Texas Instruments' DSP Firsts

• 1981
  • Establishes first DSP University Program designed to support universities interested in digital signal processing technology. TI support helps move digital signal processor study from Ph.D. and Master's level to undergraduate course curricula in universities across the country. Today, more than 200 universities worldwide teach digital signal processing courses at all levels.

• 1982
  • Introduces first programmable general-purpose digital signal processor (DSP) to market – the TMS32010 DSP – operating at five million instructions per second (MIPS). Targeted for modems and defense applications.

• 1984
  • First manufacturer to introduce a second generation of DSPs by disclosing the TMS320C2x.

• 1985
  • Manufactures first DSP using CMOS process technology.
    
  • Sets up the industry's first DSP technical hotline. Takes the lead in offering more DSP support with the industry's first PC-based development tools, the first bulletin board service accessible via modem, and the first multi-tasking DSP executive, SPOX.
    
  • Encourages outside companies to supplement TI DSP development tools family. By 1996, more than 170 third parties offer hardware and software tools for TMS320 DSPs.

• 1987
  • First consumer toy to use DSP is the World's of Wonder "Julie Doll," using TMS320C17 for voice recognition.
    
  • Publishes first DSP textbook, Digital Signal Processing Applications with the TMS320 Family.

• 1988
  • Introduces industry's first floating-point DSP – the TMS320C3x. High performance applications demanding floating-point performance include voice/fax mail, 3-D graphics, bar-code scanners and video conferencing audio and visual systems.
    
  • World's first DSP-based hearing aid uses TI's TMS320C1x DSP.

• 1989
  • Introduces highest performance fixed-point DSP generation in the industry – TMS320C5x – operating at 28 MIPS, the 'C5x delivers two to four times the performance of any other fixed-point DSP. Targeted to the industrial, communications, computer and automotive segments, the 'C5x DSPs are used mainly in cellular and cordless telephones, high-speed modems, printers and copiers.

• 1990
  • Offers first DSP C-source debugger and optimizing ANSI C tools.
    
  • Discloses second floating-point generation, the TMS320C4x, first DSP architecture designed for the construction of higher performance systems using parallel DSP for 3-D graphics, digital base stations and other high-speed communication applications, virtual-reality simulators, image processing for MRI and CT medical imaging systems and speech recognition.
    
  • Creates the industry's first DSP Starter Kit – the 'C2x DSK, a DSP tool that allows designers to experiment with and use DSPs for real-time digital signal processing without a large investment.

• 1991
  • Announces the first DSP to cost less than $5 in single quantities. Price for the 'C1x is comparable to 16-bit microcontrollers and DSP provides five to ten times the performance.
    
  • First to offer core-based DSP design with customizable DSP (cDSP™). CDSP provides a higher level of DSP system integration with faster time-to-market.
    
  • Sponsors first Educators' Conference for DSP educators and researchers. Fifth annual conference in 1995 attracted more than 100 attendees representing 46 universities worldwide.

• 1992
  • DSPs become one of the fastest growing IC segments within the automobile electronics market. The math-intensive, real-time calculating capabilities of DSPs provide future solutions for active suspension, closed-loop engine control systems, intelligent cruise control radar systems, anti-skid braking systems and car entertainment systems. Cadillac introduces the 1993 model Allante featuring a TI DSP-based road sensing system for a smoother ride, less roll and tighter cornering.

• 1993
  • Publishes second DSP textbook, "A Simple Approach to Digital Signal Processing," written in English for worldwide distribution.
    
  • Creates the TMS320 Software Cooperative, the industry's first comprehensive DSP software package, containing more than 100 off-the-shelf third-party digital signal processing algorithms for applications including speech, image, motor control and telecommunications software. Provides quick access to the algorithms designers need to evaluate products using DSPs.

• 1994
  • Unveils industry's highest performance DSP ever with two billion operations per second (BOPS) performance, ten times that of any other DSP. The TMS320C80, also known as the multimedia video processor (MVP), is the first commercially available single-chip processor to combine multiple parallel DSPs and a RISC processor onto one chip. The 'C80 enables real-time, full-duplex interactive videoconferencing, imaging systems, fuzzy logic industrial control, PC sound cards and noise cancellation. More than 65 U.S. patent applications filed for 'C80 technology advancements.
    
  • Creates the highest performance DSP Starter Kit – the 'C5x DSK, at $99 each for designers new to DSP technology to experiment with and use a DSP for real-time digital signal processing without a large initial investment.
    
  • Introduces first video CD chipset, which provides the manufacturers of home entertainment systems such as CD-based movie players, video games and karaoke systems, with the industry's first complete integrated solution for a full-motion video (FMV) subsystem for these Video CD applications.
    
  • cDSP technology enables first uniprocessor DSP hard disc drive (HDD) for Maxtor Corp. 171-megabute PCMCIA Type III HDD. By replacing a number of microcontrollers, drive costs were cut by 30 percent while battery life was extended and storage capacity increased. In 1994, more than 95 percent of all disk drives with a DSP inside contain a TI TMS320 DSP.
    
  • Teams with U.S. Robotics to cut costs, speed modem product development. Joint patents filed for the first solution to PCMCIA interface integrated with USR's modem chipset.
    
  • First DSP vendor to recognize DSP solutions, rather than just DSP chips, in meeting customer's needs for total solutions to system problems. TI is one of few suppliers who can provide the optimal mix of analog, digital, and mixed-signal components for a complete DSP solution.

• 1995
  • First to bridge the gap between fixed- and floating-point DSPs price/performance with the TMS320C32, priced at less than $10 in high volume and run at 40 million floating-point operations per second (MFLOPS).
    
  • Develops first DSP Elite Lab program to award the most distinguished electrical engineering programs with DSP tools and technical support.
    
  • Introduces the TMS320C2xx generation for high-performance, low-cost(40 MIPS for less than $5 in high volume) fixed-point design for applications like feature-phones, power-line monitors, modems and security systems. The 'C2xx generation makes a total of eight DSP generations in the TMS320 family, the largest DSP product offering from any supplier.
    
  • Launches two different DSPs, the TMS320C545 and the TMS320C546, to provide the first single DSP solutions for next-generation cellular standards, such as half-rate voice coding for the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and enhanced variable rate coding (EVRC) for code division multiple access (CDMA). TI is also licensing the industry's first software for half-rate GSM.
    
  • Introduces the industry's most highly integrated DSP, the TMS320C82, performing more than 1.5 BOPS at $82 (25K units). The 'C82 DSPs are applied in cellular base stations, motor control, digital camcorders and video disk players, digital satellite system (DSS), V.32 and V.34 desktop and PCMCIA modems.
    
  • Sponsors an expanded version of the regional DSP design contests – the first-ever worldwide university contest of its type, the "TI DSP Solutions Challenge." More than 230 engineering teams worldwide enter to win a grand prize of US$100,000.
    
  • Implements first On-Line DSP Lab™, an electronic laboratory for testing TI digital signal processing applications design and development tools on the worldwide web, and the first external WWW DSP hotline, the "320 Hotline on-Line™."
    
  • Produces first DSP CD-ROM in conjunction with Electronic Engineering Times.

• 1996
  • Discloses plans to release the TMS320C54x DSP generation to the mass market at 66, 80 and 100 MIPS performance.
    
  • Discloses the industry's first widely available (volume production) DSP with on-chip flash memory – the TMS320F206.
    
  • Increases DSP fab capacity with announcement of a new, $2 billion DMOS6 fabrication facility to be built in Dallas primarily for the manufacturing of DSPs.
    
  • Gives seven-million-dollar single cash grant to Houston-based Rice University, the largest corporate donation ever made for DSP research to a private university.
    
  • First to win 1996 IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Corporate Innovation Award specifically for technical excellence in the design and application of DSPs. Also, first to establish the Jack Kilby IEEE award recognizing accomplishment in DSP, award named after the integrated circuit inventor.
    
  • Introduces first digital telephone answering device (DTAD) processors enabling true full-duplex speakerphone, caller ID on call waiting and double the message recording time of digital answering machines up to 28 minutes. TI is also one of the first to develop DTAD processors that offer advanced speech compression software and interface directly to a new memory known as NAND flash.
    
  • Creates the first DSP floating-point Starter Kit – the TMS320C3x DSK.
    
  • cDSP technology enables Seagate, one of the world's largest hard disk drive (HDD) maker, to develop the first mainstream 3.5-inch HDD to adopt a uniprocessor DSP design, integrating logic, flash memory, and a DSP core into a single unit. The T320C2xLP TI cDSP replaces five discrete devices, achieving cost savings compared to previous solutions, improving performance and reducing power consumption.
    
  • Introduces TMS320C24x, industry's first DSP specifically designed to improve system performance, lower system cost, and reduce component count in digital motor and motion control (DMC) systems. The 'C24x provides optimized motor-control configurations with the integration of an event manager on-chip for applications such as HVAC.

• 1997
  • Introduces the TMS320C6x DSP, the world's most powerful DSP generation, performing at 1600 MIPS/200MHz and delivering 10 times the performance of typical DSPs. The 'C6x is the first DSP in the industry to adopt VelociTI™, an advanced Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW) architecture for achieving very high performance at low cost. The 'C6x debuts with the most efficient C compiler that averages three times the efficiency than any DSP compiler on the market, and the world's first assembly optimizer for simplified assembly-language programming and scheduling.
    
  • TI's DSP solution enabled the industry's first-available 56Kbit modem with one of the world's largest modem manufacturers, U.S. Robotics, via USR's x2™ technology. The TMS320 DSP core-based modem chipset platform enables the fastest Internet access over standard phone lines for state-of-the-art modem technology.
    
  • Announces the successful demonstration of the industry's first programmable DSP that operates at 1-volt and below and performs all the functions of a standard commercial DSP.
    
  • First DSP vendor to introduce a standard BIOS application program interface (API) to make the TMS320 DSP family easier to program, monitor, and debug.

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Trademarks:
cDSP, On-Line DSP Lab, 320 Hotline On-Line, and VelociTI are trademarks of Texas Instruments Incorporated.
x2 is a trademark of U.S. Robotics.