Product category:
Microprocessors, Microcontrollers and DSPs
News Release from: Analog Devices | Subject: Blackfin
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 07 August 2007
Embedded processor saves power under
water
A novel undersea pipeline monitoring system features multiple sensor nodes, each driven by a Blackfin processor.
Blackfin processors form an integral part of the world's first distributed, synchronised undersea pipeline monitoring system, developed by Bjorge based on Naxys technology for Norway's largest-ever industrial project, tapping the Ormen Lange natural gas field The Naxys technology uses hydroacoustics and other noncontact sensor technologies for their complex subsea state monitoring and analysis tasks
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 26 Mar 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
New generation DSPs boost speed and cut power
The next-generation Blackfin processor family is claimed to deliver twice the performance at half the power consumption of conventional DSPs and embedded processors.
Dual-core device stars in embedded processor line
Analog Devices has expanded its Blackfin processor family to include a new class of embedded processor, the ADSP-BF561, which integrates two identical Blackfin cores.
The system was developed using National Instruments LabView Development Module for ADI Blackfin Processors.
The LabView Embedded Module for Blackfin Processors is an extension of the LabView graphical development environment and directly targets ADI Blackfin Processors.
When production starts from the Ormen Lange undersea gas field in the autumn of 2007, gas will be pumped through a pipeline 120km long at depths up to 850m to onshore production facilities.
Further reading
Microsoft designs Blackfin into set-top products
The Blackfin processor manages the Windows Media audio/video decode processing in the new Microsoft Windows Media centre Extender set-top products.
Platform gives an Edge to wireless modems
Analog Devices, Sierra Wireless and TTPCom have teamed up to bring wireless Edge (Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution) capabilities to laptop computers and PDAs.
Processor powers digital radio receiver solution
Sonarics Labs has harnessed the low cost and advanced capabilities of ADI's Blackfin processor for its new ClearSignal digital radio receiver solution.
To monitor pipeline vibrations created by internal flow and the strong currents in the harsh ocean environment, Bjorge developed a system that uses acoustics to synchronise multiple sensor nodes, each of which is driven by a Blackfin ADSP BF533 processor running at 500MHz.
To meet the challenging project schedule, Bjorge opted for the low-power off-the-shelf Zmobile platform from Schmid Engineering, Munchwilen, Switzerland, which is based on the Blackfin processor with versatile mixed signal and communication features.
The LabView Embedded Module for Blackfin Processors and the Zmobile deployment platform provided the tools necessary for delivering the monitoring system on a tight deadline and capable of standing up to the extreme conditions encountered in the North Sea.
Bjorge selected the Blackfin processor because the Blackfin architecture provides the combination of control and signal processing resources needed to implement complex embedded solutions.
Blackfin processors provide both microcontroller and signal processor functionality in a unified core, combining a dual-MAC signal-processing engine with the advantage of an orthogonal RISC-like microprocessor instruction set and single-instruction, multiple-data (SIMD) capabilities.
This architecture provides an ideal platform for the workload of distributed acoustical processing and analysis.
The Blackfin processor's superior power management capabilities were another crucial deciding factor for Bjorge, as the sensors at the core of its monitoring system are required to perform for up to six months on a single battery charge.
Blackfin processors are designed in a low-power and low-voltage design methodology and also feature dynamic power management, the ability to vary operating voltage and frequency to significantly lower overall power consumption.
"Developing a pipeline monitoring system for the Ormen Lange gas field was a challenging assignment for Bjorge", says Harald Manum, Senior Engineer at Bjorge.
"We needed to quickly design a solution that fitted within very tight constraints on physical sise and power consumption, which at the same time offered the computational horsepower to run sophisticated analytical and control programs".
"Full support for the new graphical embedded system design approach using National Instrument's LabView Embedded was a key requirement for Bjorge".
"ADI's Blackfin was the only embedded processor that was up to the job".
"Bjorge's unique application highlights Blackfin's proven strengths as an embedded processor", says Jerry McGuire, Vice President, General Purpose DSP Group, Analog Devices.
"When the customer's critical design requirements include time to market, compact sise, extremely low power consumption and leading-edge processor performance, Blackfin is the right choice".
Analog Devices' Blackfin embodies a new breed of 16/32bit embedded processor with the industry's highest performance and power efficiency for applications where a convergence of capabilities - multiformat audio, video, voice and image processing; multimode baseband and packet processing; and real-time security and control processing are critical.
It is this powerful combination of software flexibility and scalability that has gained Blackfin widespread adoption in convergent applications such as digital home entertainment, networked and streaming media, automotive telematics and infotainment, and digital radio and mobile TV.
Because developers today seek to reduce time to market by choosing a robust ecosystem that brings them nearer to the capabilities of their end-products, Analog Devices provides an industry-leading tools, starter kits and support including the familiar ADI Crosscore software and hardware tools that support other Blackfin Processors.
These include the award-winning VisualDSP++ integrated development and debug environment (IDDE), emulators, and EZ-Kit Lite evaluation hardware.
• Analog Devices: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Electronicstalk email newsletter
• Electronicstalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
