DSPs Are First To Race At 1 GHz

Introduced as the industry's first 1 GHz digital-signal processors (DSPs), the TMS320C6414T, C6415T, and C6416T achieve this level of performance by way of a 90-nm process node. This technology allows transistors to exist closer together, said to yield higher processing speeds in a smaller package. The devices provide either 8 GMACs of eight-bit data for video and imaging applications or 4 GMACs of 16-bit data for speech and audio applications. As an example, one of these devices can process eight channels of MPEG-2 video with a resolution of 720 x 480 or 55 channels of GSM adaptive multi rate speech coding. Additionally, the C64x devices have been evaluated by Berkeley Design Technology and awarded a BDTIMark2000 of 9130, said to be the highest score published for a mainstream DSP. Available in the fourth quarter, pricing for the C6414T starts at $189 each/10,000. TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC., Dallas, TX. (800) 477-8924.