Processor helps put Civil War sub to the test

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Mar 21, 2006

The Blackfin processor provides control and signal processing for a breakthrough instrument used to examine the recovered hull of the first combat submarine of the American Civil War.

The Analog Devices ADSP-BF533 Blackfin processor is providing core control and signal processing capabilities to the Innov-X portable X-ray system, a breakthrough instrument used to examine the recovered hull of the SS Hunley, the first combat submarine of the American Civil War.

The portable device, which houses an HP iPAQ for instrument calibrations, employs an X-ray method called X-ray fluorescence (XRF) to determine the composition of solid materials.

Blackfin enables this method by processing "pulse" data gathered by the Innov-X system, measuring energy or wavelength emissions that can be matched to specific elements on the periodic table.

In addition, Blackfin delivers Innov-X multiple, independent DMA controllers that support automated data transfers with minimal overhead for the processor core.

In sum, Innov-X replaced a field programmable gate array (FPGA) with the Blackfin processor for its best-in-class programmability, integration and cost effectiveness.

That integration, which Innov-X found eliminated the need for separate digital signal and control processors, greatly reduced bill of material (BOM) costs and simplified hardware and software design tasks.

"Other processors offered similar performance, but none came close to matching the flexibility of Blackfin to handle the array of complex processing tasks inherent in elemental analysis", said Alan Peevers, the Innov-X consultant who designed the portable X-ray unit.

"Simply put, no other processor on the market provides the combination of signal processing and performance at such low cost".

In Blackfin, Innov-X found all the features it was looking for on a single chip: a high-speed parallel peripheral interface (PPI); direct memory access (DMA) controllers to transfer high-speed data to on-chip memory; general purpose I/O (GPIO) pins to communicate with its I2C bus (a control bus that provides the communications link between integrated circuits); a universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) port to interface with peripherals; and several timers, including a watchdog timer.

It was not only the hardware that separated Blackfin from the competition: its superior toolset helped Innov-X cut development time down to three weeks.

Using VisualDSP.