It is the size of a metropolitan telephone book, and for designers using Texas Instruments digital signal processors (DSPs), it can be even more useful. It is the new 1995 TMS320 Third-Party Support Reference Guide, and it is available now from the TI Literature Response Center.
Running to more than 500 pages, the new reference guide lists development products and services available from 168 third-party vendors who support TMS320 products, the industry's largest family of DSPs. The guide also catalogs nearly 100 consultants around the world who offer TMS320 expertise in areas ranging from speech encoding and vector quantization to software and hardware design and system analysis.
According to Juliet Hubbell, TMS320 third-party program manager, the new reference guide, which will be updated annually, is part of a carefully designed effort to help designers who specify DSPs get the most from TI products.
"Some silicon makers simply sell the semiconductor chips and leave it up to their customers to figure out how to use them best," said Hubbell. "At TI, we believe in what we call Digital Signal Processing Solutions (DSPS). We want to help our customers identify the leading edge DSP products, tools, software and services they need to take innovative products to the market."
For companies who support TMS320 DSPs with tools, software or consulting services, the third-party program offers important benefits. Among them: the reference guide, newsletters, conferences and hot lines to help DSP users find the third-party support they need.
Vendors in the third-party program also receive advance information about new TI DSPs and gain direct access to TI's technical expertise. TI engineers frequently work side-by-side with third-party developers to help ensure that TMS320 support products and services effectively address the needs of DSP customers.
Another important benefit is that the program allows third-party vendors to bundle their products with TI software or hardware tools for resale. Program members also can purchase TI technical documents to bundle with their products and can receive discounts from the suggested resale price of TI's hardware and software tools.
In addition to the third-party vendors listed in the new reference guide, TI's third-party program includes a TMS320 Software Cooperative designed to give DSP customers access to a variety of software algorithms that can be licensed and incorporated into their applications. This software library currently includes some 150 algorithms from more than 35 third parties. These algorithms can help OEMs reduce development time and time-to-market of DSP-based systems.
Most of the benefits of TI's third-party program are available at no cost to vendors. A newsletter called Details on Signal Processing, for example, features new third-party product announcements and goes to 65,000 TI DSP users and potential users in North America. As with the reference guide, TI publishes and mails the newsletter at no charge to third parties.
"We know it is to TI's advantage to help our customers gain a competitive edge when they use TMS320 products," said Hubbell. "That's why we work so hard to develop strong third-party relationships and to promote those relationships to our customers."
To join TI's third-party program, send information about your company's TMS320-related products or services to: Third-Party Program Manager, MS 704, P.O. Box 1443, Houston, TX, 77251-1443. Or send email to: swco@msg.ti.com.
April 1995, vol. 11, no.1
TMS320 Third-Party Support Reference Guide.
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