InsideDSP — In-depth analysis and opinion

Inside DSP on Video: The Revolution Will Be Televised

A revolution in video technology is under way. The move from analog to digital is reshaping video applications and creating entirely new classes of products and services. The changes affect a broad range of video applications, from portable media players to newscasting to military equipment. In this article, we focus on the video technology trends in consumer electronics markets, particularly developments in home entertainment gear. These markets represent by far the largest Read more...

Inside DSP on Video: Squeeze Play—How Video Compression Works

Digital video compression/decompression algorithms (codecs) are at the heart of many modern video products, from DVD players to multimedia jukeboxes to video-capable cell phones. Understanding the operation of video compression algorithms is essential for developers of the systems, processors, and tools that target video applications. In this article, we explain the operation and characteristics of video codecs and the demands codecs make on processors. We also explain how codecs differ from Read more...

Inside DSP on Video: Video—Coming Soon to a Processor Near You

Digital video is fast becoming the new killer app in signal processing. From surveillance cameras to personal video recorders, from HDTV to the home PC, digital video seems to be everywhere. This boom in video-capable products is good news for programmable chip vendors. Video compression algorithms like MPEG-2 and H.264 are extremely computationally demanding. In the past, system designers met this demand with fixed-function hardware, such as off-the-shelf MPEG-2 decoder chips. Although Read more...

TI Moves ‘C64x to 90 Nanometers, 1 GHz

Texas 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 Read more...

Analog Devices Introduces Eight New Blackfin Chips

In 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 Read more...

Jeff Bier’s Impulse Response—Stuck in the Past

Vendors 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 Read more...

Inside DSP on Audio: Ear To The Ground

Over 20 years after the compact disc was introduced, we stand on the threshold of a revolution in consumer digital audio: digital audio is becoming one of the most prevalent, exciting technologies in consumer electronics. Enabling this transformation are advances in electronic components, the introduction of new types of digital audio content, and widespread network connectivity. Home Audio Gets Surrounded The major consumer audio applications can be loosely grouped into three categories: Read more...

Inside DSP on Audio: Inside a Modern Digital Audio Product

The last decade has seen consumer audio products from home theater systems to car stereos and portable players go digital. These complicated devices play back compressed audio formats, compensate for room acoustics, and add effects such as reverberation, equalization, and dynamic bass, thanks to the power of digital signal processing. How do manufacturers pack the DSP punch these applications require into small, affordable, and power-efficient systems? A portable audio player, for example, Read more...

Inside DSP on Audio: Digital Audio Technology Guide

The digital audio product Digital audio products are complex systems, comprised of numerous software and hardware subsystems. If you've already read "Anatomy of a Modern Digital Audio Product" you've seen many of these subsystems and how they work together. At the heart of the digital audio system is a microprocessor tasked with rendering audio. In this article we'll take a look at key processor options and processor selection criteria for consumer audio products. We'll examine the various Read more...

Inside DSP on Audio: Building Good Audio Software

Audio processing functions are usually implemented in software (rather than fixed-function hardware) because software provides flexibility that is not available with hard-wired solutions. For example, compressed audio players are typically required to support a variety of different algorithms such as MPEG-1/Layer 3 (MP3), Windows Media Audio (WMA), and MPEG-AAC. As algorithms evolve, and as new algorithms are introduced, designers of software-based products can upgrade their devices. In this Read more...