Embedded Systems Design Europe - August/September 2008 - (Page 6)

news TI overhauls DSP lineup, adds 15 processors Texas Instruments (TI) is overhauling nearly all of its DSP lines with 15 new chips that slash power by up to 20X. In addition to cutting power, the new chips represent a number of ﬁrsts for TI, including the ﬁrst chip to combine an ARM core with a ﬂoating-point DSP. As part of the rollout, TI is also re-uniting its ﬁxed-point and ﬂoatingpoint C6000 families – two families that parted ways years ago. The C674x is TI’s ﬁrst low-power ﬂoating-point DSP. TI claims that the C674x is the industry’s lowest power ﬂoating-point DSP. Compared to previous-generation TI DSPs, the C674x cuts active power by 3X and slashes standby power by 20X. The devices target a variety of audio, medical and industrial applications. For instance, a music effect pedal powered by the C674x could run all day at a music festival without recharging. The C674x is also notable because its instruction set is a superset of the ﬁxed-point C64x+ and ﬂoating-point C67x+ instruction sets. This is a major shift for TI; for years its ﬁxed- and ﬂoating-point C6000 families evolved in separate directions, creating incompatibilities. The C674x ﬁxes the problem. Fixed-point C64x+ object code will run on the new architecture without any porting. The C674x also introduces new 24-bit operations. These new operations are well-suited for audio applications, which commonly use 24bit data. The OMAP-L1x line also represents a number of changes for TI. All products in this line are pin-compatible, and all devices feature an ARM9 core. The ARM9 is optionally paired with a C64x+ core, C674x core, or audio coprocessor. The OMAP-L1x devices are also pin-compatible with devices in the new C674x and C640x product lines, giving designers a wide range of CPU options. This pin-compatibility gives TI an important competitive advantage. The C640x DSPs are based around TI’s C64x+ DSP core. According to TI, these devices consume half the power of existing C64x+ DSPs. They aim to add portability to processing-intensive applications such as software deﬁned radio, industrial instrumentation, and emerging markets. The C550x DSPs are intended for the most power-sensitive applications, including portable medical devices, noise reduction headphones, and portable audio/music recording devices. The C550x features a large on-chip memory as well as an FFT/FIR ﬁlter coprocessor – the ﬁrst such coprocessor TI has offered. For applications requiring FFTs or FIR ﬁlters (which includes most DSP applications), this coprocessor provides a signiﬁcant boost in performance and energy efﬁciency. TI’s new focus on power is impressive, but not surprising. The last few years have seen an escalating emphasis on power. Until recently performance was the biggest bottleneck in DSP systems; now, energy consumption dominates. Power is obviously important for portable devices, where battery life is a concern. It has also become a concern for line-powered products. These devices increasingly involve small form factors, limited power supplies, low noise (and thus no fans) and other factors that push designers to cut power. The new chips will begin sampling in Q4 2008 and will roll out throughout the next twelve months. QNX publishes source code for ﬁle system QNX ﬁle systems provide a standard POSIX interface for a variety of storage devices, including NAND and NOR ﬂash memory; IDE, SATA, and SCSI hard drives; USB storage devices; CD and DVD optical drives; and RAM disks. The ﬁle system suite includes support multiple industry formats, including FAT for Windows disk partitions, EXT2 for Linux disk partitions, and NFS/CIFS for network ﬁle access. The code is published as part of the company’s hybrid software model, which enhances the productivity of embedded system developers by providing immediate, real-time access to the latest QNX code updates, bug ﬁxes, 6 and product developments. Unlike conventional ﬁle systems, QNX ﬁle systems run outside of the operating system kernel, as memory-protected applications. As a result, users can start, stop, or upgrade ﬁle systems on the ﬂy, without having to reboot. A QNX-based embedded system can dynamically invoke the appropriate ﬁle system whenever the user inserts a USB stick, hard drive, iPod, or other storage device, and then dynamically unload the ﬁle system when the user removes the device. To download the source code for QNX ﬁle systems, QNX community members can visit Foundry27, the QNX developer portal, and click on the File Systems project. The ﬁle systems join a growing list of QNX products now available in source form, including the QNX Neutrino microkernel, QNX adaptive partitioning, QNX networking stacks, and board support packages. Access to the QNX source code is free, but commercial deployments of QNX runtime components still require royalties, and commercial developers will continue to pay for QNX Momentics development seats. However, noncommercial developers, academic faculty members, and qualiﬁed partners can download QNX development tools and runtime products at no charge. AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2008 | embedded systems design europe | www.embedded.com/europe p6esde0908.indd 6 29/08/08 11:08:29 http://www.embedded.com/europe

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Embedded Systems Design Europe - August/September 2008

Embedded Systems Design Europe - August/September 2008 Contents TI Overhauls DSP Lineup, Adds 15 Processors QNX Publishes Source Code for File System Congatec to Take on Proprietary Market Swiss Multicore Project Wins Microsoft Grant OpenCores Bundles Development Tool ARM Compiler Boosts Freescale i.MX31 LabVIEW Updated for Multicore and Wireless Cover Feature: Interactive Tool Supports Multiprocessor SoC Design Wanted: Benchmaking for Embedded VMM Hypervisors Graphical Design Empowers Spider Robots Building a Power Supply for Discontinuous Transmission Wireless Networks RTOS Selection & Best Practices Achieving Cache Coherence in a MIPS32 Multicore Design New Products Advertising Contacts

Embedded Systems Design Europe - August/September 2008

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