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ToolsThe TMS320C6x pushes the envelope with software tools yielding up to a 3X performance improvement over other fixed-point DSP compilers and nearly 70 percent the efficiency of hand-coded designs.For the industry's most powerful line of DSPs, Texas Instruments introduces the industry's most advanced development environment.The growing line of high-level language software support for TMS320C6x DSPs allows designers to quickly and easily harness the benchmark processing power of the generation's unique advanced Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW) architecture -- VelociTI™. "Our primary goal was to make this DSP quick and easy to program," said Ray Simar, chief architect and program manager. "We expect to put the 'C6x in the hands of a very broad pool of application programmers, most of whom will need only a very basic understanding of the chip's architecture." The results of this flexible, software-driven development environment are smaller product development teams and faster time-to-market -- all at performance levels only previously possible with expensive and time-consuming custom hardware. Advanced C compilerThe 'C6x generation's C compiler extends the power of DSP design to a new group of users, allowing them to take full advantage of these capabilities without specific knowledge of DSP architecture. This highly structured C code development environment cuts development time for new products. At the same time, it maintains the inherent performance benefits of the 'C6x generation's advanced VLIW architecture. The 'C6x compiler yields up to a 3X performance improvement compared to other fixed-point DSP compilers and nearly 70 percent the efficiency of hand-coded designs. "We tested DSP algorithms written in C on several processors," said Ralph Weir, business development manager for Loughborough Sound Images. "On several algorithms, the TMS320C6x compiled code was at least three times more efficient than the code generated by other high-end compilers. Not only that, the 'C6x-compiled code was optimal; there was no need to optimize the code further in assembly, giving huge benefits in development time." Assembly optimizerFor application code sections that require the fine tuning of assembly code, the 'C6x Assembly Optimizer gives assembly language programmers the kind of tools previously found only in High-Level Language (HLL) programming. The Assembly Optimizer lets programmers transparently target the 'C6x's advanced VLIW architecture by automatically scheduling and optimizing fine-grained parallel tasks from serial, linear assembly code. Like HLL tools, the Optimizer shields programmers from having to understand the minutiae of the underlying processor architecture by intelligently allocating processor resources such as registers and memory address locations. This level of tool elegance is unprecedented at the assembly level and helps to simplify assembly language programming tools. The 'C6x GUI debuggerAn effective debugger is also critical in reducing time-to-market for new applications. The 'C6x development environment provides a new intuitive Windows™-based graphical user interface for debugging. The debugger also incorporates a dynamic profiler to help users find bottlenecks and improve code efficiency. |
