InsideDSP — In-depth analysis and opinion

New MIPS Core Supports Multithreading

This month MIPS announced its first multi-threaded licensable core, the MIPS32 34K.  The multi-threading capabilities of the 34K are highly unusual—not only in comparison to the other MIPS cores, but also in comparison to most other embedded processors. Multithreading is a technique for running multiple pieces of code, called “threads,” in parallel with one another.  Multithreading is similar to multitasking, a technique for running multiple “processes” in parallel with one another.   A key Read more...

Atmel Introduces 32-bit MPU with DSP Features

Last month Atmel announced the AVR32, a 32-bit microprocessor core with signal-processing-oriented features.  The AVR32 targets computationally intensive, battery-powered applications such as consumer entertainment devices.  Atmel plans to announce AVR32-based chips later this year; the core will also be available through Atmel’s ASIC-design services. The AVR32 joins a growing list of 32-bit microprocessors targeting these applications.  At a high level, the AVR32 is very similar to two of Read more...

Case Study—Optimizing Presentations, Products, and Plans

The best way to ensure that a presentation is effective is to test it with a knowledgeable, critical, and responsive audience. A test audience can also help ensure that the content is correct, relevant, and appropriate for the intended audience. Just as important, a test audience can help presenters gauge the clarity, appeal, and impact of their pitch. After all, superb technical content serves no purpose if the audience loses interest a few minutes into the presentation. BDTI analysts can Read more...

Jeff Bier’s Impulse Response—Bamboozling with Benchmarks, Part 1

My colleagues and I at BDTI believe very strongly in benchmarks. We’ve been developing and implementing signal processing benchmarks for over a decade, and we know that good benchmarks play an essential role in evaluating processing engines. You can see, then, why we get bent out of shape when benchmarks are used misleadingly. This happens pretty regularly in vendor marketing materials, but we’ve also seen it in training classes and technical articles. Most people don’t set out to use Read more...

BDTI Releases MIPS24KEc Benchmark Scores

Today BDTI released the first independent benchmarks results for the MIPS24KEc licensable processor core. The MIPS24KEc is MIPS’ highest-performance 32-bit core, and it is the first core to incorporate the “DSP ASE” signal-processing instruction-set extensions. (For a discussion of these extensions, see the October 2004 edition of Inside DSP.) BDTI’s analysis shows that these extensions give the MIPS24KEc serious signal-processing capabilities: the MIPS24KEc achieves a BDTImark2000™ score of Read more...

New TriCore DSCs Target Motor Control

Last month Infineon introduced two new TriCore-based processors, the TC1161 and TC1162. These new chips join Infineon’s TC1xxx family of chips targeting motor control and other computationally demanding industrial signal processing applications. (Chips targeting this space are often called digital signal controllers, or DSCs.) The new TC116x chips are much less expensive than the older TC1xxx family members. The TC1161 and TC1162 are priced at $11 and $12, respectively. In comparison, the Read more...

Jeff Bier’s Impulse Response—Are DSPs Disappearing?

Looking back at the past year, a striking trend emerges: Increasingly, the hardware used for signal processing is something other than a DSP. I made a quick survey of the year’s developments by skimming the archives on www.bdti.com/InsideDSP. I discovered that only about half of the chips BDTI wrote about in 2005 were DSPs. The rest of the chips were general-purpose processors, FPGAs, or other types of hardware. Admittedly, this hardly qualifies as a scientific survey, but the results reflect Read more...

TI Launches First “DaVinci” Video Processors

Last week TI unveiled its first “DaVinci”-branded processors, the TMS320DM6443 and the TMS320DM6446. These processors target home entertainment, surveillance, and other video applications. The two chips are similar in many respects. Each chip contains a 300 MHz ARM9E general-purpose processor core, a 600 MHz ‘C64x+ DSP core, and connectivity peripherals such as USB and Ethernet ports. The differences between the chips reflect the fact that the ‘DM6446 targets both video encoding and Read more...

Analog Devices Introduces $5 Floating-Point DSP

This month Analog Devices introduced the ADSP-21375, the newest member of its SHARC floating-point DSP family. The new chip will operate at 266 MHz and be priced at $5 in high volumes  ($7.95 in 10K quantities). It will target consumer audio applications and cost-sensitive application areas traditionally dominated by low cost fixed-point DSPs, including industrial, automotive, medical and instrumentation applications. The ‘21375 will be pin-compatible with the existing ADSP-21367/8/9 SHARC Read more...

Jeff Bier’s Impulse Response—When Scaling Gets Squirrelly

It’s so tempting. You need to figure out how much processing power you’ll require to implement a particular video compression algorithm, and there, out on the Web, is the data you need—but for a slightly different scenario. Perhaps the data is for a smaller frame size than what you have in mind. Or maybe it’s for a low compressed bit rate, and your application will be using a higher one. You tell yourself, “Well, I don’t have the exact data I need, so I’ll just multiply the data I do have Read more...