DSP Extends Operating Temperature

For applications in not so temperate environments, the TMS320C6418 500-MHz digital signal processor (DSP) operates in temperatures ranging from -40°C to +105°C. Integrating 512 KB of L2 cache, the device delivers up to 2,000 16-bit MMACs per second or 4,000 8-bit MMACs per second at peak performance. An integrated Viterbi coprocessor offloads heavily used operations from the core, boosting performance by as much as 30% in applications that include digital terrestrial television broadcasting and direct broadcast satellite services. Peripherals include two multi-channel buffered serial ports, two audio serial ports, a host port interface, two I2C ports, and an oscillator. Participating in a third-party support network, Spectrum Digital provides an evaluation module for the device, which includes examples, tutorials, and ready-to-run reference frameworks based on the company's DSP/BIOS kernel and off-the-shelf algorithms. Available in a 288-ball, 23 mm x 23 mm flip-chip BGA package, price is $49.50 each/10,000. TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC., Dallas, TX. (800) 477-8924.