Dual DSP platform hosts HD development

The SMT362 is billed as the ideal development platform for original equipment manufacturers to design and deliver the next generation of HD based video infrastructure.

It is often said that two heads are better than one when it comes to solving problems.

The new SMT362 from Sundance Multiprocessor Technology takes this to heart.

At its core are not one but two Texas Instruments TMS320C6455 DSPs and the long awaited Xilinx Virtex-4 FX60 FPGA.

A scaleable, modular TIM design, with a huge range of connectivity options, makes the SMT362 the ideal development platform for original equipment manufacturers to design and deliver the next generation of HD based video infrastructure, telecomms and IP devices.

With an operating frequency of 1GHz and 2Mbyte on-chip level 2 cache each, the TMS320C6455 DSPs have the highest fixed-point processing power in the 'C6000 range.

These, combined with the stunning Virtex-4 FPGA FX60, that boasts nearly 60,000 logic cells and 16 RocketIO serial transceivers, allow users of the SMT362 to gain breakthrough performance at the lowest cost.

It never takes long for OEMs to explore the processing power limits of a new board.

This is not a problem for the SMT362 - it is designed to scale-up the DSP and FPGA capability by simply connecting with additional SMT362s or other TIMs.

Massive raw processing power on tap combined with an almost limitless ability to scale-up, are compelling reasons for OEMs to use the SMT362 as a more productive alternative to ASICs and ASSPs.

However, Sundance did not stop there; the company has integrated 256Mbyte of DDR2-500 SDRAM for each of the DSPs giving developers an even greater ability to implement complex DSP tasks.

DSP engineers developing the telecomms backbone to meet growing expectations and demand will benefit from the increased capacity and productivity the SMT362 has to offer.

So too will the developers of equipment for heavy users of integrated audio/video in teleconferencing, high definition imaging in the medical world, HDTV broadcasting and so on - the very applications that place great demand on the telecommunications infrastructure.

Achieving fast time to market is all important in the highly competitive and fast paced telecomms, broadcast and IP product arena.

By taking care of the high-speed digital video hardware, Sundance has allowed designers to concentrate on implementing their own algorithms using the two powerful DSPs and the cutting-edge FPGA.

Comprehensive software tools are provided to make algorithm implementation easy so OEMs can quick-start their development of advanced video infrastructures, HDTV, IP and telecomms technology.

Software includes TI's Code Composer Studio integrated development environment and 3L's Diamond FPGA.

"When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876 and Edison the Kinetoscope in 1891, they could never have envisaged how the technologies would merge to become the audio visual experience without wires possible today".

"However, I am sure if they were with us now, they would love to have a piece of kit like the SMT362 to bring their applications alive in double-quick time", commented Sebastien Maury, DSP System Analyst with Sundance Multiprocessor Technology.

The SMT362 is the ideal DSP and FPGA platform for developers of digital video products and follows hot on the heels of the SMT339, its analogue-video cousin, launched just a few weeks before.

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