In the world of electronics, few components are gaining popularity faster than digital signal processors (DSPs). Because they have such extraordinary number-crunching capabilities, engineers are finding new applications for them, almost on a weekly basis.
“Every time we introduce a DSP and hit a new price point, innovation follows,” says Gerard Andrews, DSP marketing manager for Texas Instruments.
Today, the fastest growing area for DSP is telecommunications. Makers of voice-over-IP (VoIP) gateways and routers are snapping up new, lower cost DSPs. As IP networks get upgraded and as engineers design systems that merge voice calls with Internet data over the same backplane, faster DSPs are increasingly being called on to do the signal processing.
Moreover, DSPs are finding a growing niche in the consumer electronics' market for devices ranging from wireless speakers and media players to software-defined radio and home cell phone base stations.
Here are three new DSP products introduced in the past two months.
TI's DSPs for Routers, Gateways
On March 7, Texas Instruments rolled out two new DSPs — the TMS320C6424 and TMS320C6421 — targeted at reducing the cost-per-channel of telecom enterprise gateways and IP-PBX products. Leveraging a combination of integrated peripherals, on-chip memory and high performance, the new devices are also said to be well-suited for such applications as printers and scanners, as well as pico base stations, home gateways and wireless entertainment devices. They're code-compatible with existing TI C6000 DSPs and can be programmed using TI's eXpressDSP software, which supports open source and third-party code.
ADI's DSPs for Portable, Networked Applications
Announced on March 12, Analog Devices' Blackfin ADSP-BF52x family is optimized for such applications as portable media players, voice-over-IP phones, IP cameras and mobile TVs. Consuming as little as 0.16 mW/MHz at 250 MHz, the family of devices offers designers a variety of choices, including a high-performance/low-power series operating at 600 MHz and an ultra-low power series operating at 400 MHz. All devices in the family incorporate Blackfin Lockbox Secure Technology to safeguard intellectual property on digital media devices.
Freescale Upgrades DSPs With Advanced Security
On Feb. 28, Freescale Semiconductor unveiled two new versions of its MSC8144 DSP that offer advanced security features. Known as the MSC8144E and MSC8144EC, the new devices provide hardware acceleration of broadly used security protocols for fixed and mobile access networks. Using the integrated security acceleration in conjunction with code protection mechanisms, the MSC8144E and MSC8144EC offer protection for OEM software and intellectual property by helping to prevent copying or cloning of embedded software. Samples of both devices are scheduled to reach the market in the second quarter of 2007.
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