HOUSTON (Aug. 26, 1996) -- The newest member of the highest-performing family of multiprocessor digital signal processors (DSPs) is now available in sample quantities from Texas Instruments. The new TMS320C82 DSP will bring high performance and lower power consumption at an affordable price to digital video, graphic, imaging and other high-speed visual communications applications. TI is also sampling a higher-frequency version of its flagship TMS320C80 DSP.
"The availability of 'C82 samples supports TI DSP customers getting their cost-competitive, high-performance designs to market by year end," said Leona Green, mass marketing manager for TI's 'C8x products. "We are the only supplier in this market that is shipping products today at this price point with this level of performance. In fact, key Japanese consumer electronics customers have already received 'C82 samples and are expected to have products around 4Q96-1Q97."
All 'C8x DSPs offer a system solution on a single chip for designers of videoconferencing systems, videophones, networking and cellular base station switches, medical imaging, machine vision systems, traffic light controllers and a variety of other applications. A system solution enables customers to bring their products to market faster.
The new 'C82 features on-chip two advanced DSPs, a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) microprocessor with a floating-point unit (FPU), advanced memory transfer controller, and large instruction and data memory caches. The device is capable of performing more than 1.5 billion operations per second (BOPS), the equivalent of as many as ten of the fastest general-purpose microprocessors available.
Fabricated using 0.5-micron CMOS technology, initial versions of the 'C82 operate at 50 MHz with a typical power dissipation of less than 3 watts requiring no external heat sink. To further decrease system costs, the 'C82 interfaces to extended data out (EDO) DRAM for faster memory access while maintaining compatibility with other types of memories, including DRAMs, SRAMs, VRAMs and SDRAMs. The device is packaged in a low-cost, small-footprint ball grid array (BGA) package reducing package expense and board space for system manufacturers. Faster devices will be sampled later this year.
In addition to sampling the 'C82, TI is converting its 'C80 to 0.5-micron production versions. This allows for extending the family to 60 MHz and beyond as well as reducing cost and power dissipation to only 5 watts. Featuring a multiprocessor architecture with four on-chip DSPs, the 'C80 is capable of achieving more than 2 billion operations per second (BOPS) for applications that need the highest levels of performance.
For system developers, the pieces are in place now to start their 'C8x designs with a full suite of software and hardware development tools.
The 50-MHz TMS320C82 DSP is available now in sample quantities from TI. The device is packaged in a 352-lead BGA. Production quantities are planned for 1Q97, with pricing planned at $82 each in quantities of 25,000.
The new 60-MHz versions of the TMS320C80 DSP are available now in sample quantities from TI, with production quantities planned for 4Q96. Versions of the 'C80 operating at 40 and 50 MHz are already in full production. The device is currently packaged in a 305-lead pin-grid array (PGA).
TMS320C8x Third Parties - PDF file - 15K
Reader Inquiry: 1-800-477-8924, ext. 5300
Please refer to Profile #SPR244
Literature #: SPRT123B, SPRT112C
Search the Archives