New Processor Family Doubles Recording Time In
Telephone Answering Devices; Adds Speakerphone Capability
DALLAS (March 18, 1996) -- A new family of processors for digital
telephone answering devices TMS320 DSP-based (digital signal processing) families of DTAD processors offer advanced speech compression software and interface directly to a new
memory known as NAND Flash, a type of memory with an architecture that is
well suited to audio applications. This new memory option gives designers
an alternative memory source to audio random access memory (ARAM), which has
recently become supply limited.
Drawing on its industry-leading DSP solutions technology that is helping designers create new products, the new
TI product families are:
- MSP58C83X
- 28 minutes of record time with four MB of memory and NAND Flash interface
- MSP58C81X
- 14 minutes of record time with four MB of memory and NAND Flash interface
To round out the digital signal processing solution for DTAD
applications, TI provides already-developed software modules for advanced
features, such as caller ID, caller ID on call waiting and full duplex speakerphone. With these software modules, as well as customer-developed software, additional features and system control functionality can be masked
into on-chip read only memory. By integrating system-control software onto
the DTAD processor, a microcontroller device that might therwise be used
for system control can be eliminated entirely, reducing significantly the
system's hardware costs. Custom-developed software also offers DTAD vendors
the opportunity to incorporate differentiated capabilities into their systems.
TI provides a comprehensive selection of DSP/DTAD software tools
to assist designers.
"Given TI's leadership in speech compression, DSP and other
technologies that are basic to DTAD, we are in a position to offer
processors that meet the needs of DTAD OEMs. But just as critical to the
success of our customers is TI's complete array of support tools and
services which help OEMs bring their products to market quickly," said David
Van Winkle, manager worldwide speech products for TI.
Advanced Speech Compression
The MSP58C83X family of DTAD processors is compatible with
TI's advanced MELP (Mixed Excitation Linear Prediction)
voice compression algorithm which is capable of recording times of 28 minutes with four MB of ARAM or NAND Flash memory. Unlike competing vocoders (voice coder/decoder software) that use silence compression to achieve unpredictable recording times, MELP uses fixed-rate compression at 2.4K bits-per-second (bps) to achieve 28 minutes of very high quality voice recording.
Memory Options
To be cost competitive with mechanical, tape-based answering machines,
DTADs in the past have used relatively inexpensive ARAM memory. Recently,
the supply of four-MB ARAM has become limited as memory manufacturers
transition their processing capacity to 16-MB memory devices. TI's new DTAD
processor families are fully compatible with new NAND Flash memory products
from Samsung and Toshiba.
"Offering processors that can directly interface to either NAND Flash
or ARAM memory is of particular importance to DTAD vendors because it gives
them more options when it comes to memory supply. And with the advanced
features of our DTAD product families, DTAD vendors can introduce feature-
rich systems to the market in a short period of time," said Mr. Van Winkle.
Advanced Features
Software modules for the MSP58C83X and MSP58C81X families provide
advanced features such as full duplex speakerphone, caller ID (CID) and
caller ID on call waiting (CIDCW). To implement a full duplex speakerphone,
a second codec is also required in the system. The new DTAD processor
families provide an interface to a second codec with no intervening glue
logic.
With CID and CIDCW, which are services provided by telephone
companies, telephone subscribers are notified of a caller's name and phone
number before the call is answered. TI provides DSP-based software modules
for the MSP58C83X and MSP58C81X families to support CID and CIDCW (Bellcore
specification TR-NWT-000030).
Pricing and Availability
The MSP58C83X and MSP58C81X families are
packaged in 100-pin quad flat packs (QFP). Both families are available now
from TI. Suggested resale pricing in quantities of 100,000 starts at $6.85
for the MSP58C83X and $6.35 for the MSP58C81X.
# # #
Reader Inquiry: 1-800-477-8924, ext. 5300
Please refer to Profile # SPSU007, and SPSU005A
Search the Semiconductor News Release Archives
(c) Copyright 1996 Texas Instruments Incorporated. All rights reserved.
Trademarks, Important Notice!