World's Most Powerful DSP Redefines Industry Landscape
Record Performance Moves World from Hardware to Software
HOUSTON (Feb. 3, 1997) -- With the introduction today of the world's
most powerful digital signal processor (DSP), Texas Instruments
is changing the world. Boasting low-cost, 1600 MIPS and an ultra-efficient
C compiler, the new DSP will give system architects unlimited
possibilities to differentiate their products and shorten time-to-market.
TI's newest DSP will radically shift the emphasis of designing
systems from hardware to software. The new paradigm will mean
performance that not only can eliminate the Internet bottleneck
but also is the springboard to "unplugged" communications
like instantly sending voice or data to anyone from anywhere in
the world.
Just as the revolution in semiconductor integration collapsed
the massive mainframe to the size of a notebook, TI DSP technology
will do the same for real-time applications in the exploding personal
and data communications world. This DSP generation provides the
power to implement a robust digital subscriber loop (xDSL) application,
a rapidly emerging high-speed method to connect to the Internet.
With xDSL, for example, what took 10 minutes to download from
the Internet, will now take less than five seconds, an increase
of 120 times the speed of today's fastest modems. The performance
also will enable extreme personalization of electronics such as
keyless home access via voice and face recognition.
"This DSP solution will change the way we live," said
Mike Hames, TI Semiconductor Group vice president and worldwide
DSP manager. "We know this performance will eliminate busy
signals for the web user, but it's also not farfetched to see
this revolution translate to radical changes like personal home
wireless basestations, a total redefinition of medical diagnostics
and cars that run on autopilot -- the ultimate in cruise control
with radar-based collision avoidance and global positioning systems
(GPS) to map the route to your destination."
TMS320C6x Shatters Industry Performance Records
The TMS320C6x DSP generation at 10 times the MIPS performance
of any DSP in history, combined with a world-class C compiler
that cuts software development time in half, means customers can
bring differentiated products to market quickly through software.
It's a whole new level of productivity and efficiency for the
systems designer and reduced system cost for multi-channel and
multi-function voice and data communications applications.
For less than $100 (25K units), or $0.06-per-MIPS, the new TMS320C6x
processing capabilities, exceptional ease-of-use, and affordable
pricing make it the optimum solution for the communication industry's
hottest applications, including pooled modems, wireless base stations,
remote access servers (RAS), digital subscriber loop (DSL) systems,
cable modems, and voice mail systems.
TI's new TMS320C6201 ('C6201), the first fixed-point, 200 MHz
DSP device based on the TMS320C6x ('C6x) generation core CPU,
is the highest performing general-purpose, programmable DSP available
today. A single 'C6x generation DSP can replace multiple current-generation
DSPs. In terms of traditional DSP benchmarks, the 'C6201 can perform
a 1024-point complex Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) in 70 microseconds
which is 10 times the speed of competing DSPs.
New C Compiler Cuts Software Development Time in Half
"The ability to tap into this much signal processing performance
from a high-level language program is simply without precedent,"
said Hames. "The 'C6x and its compiler essentially fast-forwards
the DSP industry's shift to a mainly software-focused development
paradigm, and will dramatically improve time-to-market for new
DSP systems."
The 'C6x C compiler averages three times the efficiency than any
DSP compiler on the market today based on a suite of DSP benchmarks.
"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." (See
the Editorial.Backgrounder.)
The 'C6x is the first DSP in the industry to adopt VelociTI™,
an advanced Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW) architecture, with
TI's DSP solutions leadership firmly establishing advanced VLIW
as the architecture-of-choice for achieving very high performance
at low cost. To drive fast time-to-market for 'C6x-based product
designs by cutting software development time in half, the new
DSP generation debuts with a complete set of optimized development
tools for both PC and Sun host platforms, including the most efficient
C compiler ever developed for any DSP, and the world's first assembly
optimizer for simplified assembly-language programming and scheduling,
and a Windows®-based debugger interface for improved visibility
into source code execution characteristics. A hardware emulation
board, compatible with TI's XDS510 JTAG emulator interface is
available today and support for the 'C6x will be available in
March.
"Our primary goal was to make this DSP quick and easy to
program," said Ray Simar, TI's 'C6x 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."
DSP Performance Opens Up New Applications
The raw throughput of the 'C6201 will open up new applications
and make existing ones better and more powerful. The performance
will meet the never ending demand from users for more personalization,
connectivity and portability in their products. Applications ideal
for 'C6x performance include universal wireless communications,
data communications to open up Internet bottlenecks, radical new
telephone features, ultimate cruise control and personalized home
security and home management systems.
"The revolutionary architecture of the 'C6x provides unprecedented
DSP performance at a competitive price point and with a small
footprint," said John Landau, vice president strategic marketing
and general manager, Dialogic Architecture Labs. "This combined
with the tools supplied by Texas Instruments and its third parties
makes the 'C6x a powerful choice for many of today's most demanding
computer telephony applications. Such applications characteristically
require more than one instance of multiple algorithms to serve
multiple users. These applications are therefore computationally
intensive and demand the level of performance that the 'C6x is
able to deliver."
The 'C6201 represents entirely new levels of performance and cost
for communications applications where 'C6x generation DSPs can
increase the number of communication channels implemented on one
DSP, or raise the throughput capacity of a single channel. For
example, 'C6x generation DSPs allow RAS designers to provide more
modems in less space. The power of a single 'C6201 can implement
10 to 15 V.34 modems at a cost of about $6-per-modem. Previous
DSPs could only achieve one modem per DSP, at about $18-per-modem.
This translates to 50 percent lower cost-per-channel.
"Once again TI demonstrates their DSP solutions leadership with the
introduction of the world's highest performing DSP processor," said
Dale Walsh, vice president of advanced development, U.S. Robotics.
"Their continued strength in DSP technology allows us to develop the
best modem solutions in the world."
The 'C6x also will enable smaller basestations -- up to 75 percent
reduction in size -- that can handle more calls. For example,
a 'C6201 can implement 30 voice channels at $3-per-channel in
a wireless base station, versus five voice channels at $7-per-channel
for previous DSPs. This also translates to 50 percent lower cost-per-channel.
Such high performance and efficiency will benefit other emerging
communications technologies such as digital subscriber loop (DSL),
cable modems, ISDN modems, and wireless local loop systems. (See
the Editorial Backgrounder.)
VelociTI Architecture Key to Breakthrough on Price, Performance
The 'C6x's VelociTI architecture makes it the first off-the-shelf
DSP to use advanced VLIW to achieve high performance through increased
instruction-level parallelism. A traditional VLIW architecture
consists of multiple execution units running in parallel that
perform multiple instructions during a single clock cycle, taking
these next-generation DSPs well beyond the performance capabilities
of traditional superscalar designs. VelociTI is a highly deterministic
architecture, with few restrictions on how or when instructions
are fetched, executed, or stored. It is this architectural flexibility
that is key to the breakthrough efficiency levels of the 'C6x
compiler.
"The beauty of this advanced VLIW architecture is really
its elegant simplicity," said Simar. "It moves complexity
from the hardware to the compiler, allowing a simpler yet faster
processor at less cost that is easy to program."
VelociTI's advanced features include instruction packing, conditional
branching, variable-width instructions, and pre-fetched branching,
all of which eliminate the problems traditionally associated with
historical implementations of VLIW machines. Architectural streamlining,
and compiler intelligence that implements instruction scheduling
at compile time, allow the 'C6201 to be fabricated using only
550,000 logic transistors. In contrast, Intel's Pentium®
requires about five million logic transistors.
At 200 MHz, the 'C6201 operates at a five nanosecond cycle time,
executing up to eight, 32-bit instructions every cycle. The device's
core CPU consists of eight functional units, including two multipliers,
six ALUs, 32 registers with 32-bit word length, and 1Mbit of on-chip
memory. The device also features an on-chip timer and dual serial
ports. (See the Fact Sheet.)
Samples, Tools Available Today for Immediate Design
The 'C6x generation offers the lowest price per function and price
per channel of any DSP today. The 'C6x generation's first available
product, the TMS320C6201 fixed-point DSP is priced at $96 in quantities
of 25,000 units. The 200 MHz, five-level metal, 0.25-micron 'C6201
is available for sampling immediately in an advanced-release version.
The 'C6201 with timer and serial ports is scheduled to be available
in 2Q97.
A production release version of the 'C6201, to be available from
TI and TI authorized distributors, is scheduled to sample in the
second quarter of 1997, followed by volume production in the second
half of 1997. The complete 'C6x development tool set is available
now and includes the C compiler, assembly optimizer, simulator,
and linker. The PC tool set is priced at $2,995 and the Sun workstation
version is priced at $4,995.
TI DSP third parties supporting 'C6x with tools include Ariel
Corporation, CHEOPS Bildverarbeitungs GmbH & Co KG, D2 Technologies,
Inc., DSP Research, Inc., DSP Software Engineering, Inc., Eonic
Systems, Inc., GO DSP Corporation, HotHaus Technologies Inc, Innovative
Integration, Loughborough Sound Images (LSI), Pentek, Inc., Signals
& Software Ltd. (SASL), ViaDSP, Inc., and White Mountain DSP.
DSP Roadmap Solidifies TI DSP Solutions Leadership Position
Worldwide
Future 'C6x generation members, both fixed- and floating-point,
will include devices fabricated with TI's new 0.18-micron, five-level
metal process, operating at speeds beyond 250 MHz. These DSPs
will be disclosed throughout 1997 and beyond.
The 'C6x is the ninth generation of DSPs launched by TI since
1982. Since then, TI has maintained its worldwide leadership in
market share for programmable DSPs and has gained market share
for the last three consecutive years, according to DSP analyst
firm Forward Concepts, Inc. Forward Concepts ranked TI number
one in 1996 with 45 percent share of the worldwide programmable
DSP market.
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