TI's new TMS320C82

TI's new TMS320C82 is the high-performance, low-cost engine for high-volume applications

A high-performance digital signal processor (DSP) that will enable affordable new applications for homes and offices is in development by Texas Instruments. The new DSP will perform more than 1.5 billion operations per second (BOPS) and will cost $82 in production quantities.

The device, designated the TMS320C82, is the newest member of TI's TMS320C8x generation of high performance DSPs. The 'C82 integrates on the same silicon two advanced DSPs, a high-speed floating-point reduced instruction set computing (RISC) master processor and enhanced on-chip memory capacity and transfer control.

Affordable new applications

With the 'C82, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) will be able to offer multimedia applications that are affordable to consumers and small businesses for the first time. These applications include desktop videoconferencing, video phones, 3-D virtual reality graphics for games, training and other uses.

"What videoconferencing and 3-D graphics have really needed to take off in volume is a high-performance engine with a price tag under $100," said Rick Rinehart, TI's program manager for the 'C82. "The 'C82 will be that engine. No other solution offers the bang for the buck."

In addition to its imaging and video uses, the 'C82 will serve as a highly integrated, competitively priced general- purpose DSP for digital switching in cellular telephone base stations and other high-speed data communications. With 'C82 designs, OEMs will be able to fit more channel-switching circuitry--and more channels--in the same space.

Performance, integration, flexibility

The highly integrated 'C82 can replace approximately 10 processing units and support devices with a single chip, saving board space, lowering chip counts and helping reduce manufacturing costs for the system. With its streamlined architecture, the 'C82 can outperform six to 10 standard 16-bit DSPs in typical signal processing applications. In targeted imaging and video applications, it would take 10 to 15 DSPs or general-purpose microprocessors to equal the 'C82's performance.

As a general purpose DSP, the 'C82 is fully programmable, giving OEMs maximum flexibility for product differentiation, as well as the capability of modifying designs quickly in areas such as video compression, where algorithms are changing rapidly. To assist in early development, designers can turn to existing 'C8x tools.

"Normally developers expect to pay a premium for flexibility," said Rinehart. "With the 'C82, flexibility comes free. We want OEMs to stretch the limits with this part-not only so they can add features, but also so they can eliminate specialized components and minimize hardware redesign."

Crafted for performance

"For the applications we've targeted, the 'C82 will deliver the same performance as our industry-leading 'C80 DSP," said Julie Gallagher, TI's 'C8x marketing manager. "Some applications will still need the full power of the four DSPs in the 'C80. But for many high-volume applications, the 'C82 will serve just as well, and keep the price of the finished product on the shelf much lower.

"For instance, we believe that the 'C82 will make it possible for OEMs to offer desktop videoconferencing systems for less than $500. And consumer game machines will be able to merge video with 3-D graphics, a capability that can only be found on workstations today."

TI's TMS320C82 DSP features

Two advanced DSPs (ADSPs) with 64-bit instruction words
RISC master processor with 100-MFLOP IEEE floating-point unit
Increased memory per processor-total 44 Kbytes on-chip RAM
Crossbar switch supports 2.6 Gbytes/s on-chip bandwidth
Optimized transfer controller supports intelligent DMA
0.5-micron CMOS, 3.3-V operation
Low-cost 240-pin QFP

Sampling for TI's TMS320C82 DSP is planned for the second quarter of 1996, with volume production projected for the second half of 1996. Volume pricing is planned at $82 in quantities of 25,000.

September 1995, vol. 12, no. 6

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