DSPs integrate Flash for industrial control

Texas Instruments claims its two new high-precision control DSPs will reduce development time from hours to minutes while delivering up to 12x performance existing devices.

Texas Instruments claims its two new high-precision control DSPs will reduce development time from hours to minutes while delivering up to 12x performance of any existing programmable DSP controller.

The new devices, the industry's first 32bit control DSPs with on-board Flash memory and performance up to 150MIPS, target industrial automation, optical networking and automotive control applications.

The new TMS320F2810 DSP and the TMS320F2812 DSP are the first catalogue devices based on TI's code compatible TMS320C28x DSP core, which is designed exclusively for control applications and is extensible up to 400MIPS.

With an innovative unified architecture that combines the best of general-purpose processors and DSP capabilities, the C28x devices allow both the system and math code to be developed completely in C/C++, reducing development time from hours to minutes.

Hardware and software features that help simplify development include: a novel "IQmath" library; fast and flexible interrupt management; control-optimised peripherals; multiple standard communications ports; and up to 128Kword of on-chip Flash memory.

TI's TMS320C28x DSP delivers the industry's most integrated DSP controller while improving system reliability, flexibility and intelligence for tunable laser applications in the optical networking space.

A version of the F2812 DSP that is packaged in a 179-lead microStar BGA meets the tighter space requirements of optical networking.

The new F2810 and F2812 DSPs offer a complete system-on-a-chip for high-precision control applications leading to simpler more cost effective designs.

The F2812 DSPs integrate 128Kword of Flash memory and the F2810 DSP 64Kword for reprogramming during development and in-field software updates.

TI's Flash acceleration technology allows code to be executed out of Flash at 110-120MIPS while time-critical code requiring 150MIPS of performance can be executed directly out of the 18kW of on-chip RAM.

In addition, the F2812 DSPs offer an external memory interface with an address reach of 1Mword for systems requiring a larger memory model.

Integration of control peripherals and communication ports in the new C28x DSP devices provides cost-efficiency and ease of design for controller applications.

Optimised event managers include flexible pulsewidth modulation generators, programmable general-purpose timers and glueless capture and encoder interfaces.

A 12bit ADC capable of two-channel conversions at 60ns per channel and dual sample-hold provides critical support in the completion of analogue control loops.

Multiple standard communication ports provide simple communications interfaces to hosts, test equipment, displays and other components.

A CAN controller that is version 2.0B-compliant provides a glueless interface to CAN networks for a variety of industrial, automotive and backplane applications.

The C28x DSPs and C/C++ compiler were designed together to ensure maximum efficiency of compiled code allowing designers to develop control applications entirely in a high-level language.

A tight, 16bit instruction set generates superior code density while providing 32bit precision.

Code developed for C28x DSPs is code compatible with the C24x DSP generation, protecting developers software investment as they migrate their designs allowing them to take advantage of TI's newest DSP generation.

In addition to the efficient C/C++ compiler, the C28x DSPs are equipped with 32bit math capabilities as well as a unique math library allowing designers to port floating-point algorithms to a fixed-point machine in a matter of minutes.

With the conversion of math algorithms in traditional 16bit fixed-point machines being a laborious and time-consuming task, TI's C28x DSPs give designers the math code efficiency of DSPs with the ease and system code efficiency of general purpose processors making development of control applications faster and easier.

The C2810 and C2812 DSPs are supported by TI's eXpressDSP real-time software technology, complete with the Code Composer Studio integrated development environment.

TI's library of digital control and optical networking software modules is reckoned to be the DSP industry's largest third-party network for designers of high-precision control applications.

For applications requiring greater analogue precision than offered on-chip, TI also provides a variety of high performance data convertors that easily interface with these new DSPs.

Samples of the new TMS320C28x DSPs are scheduled for availability during the first quarter of 2002, with volume production scheduled to follow in the second quarter.

The F2810 DSP will be offered in a 128-lead LQFP, and the F2812 DSP in a 176-lead LQFP which is well-suited to the production needs of industrial, automotive, commercial and consumer applications.

A version of the F2812 DSP that is packaged in a 179-lead microStar BGA meets the tighter space requirements of optical networking.

Planned pricing per unit in quantities of 10,000 is $17.95 for the F2810 DSP and $22.95 for each version of the F2812 DSP.

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