BDTI’s DSP Insider Archives
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This month:
TI Moves ’C64x to 90 Nanometers, 1 GHzTexas Instruments announced in January that it has migrated its high-performance fixed-point DSP architecture, the TMS320C64x, to a 90 nanometer process. Three of the existing ’C64x family members—the TMS320C6414, TMS320C6415, and TMS320C6416—are now being fabricated in the 90 nm process and execute at up to 1 GHz. Pricing starts at $189 for the 1 GHz ’C6414 in 10K quantities. Earlier ’C64x family members were fabbed in a 130 nm process and executed with a top speed of 720 MHz. TI states that the migration to the new process has enabled it to cut the price of 720 MHz ’C64x chips in half, down to $115 in 10K quantities. The 1 GHz speed has been a long time in coming. Back in February of 2000, TI issued a press release heralding the ’C64x architecture as having “10x the performance of [then] current DSPs” while “operating at speeds of up to 1.1 GHz.” Four years later, the promised speed has finally arrived—give or take 100 MHz. Even with the long gestation period, however, the 1 GHz ’C64x easily retains the title of fastest mainstream DSP.
This speed increase has propelled the ’C64x ahead of a key competitor,
Analog Devices’ TigerSHARC. About six months ago, ADI began
sampling a 600 MHz version of the TigerSHARC architecture (see
July 2003 DSP Insider). TigerSHARC is a competitor with some strong
advantages—current chips have much more on-chip memory than the
’C64x, and the architecture supports an unusually wide range of data
types. At 600 MHz, TigerSHARC is almost as fast as the ’C64x at 720
MHz. With the new 1 GHz chips, though, the ’C64x gains a significant
speed advantage. Its BDTIMark2000™ score is 9130, compared to
TigerSHARC’s score of 6150. (The TigerSHARC score is based on
16-bit fixed-point benchmarks.) Of the processors BDTI has
benchmarked, only the Intrinsity FastMATH has a higher score:
11,890 at 2 GHz. See http://www.BDTI.com.
for additional BDTImark2000
scores.
Analog Devices Introduces Eight New Blackfin ChipsIn January, Analog Devices announced that it is significantly expanding its lineup of Blackfin DSP chips by adding eight new members to the family. (Blackfin is Analog Devices’ low-power, dual-MAC, 16-bit fixed-point architecture.) The new family members execute at speeds of up to 750 MHz (increased from the previous top speed of 600 MHz) and include the first dual-core member of the family. Three of the chips—including the dual-core device—target multimedia applications; one targets wireless handset applications; and four target automotive and industrial applications. Each of the chips includes a variety of peripherals tailored to its target markets. Two of the new family members are already sampling. The ADSP-BF561, which includes two Blackfin cores, is available at 500, 600, and 750 MHz. Pricing for the ADSP-BF561 is $22.65 for 600 MHz chips and $39.95 for 750 MHz chips in 10K quantities. The single-core ADSP-BF533, which targets portable products such as digital cameras and wireless handsets, is also currently sampling at 750 MHz. Pricing is set at $31.95 for the 750 MHz version and $15.95 for an upcoming 600 MHz version. The ADSP-BF561 and ADSP-BF533 are expected to reach production in the second quarter of 2004, according to ADI. Speeds, pricing, and availability for the remaining six chips have not yet been announced. Two of the processors’ key competitors come from Texas Instruments. For more demanding applications, Blackfin will be up against the TMS320C64x family, particularly the video-oriented TMS320DM64x chips. TI now offers 1 GHz members of the ’C64x family (see TI Moves ’C64x to 90 Nanometers, 1 GHz, above) that are much faster than the new Blackfin chips, but for cost reasons, it’s unlikely that the two will compete head-to-head: the 1 GHz TI chips start at a whopping $189. Blackfin is much more likely to see competition from the ’DM64x chips, which top out at 600 MHz and cost around $35. At 600 MHz, the ’DM6401 BDTImark2000™ score is 5478, compared to the 750 MHz single-core Blackfin score of 4190.
In low-power portable applications, Blackfin will compete with TI’s
TMS320C55x. The ’C55x, with a current top clock rate of 300 MHz,
is nowhere near as fast as Blackfin; the 300 MHz ’C55x has a
BDTImark2000™ score of 1460, compared to the single-core 750
MHz Blackfin’s score of 4190. In addition, Blackfin has an unusual
advantage over the ’C55x in that it provides exceptional support for
8-bit operations commonly used in video applications. In its favor,
the ’C55x offers partial code compatibility with its
predecessor, the ’C54x. Blackfin offers no compatibility with ADI’s
earlier fixed-point architecture, the ADSP-21xx.
BDTI Case Study
This Month: Technical Due DiligenceAlthough the economy appears to be on the mend, established technology companies and venture capitalists alike remain cautious about their investments. They are wary of accepting vendors’ claims about their technology at face value and often turn to outside experts for technical due diligence evaluations to assess and manage risk. Such due diligence evaluations get to the heart of the value of a company’s technology portfolio, resources, and prospects. For example, a thorough assessment of a DSP core vendor includes a careful evaluation of the company’s architecture, implementation, development tools, personnel, and market strategy. This type of assessment is best performed by analysts with strong backgrounds in processor architectures, understanding of the target applications, experience using development tools, and a solid understanding of the competitive landscape. BDTI has been providing technical due diligence evaluations of signal-processing technology and technology providers to investors, acquirers, and technology licensees for many years. BDTI’s independence and technical expertise make it the natural choice for this work. In one example, a venture capitalist contemplating a multi-million dollar investment engaged BDTI’s services for a due diligence analysis of a DSP IP start-up. BDTI evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of the company’s technology, personnel, and competitive position, and identified key milestones for the company in each area. BDTI provided the investor with an insightful assessment of the company’s chances for success, reducing the investor’s risk and creating a clearer view of the value of the investment.
For more information on BDTI’s due diligence services, please
visit http://www.BDTI.com/products/services_advisory.html or
contact Jeremy Giddings (giddings@BDTI.com).
Impulse Response, by Jeff Bier
Stuck in the PastVendors announcing new signal-processing chips tend to brag about the clock speed of the processor core, just as they did ten years ago. “Look at our hot new processor!” they proclaim. “It’s got lots and lots of Hertz!” But in embedded applications—just as in PC applications—comparing chip performance solely on the basis of core clock speeds never tells the whole story. In fact, it can be downright misleading. The performance of today’s highly integrated chips isn’t just a function of the processor core, but also of surrounding components: for example, memory, I/O interfaces, and coprocessors. Most of the performance data available for these chips focuses on the processor, however, and ignores the effects of other on-chip components. As processor speeds have pushed upwards towards the gigahertz mark, memory and other on-chip elements have struggled to keep up. In many cases, the speed of the chip is limited by the speeds of these components. As a result, chip speeds are simply not increasing as fast as processor clock speeds. Many processor vendors and users employ small benchmarks, such as FIR filters or Viterbi decoders, to make chip performance comparisons. This type of benchmark has been around a long time and offers much more accurate performance comparisons than MHz, MIPS, or MMACs. System developers are familiar and comfortable with this approach to assessing chip performance. Still, such benchmarks typically compare only processor core speeds, not chip speeds—just like MHz. This is not to say that small benchmarks are no longer useful; they are. This is particularly true for licensable cores, where the surrounding components are selected by the licensee, not by the core designer. However, for complicated, high-performance chips, the addition of larger, application-oriented benchmarks that fully exercise memory, I/O, and peripherals is important. Of course, this approach to performance estimation has its difficulties. It’s much more time-consuming to implement larger benchmarks, so these benchmark results will most likely only be available for the hottest applications. System developers who need to estimate whole-chip performance for other applications will need to use some combination of whole-chip benchmark data developed for different applications, processor core benchmark data, custom benchmarks, and old-fashioned back-of-the- envelope estimates.
Small benchmarks have served our industry well and continue to
have their place—but more information is sorely needed.
Application benchmarks, while not a panacea, will provide a
welcome step forward.
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 edition (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 Updates Benchmark ScoresBDTI has released updated BDTImark2000™ scores for Texas Instruments TMS320C64x at 1 GHz and Analog Devices ADSP-BF53x Blackfin processor at 750 MHz. For these and other scores, go to http://www.BDTI.com/bdtimark/BDTImark2000.htm.
The BDTIsimMark2000™ and BDTImark2000™ are summary measures of
digital signal processing speed distilled from a suite of DSP
benchmarks developed and independently verified by BDTI.
Come Hear BDTI at the TI Developer’s ConferenceCome hear BDTI’s unique perspective on signal processing applications at the TI Developer Conference this month. BDTI will give two presentations, Microprocessors versus Digital Signal Processors and Benchmarking Processors for DSP Applications.
The TI Developer’s Conference will be held February 18-20 at the
Westin Galleria in Houston. For more information on the conference,
go to http://www.BDTI.com/bdti_whatsnew.html#tidc.
Plan to Attend electronicaUSA/Embedded Systems Conference 2004Join BDTI at electronicaUSA/Embedded Systems Conference. This year’s event includes the Communications Design Conference and BDTI will be presenting at both ESC and CDC. The panel discussion, Digital Video: Gold Mine or Money Pit? moderated by Jeff Bier on Monday, March 29 at 5:30 pm is sure to be one of the highlights of ESC. Come hear BDTI presentations on developing digital video software, selecting the right processor for your application, video compression technologies, and application processors for mobile multimedia.
The electronicaUSA/Embedded Systems Conference will take place March 29
to April 1 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. For more
information, go to http://www.bdti.com/bdti_whatsnew.html#esc.
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.
As previously announced, a new newsletter, Inside DSP, published jointly by CMP Media’s EE Times and BDTI, will soon take the place of the DSP Insider. Both newsletters are free. If this newsletter was forwarded to you and you would like to receive the new Inside DSP newsletter regularly, register at http://www.BDTI.com/dspinsider.htm. If you do not wish to receive the new BDTI-CMP Inside DSP newsletter, send an email message to dspinsider@BDTI.com with the words “Remove me” in the subject line.
Previous issues of BDTI’s DSP Insider are archived and will
continue to be available at http://www.BDTI.com.
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