Product category:
Microprocessors, Microcontrollers and DSPs
News Release from: Texas Instruments (April 2001-March 2006) | Subject: TMS320C6418
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 18 August 2004
DSP takes Viterbi coprocessor onboard
The C6418 DSP is optimised to provide a balanced combination of performance, memory, peripherals and price tailored for telecomms, software radio and terrestrial and satellite broadcasting systems.
The C6418 DSP is optimised to provide a well-balanced combination of performance, memory, peripherals and price tailored for telecomms, software radio and terrestrial and satellite broadcasting system applications The C6418 DSP, with a BDTImark2000 benchmark score of 5480 at 600MHz, complements TI's other high-performance DSPs
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 27 Apr 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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The C6418 features 512Kbyte of L2 memory, a Viterbi coprocessor (VCP) and an impressive capacity for 2400 16bit million multiply accumulate cycles (MMACs) per second or 4800 8bit MMACs per second peak performance.
The VCP plays an important role in efficiently extending the real-world system performance of the C6418 device by offloading the core.
For example, in software radio applications, the Viterbi decoder saves approximately 30% of a DSP's processing resources.
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Applications that use Viterbi decoding include Japanese broadcast satellites and communication satellites (BS/CS), digital terrestrial television broadcasting (DTTB) and digital broadcasting system, which promises high-precision positioning data and broadband services to rapidly moving vehicles such as cars or trains.
Also included are key peripherals important for radio and broadcast applications, including two multichannel buffered serial ports (McBSPs) for synchronous serial communication, two audio serial ports, a 16/32bit microprocessor host port interface and two I2C control serial ports.
Also included is an on-chip oscillator that lowers overall system cost by enabling developers to use a lower cost crystal in place of an external oscillator.
"The software radio market for satellite and terrestrial reception is beginning to take off and telecom is predicted to resume growth this year".
"These applications demand DSP devices that provide an optimal combination of performance, memory and peripherals at suitable price points", said Will Strauss, President, Forward Concepts.
"The on-chip Viterbi coprocessor of the C6418 enables strong communications performance while providing more processor headroom for customer applications".
Committed to accelerating customer development and deployment of electronic devices, TI offers low-cost development DSP starter kits (DSK) and evaluation modules (EVM) for the C6418, including the TMDSDSK6416 DSK priced at $395 and the C6418 EVM available from Spectrum Digital for $995.
These tools include a complete offering of easy-to-use examples, tutorials and ready-to-run reference frameworks based on TI's DSP/BIOS and off-the-shelf algorithms.
As all C64xT devices use the same instruction set, these tools provide an excellent way for engineers to begin early development of key pieces of a system, specifically algorithms, control code and initial software system integration, without having to wait for first prototypes.
To further accelerate development, a wide variety of telecom and communications algorithms are available through TI's extensive eXpressDSP third-party programme.
The new C6418 is available in a 23 x 23mm flip-chip 288-ball BGA package.
Currently sampling, TI expects the 600MHz, 512Kbyte TMS320C6418 to be in production in October at a cost of $49.50 each in 10,000-unit quantities.
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