BDTI’s DSP Insider Archives
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This month:
TI Announces 90 Nanometer OMAP ChipIn December Texas Instruments announced a new 90 nm OMAP chip, the OMAP1710. The new chip will be among the first processors to be fabricated in a 90 nm process. The OMAP1710 will target cell phones and other mobile devices, and, like previous OMAP chips, will include a variety of peripherals that are geared towards its target applications. The dual-core chip will include a TMS320C55x DSP core and an ARM ARM9E general-purpose processor core, both of which can execute at up to 220 MHz. (Earlier OMAP family members are fabbed in a 130 nm process and operate at a maximum speed of 204 MHz.) The OMAP1710 will be available only to high-volume OEM customers and is not available as part of TI’s broad-market “catalog” product line; no pricing has been announced. It is expected to sample in the first quarter of this year.
About a year ago, BDTI estimated the general signal-processing
performance of an earlier OMAP chip, the OMAP1510, versus that of a
key competitor, the Intel XScale-based PXA255. The OMAP1510, which
includes a 200 MHz ’C55x core and 175 MHz ARM9 core, has
signal-processing benchmark execution times similar to those of the
400 MHz PXA255. (This analysis assumes that the signal-processing
code executes exclusively on the ’C55x, not on the ARM core.) The
OMAP1710, with its increased clock speed, is therefore likely to be
somewhat faster than the 400 MHz PXA255 on general DSP tasks.
BDTI Case Study
This Month: Coming Up to Speed on Digital Signal ProcessingAs markets for digital signal processing technology continue to expand, increasing numbers of equipment manufacturers and technology providers are turning their attention to DSP. In doing so, these companies often discover that addressing the needs of digital signal processing applications requires new skills and knowledge. For example, salespeople may need to determine whether customer applications call for a specialized DSP processor, a general-purpose processor, or some other solution. Unless the sales staff understands the needs of signal processing applications and the advantages of each solution, they may make poor recommendations and miss out on key opportunities. Sales, marketing, and management personnel can be much more effective when armed with insights and analysis on digital signal processing technology, trends, and the competitive environment. The move to digital signal processing applications also demands unique engineering skills. For example, there is a wide variety of chips available, and radically different architectures often target the same signal processing applications. Equipment designers who are unfamiliar with the options find it difficult to confidently weigh their alternatives—and may overlook the best solution for their application. Similarly, processor developers who want to add signal processing features to their products often find it difficult to stay on top of the diverse, rapidly shifting requirements of DSP applications. As in nature, adaptation is a key to success in the face of business changes. BDTI offers seminars that have helped numerous companies transform themselves to take on new digital signal processing applications. These seminars provide unique insights from BDTI’s twelve years of technology analysis and hands-on development work. In one example, a vendor of embedded software tools engaged BDTI’s services to explore the market for a recently acquired line of signal-processing-oriented products. BDTI helped this company refine its marketing efforts through an on-site seminar as well as an in-depth question-and-answer session.
For information on BDTI seminars, please visit
http://www.BDTI.com/products/services_training.html
or contact Jeremy Giddings (giddings@BDTI.com).
Impulse Response, by Jeff Bier
DSPs Strive for CompatibilityIn recent years, DSP processor vendors have begun emphasizing software compatibility between successive processor generations. This emphasis is apparent not only in the products themselves, but in the vendors’ marketing; when established vendors announce new DSP architectures, you’ll almost always hear assurances that the new family is compatible with its predecessor. Software compatibility wasn’t always a high priority for DSP vendors. Back in the 80’s and early 90’s, most new DSP architectures were not compatible with their predecessors. Two key factors began to push DSP vendors to rethink this issue. First, signal-processing applications grew larger and more complicated making it more difficult to port code between incompatible processors. It’s one thing to rewrite application software from scratch when the entire application consists of 1,000 lines of code; it’s entirely another to do so when the application comprises tens of thousands or even millions of lines. Second, general-purpose processors (GPPs), such as Pentium-class chips and ARM cores, became increasingly competent at signal-processing tasks. For some applications, these processors offered an attractive alternative to DSPs, particularly because (unlike DSPs) GPPs usually maintained software compatibility—typically at the binary level—among successive processor generations. To meet their customers’ increasing desire for compatibility and to avoid being supplanted by GPPs, DSP vendors have focused significant attention on software compatibility in recent years. This is a good thing for all concerned. A rather troubling development, however, is the vendors’ sometimes loose interpretation of the term “compatible.” For example, Texas Instruments characterizes the TMS320C55x as assembly source-code compatible with the predecessor TMS320C54x. In fact, typical assembly code written for the TMS320C54x requires significant rework to function correctly on the TMS320C55x. This is particularly true for optimized algorithm inner loops, which are likely to rely on features of the TMS320C54x pipeline that are not maintained in the TMS320C55x, and for I/O-related code, such as device drivers. Similarly, Analog Devices has made intra-family changes in the instruction sets and microarchitectures of its ADSP-TSxxx and ADSP-BF53x that limit compatibility within these families. For example, some instructions can produce different results on the ADSP-BF535 than they do on other ADSP-BF53x family members. Of course, you won’t find prominent warnings in vendors’ press releases about these compatibility exceptions.
It’s good to see DSP vendors paying attention to compatibility.
But DSP architectures still have a way to go to achieve the level of
software compatibility long offered by GPPs.
Buyer’s Guide to DSP Processors, 2004 Edition Now Available!Get the report that savvy engineers and marketing professionals have found to be the single most authoritative body of information on processors for DSP applications—BDTI’s Buyer’s Guide to DSP Processors. The sixth edition of Buyer’s Guide includes:
In the 2004 edition you will find new features and analysis including:
The first copy is $2,695, with additional copies substantially less. Buyer’s Guide 2004 is also available in an electronic version (PDF) under the terms of an enterprise license. Contact BDTI at info@BDTI.com for a quotation on multiple-copy purchases or for information on enterprise licenses.
For more information, including order forms, visit our Web site at
http://www.BDTI.com/products/reports_bg04.html.
BDTI Seminars Now On-Line!Two of BDTI’s highly regarded seminars on digital signal processing technology are now available on your desktop!
Microprocessors versus DSPs
A single-user license for this half-day seminar, valid for twenty-one days, is $195.
Processors for Communication and Multimedia Applications
A single-user license for this full-day seminar, valid for twenty-one days, is $395. For detailed information on both seminars, including outlines and free previews, follow the links from BDTI’s home page at http://www.BDTI.com.
Multi-user and Corporate Licenses: Multi-user and corporate licenses
are available for companies who wish to license the seminars for
multiple users. Contact BDTI at info@BDTI.com for details.
Inside DSP Debuts in EE TimesThe first installment of the Inside DSP series of quarterly supplements to EE Times written by BDTI made its debut last week. The premier issue, “Digital Audio: Up the Volume!”, was bagged with the EE Times issue of January 5, 2004, in coordination with CES. This new series will provide BDTI’s characteristic insightful and expert view of key application areas for signal processing technology. If you did not receive Inside DSP with your copy of EE Times last week, look for the content at the Inside DSP web site shortly.
As announced last month, BDTI and EE Times will also cooperate in
publishing a monthly electronic Inside DSP newsletter. Subscribers
to the current DSP Insider newsletter will automatically receive
the new Inside DSP newsletter within the next couple of months.
The new newsletter will replace the DSP Insider newsletter.
About BDTIBDTI is an independent source for digital signal processing technology analysis and optimized software development services. From rigorous technical analyses of processors for DSP, such as the Inside series of processor analyses, to highly regarded technology seminars, BDTI is the trusted independent source for reliable information on digital signal processing technology. As a software developer, BDTI is known for highly optimized implementations of signal processing algorithms and applications and for solutions to complex problems of integration, code size, and performance.
For more information, visit our Web site at http://www.BDTI.com.
Previous issues of BDTI’s DSP Insider are archived and will continue to be available at http://www.BDTI.com. Both BDTI’s DSP Insider and the new BDTI-CMP Inside DSP are free monthly electronic newsletters published by Berkeley Design Technology, Inc. If this newsletter was forwarded to you and you would like to receive the new Inside DSP newsletter regularly, please register at http://www.BDTI.com/dspinsider.htm.
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