Texas Instruments TMS320 is a blanket name for a series of
digital signal processorA digital signal processor is a specialized microprocessor with optimized architecture for fast operational needs of Digital Signal Processing.-Typical characteristics:...
s (DSPs) from
Texas InstrumentsTexas Instruments , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, renowned for developing and commercializing semiconductor and computer technology. TI is the No. 4 manufacturer of semiconductors worldwide after Intel, Samsung and Toshiba, and is the top supplier...
. It was introduced on April 8 1983 through the TMS32010 processor, which was then the fastest DSP on the market.
The processor is available in many different variants, some with
fixed-point arithmeticIn computing, a fixed-point number representation is a real data type for a number that has a fixed number of digits after the radix point...
and some with
floating point arithmeticIn computing, floating point describes a system for numerical representation in which a string of digits represents a rational number....
. The floating point DSP TMS320C3x, which exploits delayed branch logic, has as many as three
delay slotsIn computer architecture, a delay slot is an instruction slot that gets executed without the effects of a preceding instruction. The most common form is a single arbitrary instruction located immediately after a branch instruction on a RISC or DSP architecture; this instruction will execute even if...
.
The flexibility of this line of processors has led to it being used not merely as a co-processor for
digital signal processingDigital signal processing is concerned with the representation of the signals by a sequence of numbers or symbols and the processing of these signals. Digital signal processing and analog signal processing are subfields of signal processing...
but also as a main CPU.
Texas Instruments TMS320 is a blanket name for a series of
digital signal processorA digital signal processor is a specialized microprocessor with optimized architecture for fast operational needs of Digital Signal Processing.-Typical characteristics:...
s (DSPs) from
Texas InstrumentsTexas Instruments , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, renowned for developing and commercializing semiconductor and computer technology. TI is the No. 4 manufacturer of semiconductors worldwide after Intel, Samsung and Toshiba, and is the top supplier...
. It was introduced on April 8 1983 through the TMS32010 processor, which was then the fastest DSP on the market.
The processor is available in many different variants, some with
fixed-point arithmeticIn computing, a fixed-point number representation is a real data type for a number that has a fixed number of digits after the radix point...
and some with
floating point arithmeticIn computing, floating point describes a system for numerical representation in which a string of digits represents a rational number....
. The floating point DSP TMS320C3x, which exploits delayed branch logic, has as many as three
delay slotsIn computer architecture, a delay slot is an instruction slot that gets executed without the effects of a preceding instruction. The most common form is a single arbitrary instruction located immediately after a branch instruction on a RISC or DSP architecture; this instruction will execute even if...
.
The flexibility of this line of processors has led to it being used not merely as a co-processor for
digital signal processingDigital signal processing is concerned with the representation of the signals by a sequence of numbers or symbols and the processing of these signals. Digital signal processing and analog signal processing are subfields of signal processing...
but also as a main CPU. They all support standard IEEE
JTAGJoint Test Action Group is the common name used for the IEEE 1149.1 standard entitled Standard Test Access Port and Boundary-Scan Architecture for test access ports used for testing printed circuit boards using boundary scan...
control for development.
The original TMS32010 and its subsequent variants is an example of a CPU with a
Modified Harvard architectureThe Modified Harvard Architecture is a variation of the Harvard computer architecture that allows the contents of the instruction memory to be accessed as if it were data...
, which features separate address spaces for instruction and data memory but the ability to read data values from instruction memory. The TMS32010 featured a fast multiply-and-accumulate useful in both DSP applications as well as transformations used in computer graphics. The graphics controller card for the
Apollo ComputerApollo Computer, Inc., founded 1980 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts by William Poduska , developed and produced Apollo/Domain workstations in the 1980s...
DN570 Workstation, released in 1985, was based on the TMS32010 and could transform 20,000 2D vectors/second.
Variants
The TMS320 architecture has been around for a while so a number of product variants have developed. The product codes used by Texas Instruments after the first TMS32010 processor have involved a very popular series of processor named TMS320Cabcd where
a is the main series,
b the generation and
cd is some custom number for a minor sub-variant.
For this reason people working with DSPs often abbreviate a processor as "C5x" when the actual name is something like TMS320C5510, since all products obviously have the name "TMS320" and all processors with "C5" in the name are code compatible and share the same basic features. Sometimes you will even hear people talking about "C55x" and similar subgroupings, since processors in the same series and same generation are even more similar.
Outside the main series
- TMS320C1x, the first generation 16-bit fixed point
"Fixed point" has many meanings in science, most of them mathematical.* Fixed point * Fixed point combinator* Fixed-point arithmetic, a manner of doing arithmetic on computers* Benchmark , fixed points used by geodesists...
DSPs. All processors in these series are code compatible with the TMS32010
- TMS32010, the very first processor in the first series introduced in 1983, using external memory
- TMS320M10, the same processor but with an internal ROM of 3KB
- TMS320C10, TMS320C15 etc.
- TMS320C3x, floating point
- TMS320C4x
The TMS320C4x is the second generation of 32-bit floating-point digital signal processors. The first family member, the TMS320C40, was introduced in 1990. TMS320C4x family members target multiprocessor floating-point DSP systems for scientific, industrial, and military applications...
, floating point
- TMS320C8x, multiprocessor chip
- TMS320C80 MVP (multimedia video processor) has a 32 bit floating point "master processor" and four 32-bit fixed-point "parallel processors". In many ways the Cell microprocessor
Cell is a microprocessor architecture jointly developed by Sony Computer Entertainment, Toshiba, and IBM, an alliance known as "STI". The architectural design and first implementation were carried out at the STI Design Center in Austin, Texas over a four-year period beginning March 2001 on a budget...
followed this design approach.
C2000 Series
- TMS320 C2000 series, or TMS320C2x, consists of 2 families: C240x older 16-bit line and the more recent C28xx 32-bit line. All of the C240x are fixed point processors, but the recent F283xx processors like F28335 support floating point. Other new processors in the low-cost "Piccolo" F2802x/F2803x line are fixed-point, but have a 2nd on-chip control CPU. The C2000 line is notable for its rich set of on-chip peripherals including PWM, ADC, encoder, capture, I2C, SPI, serial, CAN, watchdog, GPIO, McBSP. Due to features like PWM waveform synchronization with the ADC unit, the C2000 line is well suited to digital power applications. The newer F280x chips are commonly used for multi-phase AC and PMSM digital motor control, electrical generators, and power conversion. A line of low cost kits for renewable energy and digital motor control allow experimentation with the chips.
C5000 Series
- TMS320C54x 16-bit fixed point DSP, 5 stage pipeline with in-order-execution of opcodes, parallel load/store on arithmetic operations, multiply accumulate and other DSP enhancements. Internal multi-port memory. no cache unit.
- A popular choice for 2G
2G is short for second-generation wireless telephone technology.Second generation 2G cellular telecom networks were commercially launched on the GSM standard in Finland by Radiolinja in 1991...
Software defined cellphone radios, particularly GSM, circa late 1990's when many NokiaNokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
and EricssonEricsson , one of the largest Swedish companies, is a leading provider of telecommunication and data communication systems, and related services covering a range of technologies, including especially mobile networks...
cellphones made use of the C54x.
- At the time, desire to improve the user interface of cellphones led to the adoption of ARM7 as a GPP for user interface and control, off-loading this function from the DSP. This ultimately led to the creation of a dual core ARM7+C54x DSP, which later evolved into the OMAP product line.
- TMS320C55x generation - fixed point, runs C54x code but adds more internal parallelism (another ALU, dual MAC, more memory bandwidth) and registers, while supporting much lower power operation
- Today, most C55x DSPs are sold as discrete chips
- OMAP1 chips combine an ARM9 (ARMv5TEJ) with a C55x series DSP
- OMAP2 chips combine an ARM11 (ARMv6) with a C55x series DSP
C6000 Series
- TMS320 C6000 series, or TMS320C6x: VLIW based DSP's.
- TMS320C62x fixed point /2000 MIPS/1.9 Watts
- TMS320C64x fixed point - code compatible with TMS320C62x (also known as C64, C64x, and C64x+)
- TMS320C67x floating point - code compatible with TMS320C62x
- Other parts with C6000 series DSPs include
- DaVinci
The Texas Instruments DaVinci Technology combines TI's offering of digital signal processing chips, software, tools and support for developing a broad spectrum of optimized digital video end equipments...
chips include one or both of an ARM9 and a C64x+ fixed point DSP
- OMAP-L13x chips include an ARM9 and a C67x floating point DSP
- OMAP3 and OMAP4 chips include an ARM Cortex-A8 or A9 and frequently a fixed point C64x+ DSP
Davinci Series
- The DaVinci Series
The Texas Instruments DaVinci Technology combines TI's offering of digital signal processing chips, software, tools and support for developing a broad spectrum of optimized digital video end equipments...
started with SoCSOC or SoC may refer to:Science and technology* Security Operation Center * Self-organized criticality, a property of dynamical systems in physics* Separation of concerns, a program design principle in computer science...
s using an embedded C6000 Series (C64x+) DSP, ARM9 application processors, and Digital Media peripherals. There are variants without ARMs, and without DSPs. Their marketing focuses on their video processing capabilities. Original chips supported NTSC and PAL, while newer ones support HDTV.
OMAP Variants
- OMAP variants, these also have an ARM
The ARM is a 32-bit reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by ARM Limited. It was known as the Advanced RISC Machine, and before that as the Acorn RISC Machine. The ARM architecture is the most widely used 32-bit ISA in terms of numbers produced...
processor in the same chip, see main article on Texas Instruments OMAPTexas Instruments OMAP is a category of proprietary microprocessors that have capabilities for portable and mobile multimedia applications and are developed by Texas Instruments. Many mobile phones use OMAP microprocessors, including most of Nokia's N-series range...
. (There are also OMAP processors with other secondary processors, so these are not necessarily DSPs.)
DA Variants
- DA variants (target "Digital audio")
- DA25x is an ARM
The ARM is a 32-bit reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by ARM Limited. It was known as the Advanced RISC Machine, and before that as the Acorn RISC Machine. The ARM architecture is the most widely used 32-bit ISA in terms of numbers produced...
processor and a C55x core. It has some on-chip peripherals like a USB slave controller and security features. Documentation of this chip is only available after signing a Texas Instruments NDAA non-disclosure agreement , also known as a confidentiality agreement, confidential disclosure agreement , proprietary information agreement , or secrecy agreement, is a legal contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish...
. These variants are used exclusively in the Creative ZENThe Creative ZEN is a range of digital audio players and portable media players made by Creative Technology. The players evolved from the now-defunct NOMAD brand through the NOMAD Jukebox series...
and Dell Digital JukeboxThe Dell Digital Jukebox or just Dell DJ was a brand name for a series of digital audio players sold by the Dell Computer corporation.The Dell DJs were engineered by Creative Technology and based on the same hardware and software platform as their Creative NOMAD/Creative Zen digital audio players...
MP3 players, as the primary CPUThe Central Processing Unit or processor is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, and is the primary element carrying out the computer's functions. This term has been in use in the computer industry at least since the early 1960s...
and signal processor for all processing of MP3MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression. It is a common audio format for consumer audio storage, as well as a de facto standard of digital audio compression for the transfer and playback of music on...
data streams.
- TMS320DA7xx Aureus chips are built around C67x+ DSPs
- DA83x is another Aureus, essentially the same as the OMAP-L137 ... which derives from non-video DaVinci technologies. It includes a C67x floating point DSP and a relatively fast ARM9 core. The TMS320DA828 is much the same, but removes some I/O interfaces.
- DA610/601 is a processor with a C67x core. It has on chip peripherals needed to connect to audio codecs for a 5.1 or 7.1 system. This chip is used in the YAMAHA high end receivers : RX-V1400, RX-V2400, RX-V1600, RX-V2600, RX-V2500.
DM Variants
- DM variants:
- DM270 has an ARM7TDMI
ARM7 is a generation of ARM processor designs. This generation introduced the Thumb 16-bit instruction set which provides improved code density compared to previous designs. The most widely used ARM7 designs implement the ARMv4T architecture, but some implement ARMv3 or ARMv5TEJ...
core and a TMS320 C5409 DSP
- DM320 has an ARM926
The ARM is a 32-bit reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by ARM Limited. It was known as the Advanced RISC Machine, and before that as the Acorn RISC Machine. The ARM architecture is the most widely used 32-bit ISA in terms of numbers produced...
core and a TMS320 C5409 DSP
- DSC25 has an ARM7TDMI
ARM7 is a generation of ARM processor designs. This generation introduced the Thumb 16-bit instruction set which provides improved code density compared to previous designs. The most widely used ARM7 designs implement the ARMv4T architecture, but some implement ARMv3 or ARMv5TEJ...
core and a TMS320 DSP
- Texas Instruments DaVinci
The Texas Instruments DaVinci Technology combines TI's offering of digital signal processing chips, software, tools and support for developing a broad spectrum of optimized digital video end equipments...
chips
Toolchain
The TMS320 series can be programmed using
CC is a general-purpose computer programming language developed in 1972 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
,
C++C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as a middle-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features...
, and/or
assembly languageAssembly languages are a family of low-level languages for programming computers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and other integrated circuits. They implement a symbolic representation of the numeric machine codes and other constants needed to program a particular CPU architecture...
. Most work on the TMS320 processors is done using Texas Instruments proprietary toolchain and their
integrated development environmentAn integrated development environment also known as integrated design environment or integrated debugging environment is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for software development...
Code Composer StudioCode Composer Studio is an integrated development environment for developing DSP code for the TMS320 DSP processor family from Texas Instruments. Code Composer Studio includes a mini operating system called DSP/BIOS....
, which includes a mini
operating systemAn operating system is an interface between hardware and user which is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the resources of the computer that acts as a host for computing applications run on the machine. As a host, one of the purposes of an operating...
called
DSP/BIOSDSP/BIOS is a royalty-free real-time multi-tasking kernel created by Texas Instruments for the TMS320 family of DSP. DSP/BIOS is an integrated part of Texas Instruments DSP integrated development environment called Code Composer Studio....
. Additionally, a department at the
Chemnitz University of TechnologyChemnitz University of Technology is located in the town of Chemnitz in Germany. With over 10000 students it is the third largest university in Saxony and around 750 international students from 100 universities all over the world are enrolled each year...
has developed preliminary support for the TMS320C6x series in the
GNU Compiler CollectionThe GNU Compiler Collection is a compiler system produced by the GNU Project supporting various programming languages. GCC is a key component of the GNU toolchain...
. In November 2007 TI took steps towards a free software release of its toolchain by offering the bare compiler, assembler, optimizer and linker to non-commercial users. However, neither the IDE nor a debugger were included, so for debugging and JTAG access to the DSPs, users still need the proprietary toolchain.
External links