Two Chips for Three Jobs

Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) is combining Blackfin and Fusiv families to meet the growing demand for video, voice, and data over broadband networks. The integrated package employs the latest version of the Fusiv line of DSPs, which now house accelerators that help meet networking needs.

This Blackfin Fusiv platform is aimed at applications such as data and media gateways, which handle a convergence of data types. "As we see a change in devices in the home, as the set-top box and voice-over IP aggregate together, it brings in a new set of requirements," says Sanjeev Challa, product line director of ADI's Broadband Platform Group (http://rbi.ims.ca/3852-513).

The Fusiv processor has been augmented with five acceleration processors that help make it as much as 31 times faster than its nearest competitor in some benchmarks, Challa says. These 16-bit microcoded engines each have their own program memory, assuring that the programs will run there without delays for downloading. They run common aspects of this class of applications, freeing the processor for other tasks. The application processors can be programmed to handle specific tasks if developers want to change the standard data flow.

Groupe Sagem, a Paris-based telecom supplier, recently picked the chipset for its residential modems and gateways, which provide video voice and data over broadband (http://rbi.ims.ca/3852-514). A number of systems based on the chipset will come out this year, including a WiFi router and three gateways.