|
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Vol. I, No. 8 BDTI's DSP Insider December 2001
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
This month:
*** Blackfin Gets BDTImark2000(tm), New Family Member
*** 'C67xx Gets Speed Boost, New Peripherals
*** Measuring Energy Consumption
*** "Impulse Response," a news analysis and opinion column written
by Jeff Bier, BDTI's General Manager, and featured in EE Times
*** Year-End Discount on "Buyer's Guide 2001"
*** BDTI Provides Independent Analysis and Consulting
*** "Inside" Reports on 3DSP, ARM, and Hitachi/ST Processors
*** BDTImark2000(tm) for the ADI/Intel MSA
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
*** Blackfin Gets BDTImark2000(tm), New Family Member
Analog Devices announced general sampling of the ADSP-21535 "Blackfin"
DSP on September 28. The ADSP-21535 is the first processor based on
the Micro Signal Architecture (MSA) jointly developed by Analog
Devices and Intel. The ADSP-21535 is a 16-bit fixed-point DSP that
features two MAC units and support for a range of 8- and 16-bit SIMD
operations. The ADSP-21535 also features "Dynamic Power Management,"
which allows a single processor to operate over a range of clock
speeds and operating voltages.
BDTI recently completed certification of the BDTImark2000(tm) for the
ADSP-2153x. The BDTImark2000(tm) is a summary measure of DSP speed
distilled from a suite of DSP benchmarks developed and independently
verified by BDTI. Based on these benchmarks, the ADSP-2153x achieves
a BDTImark2000(tm) score of 1690 at 300 MHz. This score represents a
huge leap in performance for Analog Devices' 16-bit DSPs; by
comparison, the ADSP-219x achieves a BDTImark2000(tm) of 420 at
160 MHz. According to BDTI's analysis, the ADSP-2153x operating at
300 MHz is about 80% faster than the Texas Instruments TMS32055xx at
200 MHz, and about 10% faster than the StarCore SC110 at 300 MHz
(projected).
Analog Devices' September 28 announcement also introduced a low-cost
Blackfin family member, the ADSP-21532. The ADSP-21532 will contain a
number of features targeting portable audio and video applications.
Most notably, the ADSP-21535 will include on-chip voltage regulation.
This unusual feature will allow the ADSP-21532 to operate both the
core and the peripherals from a single static input voltage. The
on-chip regulator will lower the supply voltage to the level required
by the core and will support on-the-fly changes to the core voltage
and operating frequency. The ADSP-21532 will also support four stereo
I2S inputs and four stereo I2S outputs and a CCIR-656-compatible video
interface.
The ADSP-21535 is sampling now. The 300 MHz ADSP-21535 is priced at
$34, and the 200 MHz ADSP-21535 is priced at $27 (10,000 unit
quantities).
The ADSP-21532 is expected to begin sampling in mid-2002. The
ADSP-21532 will operate at 300 MHz, and will be priced at $9.95 in
10,000 unit quantities.
*** 'C67xx Gets Speed Boost, New Peripherals
On December 3, Texas Instruments announced three new members of its
TMS320C67xx family of floating-point processors. The TMS320C6713,
which is projected to operate at 225 MHz, will be the fastest of these
new processors. According to BDTI's analysis, the 225 MHz 'C6713 will
be about two times faster than its main competitor, Analog Devices'
100 MHz ADSP-21161. (See www.BDTI.com/bdtimark/BDTImark2000.htm for
BDTImark2000(tm) scores for current family members.)
The 'C6713 will contain a number of peripherals that target high-end
audio applications. For example, the 'C6713 contains two "McASPs," or
multi-channel audio serial ports. Each McASP supports up to eight
stereo I2S channels and is compatible with the S/PDIF protocol common
in audio equipment. The 'C6713 also contains two I2C ports, two
McBSPs (multi-channel buffered serial ports), and general-purpose I/O.
(In September, TI introduced TMS320DA610, which has many features in
common with the 'C6713. For example, both devices contain a 225 MHz
'C67xx core and two McASPs. However, the TMS320DA610 is intended
exclusively for digital audio, while the 'C6713 also targets
applications like wireless infrastructure.)
In addition to the TMS320C6713, TI also announced the 200 MHz
TMS320C6711C and the 150 MHz TMS320C6712C on December 3. These new
family members will effectively replace existing processors, the 150
MHz TMS320C6711 and the 100 MHz TMS320C6712. In addition to the
improved performance, all three new family members are expected to be
more energy-efficient and less expensive than existing 'C67xx
processors.
The three new 'C67xx family members will be fabricated in a 0.13
micron copper process and operate at a core voltage of 1.2 volts. All
three processors are expected to begin sampling in the second quarter
of 2002, with full production expected in the fourth quarter of 2002.
The 225 MHz 'C6713 will be priced at $26.85; the 200 MHz 'C6711C will
be priced at $18.65; and the 150 MHz 'C6712C will be priced at $13.50
(10,000 unit quantities).
*** BDTI Case Study
This Month: Measuring Energy Consumption
Energy consumption is a chief concern for many DSP applications,
especially for portable applications, where battery life is paramount.
In these applications, an accurate understanding of energy consumption
is critical to processor selection and to system design. However,
vendors usually report power consumption, not energy consumption.
Calculating energy consumption, which is typically more useful for
system developers, requires knowing both power consumption and length
of time required to execute a particular task. Even if the length of
time is known, energy consumption calculations are hindered by
inconsistencies in vendors' power measurement methodologies.
One key inconsistency stems from the fact that vendors sometimes
include on-chip peripherals and off-chip I/O in their power
measurements. This is a major problem: power consumed by peripherals
and I/O is often on the same order as the power consumed by the core
and the on-chip memory.
Vendors also make inconsistent — and sometimes unrealistic —
assumptions about processor workloads. For example, vendors may
assume the workload includes a significant percentage of idle time.
Even power reported for realistic workloads can be misleading, as
subtle differences in algorithms and memory maps can dramatically
affect power consumption.
The inconsistency of the available data suggests that system designers
might benefit from measuring processor energy consumption themselves.
However, accurately measuring energy consumption is a tricky task:
there are many variables to control, and the measurements are easily
corrupted.
Over the past five years, BDTI has performed hands-on benchmarking of
the energy consumption of a variety of processors with the cooperation
of major processor vendors. The expertise gained from these studies
allows BDTI to provide realistic, consistent analysis of processor
energy consumption. BDTI plans to build on this expertise by
performing a new hands-on study next year. In addition to
benchmarking energy consumption, this study will analyze emerging
technologies such as clock speed and voltage scaling capabilities.
BDTI also provides optimized software development services for
energy-constrained applications. If you would like to learn how
BDTI's expertise can be applied to your application, or would like to
be involved in BDTI's upcoming energy consumption benchmarking, please
contact Jeremy Giddings at BDTI (giddings@BDTI.com).
*** Impulse Response, by Jeff Bier
This month: DSPs — A Dying Breed?
At the Microprocessor Forum in October, ARM unveiled the next version
of its instruction set, ARMv6, which all future ARM cores will
support. The ARMv6 instruction set is the first from ARM to include
extensive DSP-oriented instructions. Particularly interesting is the
inclusion of a sum-of-absolute-differences instruction, a rather
specialized instruction that is useful mainly for video compression
algorithms.
Historically, ARM has found success in low-cost, high-volume
applications by offering simple, small, general-purpose processor
cores. Given this focus, some may be surprised that ARM has included
extensive DSP-oriented instructions as part of its baseline
architecture, not as an optional extension. However, this is just one
more sign that digital signal processing is becoming an essential part
of many embedded processor applications. This growing use of DSP in
applications means, at least in ARM's view, it no longer makes sense
to offer processors without DSP features.
As the performance of general-purpose processors increases, and as
more general-purpose processors add DSP-oriented features, there is
less need for specialized DSPs. Even without DSP-specific features,
many general-purpose processors can handle low- to moderate-
performance DSP applications. As a result, the choice of a processor
for a low-cost DSP application is increasingly decided by factors
other than performance.
The breadth and quality of development tools and 3rd-party software
are often critical factors in determining the success or failure of a
new system design. Today, general-purpose processors often offer
superior development tools and application software, particularly for
non-DSP functionality like network protocols and operating systems.
DSPs, in contrast, typically provide superior development support for
DSP-intensive tasks, like error-correction coding.
Vendors of both types of processors face significant challenges: For
general-purpose processor vendors, it isn't enough to provide
processors with DSP capabilities; these capabilities must be supported
by solid, DSP-oriented application development support. For DSP
processor vendors, it's time to recognize that general-purpose
processors are mounting serious competition; competing against them
requires first-class tools and developer support, extending far beyond
the realm of traditional DSP applications. Five years from now, the
success of a processor in many DSP applications may have less to do
with how many multiply-accumulate operations it can perform in
parallel and more to do with whether it can boot Linux.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
*** Year-End Discount on "Buyer's Guide 2001"
Until December 31, 2001, BDTI is offering a 50% discount on
first-copy purchases of "Buyer's Guide to DSP Processors, 2001
Edition"—hundreds of man-years of benchmarking and analysis for
less than $1,400. BDTI's flagship report contains in-depth analysis
and benchmarking of 17 families of programmable digital signal
processors.
Visit www.BDTI.com for details of the report and an order form.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
*** BDTI Provides Independent Analysis and Consulting
Do you need expert, independent evaluation and analysis of
technology? BDTI can assist you by providing consulting on DSP:
- Processor Architectures
- Processor Selection
- Algorithm Assessment and Analysis
- Application Profiling
- C Compilers
- Technical Evaluation for Investment Due Diligence
Visit on our Web site (www.bdti.com/products/services_overview.htm)
or contact Jeremy Giddings (giddings@bdti.com) for more information.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
*** "Inside" Reports on 3DSP, ARM, and Hitachi/ST Processors
In the next weeks, BDTI will expand its "Inside" series of technical
reports. The "Inside" reports combine benchmarking, in-depth
evaluation of architecture, performance, and features, and expert
analysis based on BDTI's extensive knowledge and experience.
Scheduled for publication:
==> "Inside the 3DSP SP5"
3DSP's fixed-point SP5 processor core with SuperSIMD(tm), combining
a superscalar architecture with SIMD.
==> "Inside the ARM ARM7, ARM9, and ARM9E"
Three ARM cores, the widely-used ARM7, the newer ARM9, and the
ARM9's DSP-enhanced sibling, the ARM9E.
==> "Inside the Hitachi/STMicroelectronics SH-4/ST40 and SH-5/50"
Two processor cores jointly developed—but differently named—by
Hitachi Semiconductor and STMicroelectronics.
Now shipping:
==> "Inside the StarCore SC110"
The low-power VLIW single-MAC DSP core jointly developed by Agere
and Motorola.
==> "Inside the Hitachi SH-DSP and SH3-DSP"
Two hybrid DSP/microcontroller architectures in Hitachi's SuperH
family, among the most successful DSP-enhanced microcontrollers.
For information on all of BDTI's technical reports, go to
www.BDTI.com/products/services_overview.htm#publications.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
*** BDTImark2000(tm) for the ADI/Intel MSA
BDTI has released a BDTImark2000 score for the Analog Devices
ADSP-21535 "Blackfin" processor, based on the ADI/Intel Micro Signal
Architecture core.
For this score, as well as BDTImark2000 scores for other processors,
go to www.BDTI.com/bdtimark/BDTImark2000.htm
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
*** About BDTI
BDTI is an independent source for DSP technology analysis and
optimized DSP software. From rigorous technical analyses of
processors for DSP, such as the "Buyer's Guide to DSP Processors," to
highly regarded technology training classes, BDTI is the trusted
independent source for reliable information on DSP technology. For
more information, visit our Web site at www.BDTI.com.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
The next issue of BDTI's DSP Insider is coming in January. An archive
of previous issues of the BDTI DSP Insider will be available in the
future on BDTI's Web site. If you have comments, suggestions, or
other feedback about the DSP Insider, please send email to
dspinsider@bdti.com.
BDTI's DSP Insider is a free monthly electronic newsletter published
by Berkeley Design Technology, Inc. If our newsletter was forwarded
to you and you would like to receive it regularly, please register at
www.BDTI.com/dspinsider.htm.
If you no longer wish to receive the DSP Insider, send an email
message to dspinsider@bdti.com with the words "Remove me" in the
subject line.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
BDTI's DSP Insider (c) 2001 Berkeley Design Technology, Inc.
<< previous issue - next issue >>
|
