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TMS320C62x Product Information Digital Signal Processing Solutions World's Highest Performance DSP Platform Delivers Best of Both Worlds New DSP from Texas Instruments Designed to Deliver Processing Power Required by Third-Generation Wireless Base Stations New DSP Technology from Texas Instruments Brings Power and Cost Advantages to ADSL Solutions
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New DSP from Texas Instruments Designed to Deliver Processing Power Required by Third-Generation Wireless Base StationsThe new TMS320C6202 digital signal processor (DSP) from Texas Instruments (TI) is the most powerful DSP on the market, executing some 2000 MIPS (million instructions per second). The newest member of TI's groundbreaking TMS320C6000 platform of DSPs, the 250-MHz 'C6202 is designed to deliver the level of performance base stations need for the next generation of wireless technology. Based on Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) technology, this new generation is commonly referred to as the third-generation. Third-generation wireless systems will enable advanced mobile communications services anywhere users happen to be. They will not only be able to make phone calls from their wireless phones, they also will be able to surf the Web, check their email, conduct video conferences with their friends, family and colleagues, and enjoy a wide range of other services. But before the phones appear that can take advantage of these services, a third-generation wireless infrastructure must be deployed that accommodates the underlying third-generation WCDMA technology. Fundamental to the infrastructure are the thousands of wireless base stations that receive calls from and transport them through the cellular networks. This means creating a new generation of base stations that can handle greater capacity, process higher data rates, and supports multimedia data and video, while reducing their size, cost and power consumption. As wireless original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) begin designing the wireless base stations that will appear in the next decade, they will rely on the 'C6202 to achieve the level of signal processing their systems need. A Leap Ahead in Technology Third-generation WCDMA wireless technology represents a departure from the way that wireless systems have operated in the past. The IMT2000 committee of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) proposal for WCDMA is designed to support emerging wireless multimedia applications. That is, third-generation wireless systems should lend themselves to the simultaneous transmission of voice, data and video. To accommodate this, it is proposed that WCDMA be capable of being scaled on a call-by-call basis to make the bandwidth of the channel match the size of the call. Providing bandwidth on demand makes it easier for wireless instruments to handle different types of information. A video call, for instance, needs a great deal more bandwidth than an ordinary voice call, and a data transfer can use a varying amount of bandwidth as it becomes available. Obviously, this mandates a high degree of flexibility in the wireless infrastructure system and drives the need for a high degree of programmability in the system to accommodate adaptation of this technology. For wireless third-generation multimedia applications, the IMT2000 has proposed a roadmap for WCDMA that will enable data rates of up to 384 kilobits per second (Kbps) in mobile applications (e.g., in a car) and up to 2 megabits per second (Mbps) in stationary applications (e.g., indoors). Accommodating these higher data rates will place greater demands on the processing capabilities of the wireless network infrastructure. The IMT2000 proposes that new systems using WCDMA be compatible with the prevalent wireless standards that are already deployed today. WCDMA itself will be a global technology, so that all systems will be able to co-exist across all continents. Again, this places greater demands on the processing flexibility of the base station. The Right DSP Technology for Third-Generation Base Stations In 1997, TI announced a new DSP family designed for extremely high-performance, multichannel applications like wireless network base stations. The first member of the new family was the TMS320C6201, a fixed-point DSP operating at 200 MHz and capable of performing 1600 MIPS -- ten times the performance of fixed-point DSPs previously available. Since that time, the 'C6201 has been remarkably successful in telecommunications, networking and other applications. Key to the success of WCDMA technology is the base station infrastructure of wireless networks. Base station OEMs already face demands for ever-smaller systems that handle more channels in less space and require less power -- all without an increase in cost. Third-generation wireless technology will drive these demands farther and faster than ever. Base station functions divide into two broad areas: the transceiver, located with the antenna, and the transcoder, usually located in a concentration unit that controls inputs from several transceivers and forwards them to the public network. In general, the transceiver manipulates the bit streams that are transmitted and received, while the transcoder provides voice processing. A single transceiver may handle hundreds of call channels, while a transcoder/controller may handle thousands. The large volumes of digital data that pass through both areas must be processed in real time -- a task that only high-performance DSPs can handle. TI's newest addition to the 'C6000 product platform is the TMS320C6202, a DSP device that builds on the strengths of the 'C6201 to provide the processing needed by third-generation base stations and other future high-speed systems. Operating at 250 MHz, the 'C6202 pushes performance to 2000 MIPS, or 500 million multiply accumulate operations per second (MMACS) -- 25 percent faster than the 'C6201. Architectural enhancements ensure that the 'C6202 will bring even greater increases in performance to systems such as base stations. For OEMs, a primary concern is keeping base station system costs low, since the highly competitive wireless market requires continual reduction in cost per channel. Equal in importance is high system performance, which allows OEMs to add more channels to their systems with fewer chips. High performance also enables improvements to the underlying technology, such as greater voice compression algorithms that allow more efficient use of bandwidth. In addition, WCDMA, with its spread spectrum transmission and scalable channels, will require compute-intensive algorithms that maximize use of the full frequency band. Another important feature the new 'C6202 DSP offers is a substantial increase in on-chip memory. Base stations require large blocks of on-chip random-access memory (RAM) for handling rapid changes of data as callers enter and depart cell areas. The 'C6202 integrates 3 megabits of RAM, tripling the on-chip memory of the 'C6201 and ensuring that the DSP will have plenty of data available when it needs it. In many designs, this large amount of on-chip memory can eliminate the need for external program and data memory, saving component costs, space and power. Another enhancement of the 'C6202 is a 32-bit expansion bus that complements the primary, synchronous bus. The expansion bus offloads much of the traffic from the 32-bit primary bus, ensuring a high data throughput on and off chip. The expansion bus doubles the data throughput that was previously available, helping to bring data from multiple channels on chip as fast as the DSP can use it. Today, base stations are appearing in new applications that require a small footprint. Dubbed "pico-stations," these units require as much processing per channel as much larger base stations, but the entire system must be packed into a much smaller space. For example, over the past several years, base stations have shrunk from shed-sized buildings to crate-sized buildings. Pico-stations are even smaller, approximately the size of a large shoebox. Since more processing power can be put on TI's 'C6202, the footprint of the host base station can be minimized. Low power consumption serves to keep operational costs down, and it also helps save space. Components that use less power produce less heat and thus can be packed more densely. They are also less likely to need special cooling arrangements such as fans and heat sinks. In addition, less heat often means less wear and tear on parts, so that maintenance costs are lower. The fewer the amounts of parts, the less power dissipated, thereby allowing smaller footprints. The 'C6202 and the latest version of the 'C6201 each produce less than 2 Watts of power, making them power-efficient choices for base stations. In addition, the 'C6202 has reduced its chip area by 40 percent over the earlier device, saving space and further contributing to an increase in channel density. All members of the 'C6000 platform are code-compatible, so that designs initiated using the 'C6201's extremely efficient C compiler can be migrated to the 'C6202. TI's high-performance 'C6000 DSPs allow designers to develop differentiated third-generation wireless technology through software development instead of hardware. This emphasis helps speed up system development by allowing rapid response to changes in design requirements, and it allows developers to port their technology more easily to new systems. In addition, DSP-based systems can be reprogrammed more readily in the field so that service providers can keep their equipment up to date as standards evolve. Extremely high performance, additional memory, a 32-bit expansion bus, low power consumption, space savings, and code efficiency and compatibility -- all these factors mean that the 'C6202 will help future-proof designs of wireless base stations as new technology unfolds. Performance for Tomorrow's Wireless Multimedia The third generation of wireless telecommunications technology is coming, and TI's 'C6202 DSP will play an important role in its realization. More than ever, the base station infrastructure for WCDMA will require high performance and efficiencies of cost, space and power consumption. As the highest-performing DSP available today, the 'C6202 offers all these advantages, enabling wireless OEMs to build the base stations that will support the multimedia applications of tomorrow.
More information regarding TI's Wireless Communications Business Unit and its products and services for wireless base stations is available on the World Wide Web at
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