Last month Analog Devices announced three new members of its Blackfin DSP family, the ADSP-BF531, ADSP-BF532, and ADSP-BF533. The fastest of the new chips, the ’BF533, operates at clock speeds of up to 600 MHz—twice the clock speed of earlier Blackfin DSPs. With this increased clock speed, the ’BF533 is faster than most mainstream DSPs, but still slower than today’s fastest DSPs. For example, the BDTI Benchmarks™ show that the 600 MHz ’BF533 is about twice as fast as a 300 MHz TI ’C55xx but only half as fast as a 720 MHz TI ’C64xx. (Benchmark scores for the processors discussed in this article are available at http://www.BDTI.com/Resources/BenchmarkResults/BDTImark2000.)
The ’BF533 also falls between mid-range and high-end DSPs in terms of price. At a price of $19.95 in 10,000-unit quantities, the 600 MHz ’BF533 is about twice as expensive as the fastest ’C55xx and about half as expensive as the slowest ’C64xx (the 300 MHz ’C5502 and 300 MHz ’C6411, respectively).
The ’BF531 and ’BF532, which operate at speeds up to 400 MHz, more closely resemble competing mid-range DSPs. For example, both the 300 MHz ’BF531 and the 300 MHz ’C5501 cost $4.95, and both the 400 MHz ’BF532 and the 300 MHz ’C5502 cost $9.95. (All prices are for 10,000-unit quantities.) This pricing gives the ’BF531 and ’BF532 clear price/performance advantages over the ’C55xx. For example, the BDTI Benchmarks™ show that the 400 MHz ’BF532 is about 1.5 times faster than the identically priced 300 MHz ’C5502.
According to ADI, the new Blackfin family members are the “most power-efficient processors for their class.” BDTI has not yet evaluated ADI’s power claims. However, the power numbers quoted by ADI suggest that the new family members are far more energy-efficient than the older ’21535. Indeed, all three new family members offer higher speed, lower cost, and better energy efficiency than the ’21535. The ’21535 was already a strong entrant in the mid-range DSP market, so the new family members will undoubtedly draw much attention from ADI’s customers and competitors alike.
The 400 MHz ’BF531 and ’BF532 and the 500 MHz and 600 MHz ’BF533 are all sampling now. The 300 MHz ’BF531 and ’BF532 are expected to begin sampling in the third quarter of 2003.
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