Product category:
Design and Development Hardware
News Release from: Texas Instruments (April 2001-March 2006) | Subject: C55x Power Optimisation DSK
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 19 January 2006
DSP starter kit focuses on
power-sensitive designs
A novel DSP starter kit allows developers to accurately plan, analyse, manage and optimise real-time power consumption.
Once again bringing new levels of innovative design tools to developers of low-power and portable applications, Texas Instruments announced today the availability of the TMS320C55x Power Optimisation DSP Starter Kit (DSK) for evaluation of C55x DSP devices With a fully integrated set of power estimation and measurement tools, including built-in, USB-based National Instruments measurement hardware for power monitoring, the C55x Power Optimisation DSK allows developers to accurately plan, analyse, manage and optimise real-time power consumption
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 8 Nov 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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As the result of a joint collaboration between Texas Instruments, Spectrum Digital and National Instruments, the C55x Power Optimisation DSK includes everything that a developer needs to jumpstart a power-sensitive application at a compellingly low price.
The DSK, priced at US $495, includes comprehensive power planning tools, Code Composer Studio IDE v3.1 DSK tools, DSP/BIOS kernel v5.20 software with power manager, power scaling libraries, National Instruments Power Analyser hardware and software, and a robust C5509A-based target board complete with onboard emulation and board support libraries from Spectrum Digital.
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"No other company offers as comprehensive a set of tools to measure power in a meaningful way, resulting in lower power consumption, faster time to market, and reduced system cost", says John Dixon, Low Power DSP Marketing Manager, TI.
"Not only does the new DSK shave weeks to months off development cycles, the visibility into power consumption that it provides also enables OEMs to achieve greater power efficiency than ever before, giving their products a clear competitive edge over less efficient designs".
Accurate power measurement is a crucial requirement for optimising and maximising the power efficiency and battery life of portable and mobile applications.
The C55x power planning tools enable developers to first estimate power consumption in order to select the right device and peripherals on which to base a design.
The C55x Power Optimisation DSK then allows developers to accurately measure power consumption through real-time profiling of DSP application code, eliminating the need for expensive lab equipment like current probes and oscilloscopes.
For example, instead of making rough estimates of battery life for standby and active modes, developers can use the DSK to run their application for several days, cycling through real-world use profiles to more accurately determine power consumption.
Being able to make these measurements earlier in the design cycle gives developers the ability to more easily meet constrained power budgets and cost-effectively make design tradeoffs that result in improved power efficiency and lower overall system cost.
"We are extremely pleased with the flexible functionality of C55x DSPs", says Jesper Brik Petersen, DSP Engineer at GN Netcom, world leader in the wireless headset market.
"The development tools enable us to implement and test our algorithms quickly and efficiently".
"The low-power capabilities of the C55x DSPs enable us to achieve unprecedented operating efficiency".
"The high level of flexibility and functionality enable us to implement DSP functionality into new products with a minimum of development time".
The C55x Power Optimisation DSK enables developers to quickly evaluate TI's low power C5503, C5507 and C5509A DSPs, as well as estimate and then accurately measure real-time power consumption.
The C55x Power Optimisation DSK is designed to provide a fast out-of-box experience, enabling developers to bring a system up quickly with sample software and begin product evaluation immediately.
TI's new eXpressDSP-based power optimisation tools eliminate the guesswork of reducing power consumption and allow developers to design products that consume only as much power as is actually necessary by dynamically turning off all peripherals and internal functional units when they are not needed.
In addition to TI's design tools, the C55x Power Optimisation DSK also includes the USB-based National Instruments Power Analyser, a ready-to-run power monitoring application based on industry-leading NI LabView software.
The DSK has built-in NI USB measurement hardware for power monitoring and trigger functionality for profiling power consumption during specific segments of code.
This same circuitry can be plug-and-play compatible with NI software tools such as LabView, LabWindows/CVI ANSI C development environment and SignalExpress interactive measurement software.
A wide range of daughtercard modules are available to provide additional DSK functionality, in addition to Ethernet connectivity, fingerprint sensor, LCD display, voice and audio codecs, multichannel A/D and D/A convertors.
Available now through TI authorised distributors and the TI E-store, the C55x Power Optimisation DSK is available for $495 and includes a DSK version of Code Composer Studio Platinum which is fully integrated with the eXpressDSP Power Design Tool Suite.
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