Product category:
Microprocessors, Microcontrollers and DSPs
News Release from: Texas Instruments (April 2001-March 2006) | Subject: TMS320C6414/5/6 at 1GHz
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 21 January 2004
Switch to 90nm process enables 1GHz DSP
Texas Instruments is shipping the world's first 1GHz digital signal processor, leveraging the 90nm process node.
Texas Instruments is shipping the world's first 1GHz digital signal processor, leveraging the 90nm process node The new 90nm process has also been applied to the existing TMS320C64x 720MHz parts, enabling customers to save more than half the price on these devices
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 8 Nov 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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The TMS320C6414, C6415 and C6416 DSPs at 1GHz offer outstanding performance, providing eight GMACs on 8bit data for video and imaging applications or four GMACs on the 16bit data common to speech and audio applications.
This unparalleled performance translates into a new spectrum of applications ranging from adaptive antenna arrays to smart cars to artificial vision while increasing the bandwidth and channel capacity of existing real-time applications, such as wireless base stations, IP-based video, high-speed broadband networking, medical diagnostics and radar.
For example, a single 1GHz device can process eight channels of MPEG-2 video transrating, real-time D1 (720 x 480) resolution or 55 channels of GSM adaptive multirate (AMR) speech coding in a wireless infrastructure application.
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Being able to achieve these levels of performance in a single chip enables developers to avoid the complexities of having to design with multiple processors.
TI achieved this 1GHz performance breakthrough with innovative design methodology and improved manufacturing processes applied in 90nm technology, which allows TI to make faster and smaller chips than ever before.
Moving transistors closer together increases speed of operation, as well as allows a higher density of on-chip memory to increase application efficiency.
The move to 90nm also reduces manufacturing cost by reducing the die size, delivering close to 50% more die per wafer.
This has enabled TI to cut the price of its existing 720MHz C64x devices by more than half.
This 90nm process technology will also ease integration of system-on-a-chip architectures by streamlining communication between the DSP, memory, peripherals, RISC processors and analogue components.
Several architectural innovations in the C64x generation, implemented in 2000 with a vision toward today's faster 90nm process technology, enable the 1GHz clock rate.
These innovations include an instruction pipeline designed to operate efficiently at 1GHz and beyond, a dual data architecture with 32 x 32bit register files per datapath, and balanced implementation of data functional units to match critical path execution.
The 1GHz device has been evaluated by Berkeley Design Technology (BDTI), an independent analyst firm, and received a BDTIMark2000 of 9130.
The 720MHz device has a BDTIMark2000 of 6570 - the previous high among mainstream DSPs.
As with any performance improvement, TI is committed to ensuring compatibility with previous generations of our devices.
The C64x instruction set architecture has not been changed.
The design and process enhancements are invisible to developers, and the new 1GHz and 720MHz devices at 90nm are code compatible with their predecessors, eliminating the need to write new software.
In addition, the new devices are also pin-to-pin compatible with previous versions, enabling drop-in replacement for increased performance, lower power consumption and lower cost in existing designs without extensive redesign.
For customers not yet needing 1GHz of performance, TI offers a complete platform of high-performance C6000 DSPs ranging from sub-$9 to 1GHz with the right combination of performance, peripherals and price to meet any high performance application need.
The 1GHz C6414, 6415 and 6416 DSPs are sampling today.
All three devices have 1Mbyte of on-chip memory, and are differentiated by their various integrated peripherals.
Pricing starts at $189 for the 1GHz C6414 in 10,000-unit production quantities, which will be available in 4Q04.
The 720MHz versions of these devices will also be available with up to a 50% price reduction, including the 90nm C6415 starting at $115 in 10,000-unit production quantities.
The 1GHz devices will be demonstrated at the TI Developer Conference in Houston on 18th-20th February 2004.
To get started today, the C64x DSP starter kit (DSK) allows developers to begin design of key pieces of a system before boards are ready, including algorithms, control code and initial software system integration.
The kit includes tutorials, reference framework support, the Code Composer Studio integrated development environment, the DSP/BIOS real-time kernel and off-the-shelf algorithms.
Available today, the kit is $395.
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