In this Issue
DSP solutions from third parties

New DSPs invigorate digital set-top boxes

TI delivers customizable digital wireless baseband platform

Third Parties pilot DSP Solutions into the mainstream

New x2 modem chip sets speed OEM production

Chip set supports FLEX messaging

New link-layer added to 1394 product family

PCI bus-to-cardbus controller complies with PC97 guidelines

TI announces family of Universal Serial Bus interface chips

First self-calibrating precision dual op amp

16-bit analog interface to DSP Solutions

TI delivers customizable digital wireless baseband platform

The industry 's first standard-independent digital baseband platform helps manufacturers reduce the size, weight, component costs and power consumption in digital cellular phones, digital cordless phones, two-way voice/data pagers and other types of wireless communications systems.

At the heart of the digital baseband platform is a high-performance, low-power processing engine -- the TMS320C54x digital signal processor (DSP) core. Optimized for high-speed number-crunching functions such as voice coding, channel coding, error correction, equalization, demodulation and encryption, the 'C54x DSP core is approximately 30 percent more MIPS-efficient in wireless applications than comparable DSPs.

Also integrated in the platform is a 16-bit/32-bit 'c470 microcontroller unit (MCU) based on the ARM7TDMI (ARM Thumb ™) core licensed from Advanced RISC Machines Ltd. The MCU handles general system control, such as mobility management and the man-machine interface. Since the DSP and MCU cores and the logic gates can be programmed to support any digital wireless standard, the TI digital baseband platform can be used to design systems in any region of the world. In order to accelerate customer time to market, TI offers a library of various DSP and MCU software modules, as well as ASIC hardware peripherals that can be licensed to customers to support various worldwide standards.

The DSP and MCU cores are both supported by extensive suites of TI development tools and are accessible for in-circuit emulation through an IEEE 1149.1/JTAG test port. Special on-chip logic allows simultaneous co-emulation of both cores with a single set of emulation hardware. This unique, proprietary co-emulation capability can save designers months of development time, speeding time to market.

The announcement of the TI digital baseband platform follows an extensive period of customer testing. Nokia, Europe 's largest manufacturer of cellular phones, for example, has been receiving samples of a device based on this platform. ÒThis integrated digital baseband platform will support increased functionality and performance while reducing system cost and power dissipation of our digital cellular programs,Ó said Yrjo Neuvo, senior vice president, R&D, Nokia.

The TI digital baseband platform is supported by TI 's 0.25-micron TSC5000 CMOS standard cell ASIC library, enabling designers to integrate additional logic functions, RAM, ROM and mixed-signal functions such as phase-locked loops and analog-to-digital converters. At this node, the platform allows sub-2V operation, thereby reducing power consumption by 50 percent as compared with a conventional 2.7-V system. The TI digital baseband platform will be ported in 1997 to the 0.18-micron TSC6000 library based on TI 's 125-million transistor TImeline™ technology, enabling 1-V functionality and reducing power consumption by another 75 percent.

"With this proven platform, designers have the capability to integrate and customize the entire digital baseband section of their systems on a single chip while also addressing any transmission standard," said Gilles Delfassy, TI Semiconductor Group vice president and worldwide general manager for the Wireless Communications Business Unit. "This capability not only gives designers flexibility, it also helps them speed up the design cycle." The digital baseband platform is ready for current engagements for use in high-volume digital wireless communications designs.