to optimize price and performance for today's process intensive multi-channel infrastructure and medical imaging systems. Simultaneously, TI has strengthened its performance leadership position by announcing that the TMS320C6455 DSP at 1.2-GHz is the world’s fastest single core DSP. For more information on the C6452 and C6455 DSPs, see www.ti.com/c6452and55.

"Over the years, TI's C6000^TM DSP platform has proven to be reliable, cost effective and easy to use," said Simon Chouldjian, VP of hardware engineering, AltiGen. "TI continually improves its C6000 DSPs with higher speeds and more efficient instruction sets. With the high-performance products and great support AltiGen has received during the product development lifecycle, it is easy to see why we are committed to leveraging TI's roadmap."

C6452 DSP Key Customer Benefits

With a more than 30 percent price reduction over TI's popular TMS320C6415T DSPs, the new code compatible 900 MHz C6452 DSP allows designers to quickly and easily migrate their designs from the widely deployed C641x based products. Therefore, this broad base of customers can benefit from the advanced communications peripherals, expanded memory, heightened performance and cost benefits of the new C6452 device.

Based on TI's enhanced TMS320C64x+^TM core, the C6452 DSP delivers double the L1 cache memory and 40 percent more L2 cache than the C6415T, giving customers more headroom to easily add differentiating features to their designs. The C6452 DSP also includes two gigabit Ethernet MAC ports and one gigabit switch, which greatly improves the efficiency of multi-chip designs by automatically monitoring the data stream to ensure that only the appropriate packets consume DSP performance. Additionally, the device is equipped with a Telecom Serial Interface Port (TSIP), providing a seamless connection to common telecom serial data streams, ultimately improving performance while increasing robustness and flexibility.

• Twice the channels per dollar - Increasing channel density is critical for infrastructure designs since, in most instances, rack space is fixed. The C6452 DSP's 900 MHz clock rate, expanded memory, advanced peripherals and ability to be easily daisy-chained using the two SGMII (Serial Gigabit Media Independent Interface) ports gives system-level designers the building blocks needed to increase channel density. The C6452 DSP's lower price compared to the C6415T DSP, plus system software from third parties such as Adaptive Digital Technologies, enables twice the channels per dollar for echo cancellation, conferencing and VoIP/G.PAK applications.

• Reduced application bottlenecks - The C6452 DSP has two SGMII Ethernet MAC ports and a gigabit switch to enable each individual DSP in the system to process only those packets associated with that DSP's function. The SGMII is a widely used technology for connecting high-speed Ethernet devices at the MAC level. TI's switch adds a decision gate that can, for example, be used to distinguish between voice and data traffic. If a specific DSP on the card is dedicated entirely to voice processing, it blocks data traffic from entering, which makes much more effective use of its processing bandwidth.

• Enhanced IO peripherals and more on-chip memory than the C6415T DSP - The C6452 DSP's 66-MHz PCI interface has double the data rate. Similarly, the DDR2 interface doubles the external memory bandwidth. L1 instruction and data caches are doubled to 32 Kbytes. There is a 40 percent increase in the L2 cache size.

Independent Verification: TI's C6455 DSP is World's Fastest

TI is committed to investing in its high performance roadmap and is expanding its DSP portfolio with the introduction of its 1.2-GHz TMS320C6455 DSP. The C6455 at 1.2-GHz is available at the previous 1-GHz price, giving developers a significant performance boost at no additional cost. The results of Berkeley Design Technology, Inc.'s (BDTI) benchmark analysis of the C6455 device placed it atop all other single core programmable DSPs for speed with a BDTImark2000TM score of 13170. Because BDTI Benchmarks^TM measure performance on a collection of algorithms, they provide performance expectations for real-world applications and are the most widely used digital signal processing benchmarks in the world.

For the most processing-intensive applications requiring the highest performance and processor-to-processor communication, the C6455 DSP combines high bandwidth peripheral integration (gigabit Ethernet MAC), Serial RapidIO (sRIO) and increased memory (2MB of L2 memory) into one single device.

Pricing and Availability

Customers can now place orders for the TMS320C6452 DSP, starting at $94 at 720MHz in 10Ku quantities from TI. The highly integrated device is packaged in a 19 x 19 mm, 361-lead BGA (ball grid array) packages. Order entry is also open for the C6452 DSP evaluation module (EVM), priced at $1,295. The 1.2-GHz C6455 DSP is now available for $245 in 10Ku from TI. Order entry is open for the 1.2-GHz C6455 DSP starter kit priced at $495. For more information, please visit www.ti.com/c6452and55.

For more information see:

TI DSP Third Party Network: www.ti.com/3P

Berkeley Design Technology, Inc.: www.bdti.com

Serial RapidIO Trade Association: www.RapidIO.org

Texas Instruments Allocates $15 Million to Fund University Medical Technology Research

NewsCenter — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 08:00:00 GMT

DALLAS (September 18, 2007) - Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) today announced that the company is allocating a total of $15 million to fund medical technology research at selected universities worldwide. The funding will support research and development of key emerging medical technologies, over a period of several years, in areas such as personal medical devices, implantables, medical imaging, wireless healthcare systems and biosensor technology.
"TI has always been at the forefront of technology research and we are very excited to partner with universities worldwide to help develop the next-generation of medical electronics that will allow our customers to improve the quality of healthcare and life," said Kent Novak, vice president of TI's medical business unit.
TI technology has been utilized in many recent advancements in the medical field, including portable imaging, wireless communications for patient monitoring, retinal prosthesis and DSP-based robotics to improve quality of life for amputees. TI's expertise and innovation in a broad range of semiconductor technologies - high-performance analog, digital signal processing, ultra-low-power microcontrollers, wireless connectivity and DLP&#174 - complement the demanding requirements of next-generation medical systems.
Novak added: "In the 1990s, wireless communications systems, cell phones and PDAs were major areas of R&D and leading market drivers in the electronics industry. An outgrowth of these developments is higher system integration and lower power requirements. Many new and emerging medical systems are now utilizing these established technologies to improve patient monitoring in hospitals, for feature-enhanced personal care devices, and for rapidly modernizing healthcare systems in developing countries where standardized healthcare is virtually nonexistent."
For more information regarding this program, timing and the process for submitting proposals for medical technology research funding, please visit www.ti.com/medical. Projects will be selected by TI's Medical Business Unit.