When digital signal processing first emerged as a powerful solution to the problem of analyzing real-world phenomena, discrete implementations of DSP-based solutions were constructed of individual analog and digital circuits, and a processing element of some sort to input, condition, process, and perhaps output real-world signals.
As demand for DSP technology increased, performance requirements and cost pressures brought the advent of the digital signal processor. TI introduced its first DSP chip 13 years ago-an evolutionary step in processor price/performance, bringing DSP solutions out of the lab and into the marketplace. Today, TI has the highest performance single-chip DSP in the world-the TMS320C80.
The DSP is now considered the main driver behind most of the world's emerging technologies, including telecommunications and multimedia. As DSP costs continue to drop, in real dollars and in $/MIPS, focus has begun to shift toward the big picture where the processor is but one element in a total DSP solution. By providing an entire DSP solutions product portfolio, TI stands ready to meet the total needs of DSP users.
Applications of DSP technology cover a wide range of price and performance requirements. Small-volume users of today's DSP products will drive tomorrow's high- volume applications. Because TI components are used in many of these applications, TI enjoys broadbased access to DSP customer concerns.
The evolution of TI's TMS320 family of DSPs is a major force behind DSP solutions and application-specific processing power. In 1983, the cost of a 5-MIPS TMS32010 device was about U.S. $1,000, or $200/MIP. Compared with the 1995 U.S. price for a 40-MIPS TMS320C52-80 MHz device-$12.30, or approximately $0.30/MIP. That equals a 650 percent improvement in price/performance over the last 10 years.
With customizable DSPs (cDSPs), mixed-signal components, memories, and logic devices can easily and inexpensively be integrated onto one or two chips, allowing higher-volume market penetration for a much lower cost. TI's ability to provide a complete product solution answers needs for processing power, digital logic, mixed-signal and analog circuits, and function-specific circuits for particular DSP vertical applications.
Every DSP solution ultimately has an interface to the real analog world. If DSPs are the driving force behind emerging technologies of the 1990s, then integrated analog and mixed-signal devices are the enablers that allow DSPs to provide solutions to these applications. TI is a leader in providing analog, linear, and mixed-signal circuit building blocks that enable the required interface and control of real-world signals for various DSP applications.
With its leadership in device fabrication, TI will continue to push price/performance points downward, revolutionizing emerging hard disk drive, cellular communications, industrial control, and multimedia applications with high-performance, low-cost DSP solutions.
Along with the various component offerings in TI's total DSP solution, TI also supports DSP users with consulting, training workshops, custom designs, vertical application development programs, expanded/enhanced product availability, and ongoing research aimed at identifying emerging DSP applications and potential markets. This industry support has generated more than 200 third parties whose application-specific software and hardware bring TI-based DSP products to market easily and quickly.
Based on years of intense communication and collaboration with customers, and through innovative fabrication technologies, TI continues to produce a broad DSP product family that maximizes end-use integration benefits. The TI DSP solutions commitment includes providing not only superior performance, silicon integration, and functionality for specific DSP applications, but also cost-effective means by which users can easily enter the DSP arena.