Blackfin Gets BDTImark2000™, New Family Member

Submitted by BDTI on Sat, 12/15/2001 - 21:00

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.

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