Budget-Priced DSPs Deliver Studio-Quality Audio

Offering enough processing throughput to deliver studio-quality audio at consumer prices, four enhanced SHARC DSPs from Analog Devices integrate more peripheral support than previous devices. To support the processor, the company has developed algorithms to handle the latest standards, such as Microsoft Windows Media 9 Audio Professional and Dolby ProLogic IIx, in addition to most other audio formats. To handle the complex algorithms and deliver up to 7.1 audio channels, the new SHARC processors start with a 32/40-bit floating-point SIMD processor optimized for audio signal processing.

The ADSP-21365 is the first to fully integrate a S/PDIF (Sony/Philips digital interface) receiver and transmitter and an accelerator for digital transmission content protection. The 21365 and '64 both include an eight-channel asynchronous sample-rate converter to help translate the bit rates of various audio formats. All four processors include up to 24 zero-overhead DMA channels, up to six serial ports with I²S support, four timers, and ADI's digital audio interface. The interface lets designers configure I/O peripherals through a 20-pin interface via a software-programmable architecture.

The ADSP-21266 comes in 100- and 200-MHz versions with 2 Mbits of on-chip SRAM and 4 Mbits of ROM; the ADSP-21267 runs at 150 MHz and packs 1 Mbit of SRAM and 3 Mbits of ROM; and the ADSP-21365/64 both run at 300 MHz and pack 3 Mbits of SRAM and 4 Mbits of ROM. In lots of 10,000 units, the 21267 costs $9.95, the 21266 costs $14.95, the 21365 costs $19.95, and the 21364 costs $24.95.