Tasking, one of the last independent providers of DSP software development tools, announced last month that it has been acquired. Over the past few years many of Tasking's competitors have also been acquired—several by major DSP processor vendors; Texas Instruments, Motorola, and Analog Devices have each acquired development tool specialists. Such acquisitions highlight how important tools have become to DSP system developers.

Texas Instruments recently announced its first three products based on the 'C64xx DSP core: the TMS320C6414, TMS320C6415, and TMS320C6416. All three devices are scheduled to begin sampling in June 2001, about a year and a half after TI originally announced the core. The target speed for initial samples remains an aggressive 600 MHz, but 400 and 500 MHz versions of each device will also be available.

On March 16 LSI Logic announced that it will license its ZSP core to Conexant for use in wireless mobile applications. Following on the heels of Broadcom and IBM, Conexant's deal with LSI Logic is a strong endorsement of the ZSP's potential as a licensable core—a potential that has not always been clear.

In the ancient Near East the number 40 was a literary device symbolizing "an impressively large number," not a precise quantity. "It rained for 40 days and 40 nights," "they wandered in the desert for 40 years,"—the examples are countless.