 | May 1, 2001 |
Miserly
powerhouses
DSPs reduce power needs by 70 percent
Digital signal processing, once arcane technology buried in computer labs, has totally pervaded the lives of consumers in cell phones, digital audio players, and other places.
The success comes largely due to DSP chips that execute complex algorithms yet use little power, thereby enabling battery-powered portable devices. Texas Instruments plans to continue to drive that with the announcement of two new members of the TMS320C5000 family.
In the short term, the new C5509 targets the next generation of portable appliances, GPS receivers, wireless modems, and other products. The chip can handle audio applications like MP3 and communication schemes like Bluetooth and 802.11. The chip has peripheral features such as USB, memory, and memory-card interfaces. But its real value comes in its power requirements, which have been slashed to boost battery life by 70 percent in products like music players. Samples will ship next month.
Early next year, TI will ship the C5502, which will sell for $9.95 while performing 400 MIPS (millions of instructions per second). The record-low price will fit the chip into applications such as headsets, speakerphones, biometric devices, and audio and video decoding.
—Maury Wright
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