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Posted at 1:20 p.m. PST Monday, February 3, 1997
TI introduces faster processing chip
DALLAS (AP) -- Texas Instruments introduced a microprocessor
chip on Monday that can process 1.6 billion instructions per second,
a technical advance that is expected to speed up many computer
functions.
The new digital-signal processor chip is about 40 times more
powerful than a comparable chip found in an ordinary computer
modem. A file that currently takes 10 minutes to download off the
Internet will take less than five seconds.
DSP chips are responsible for functions like processing sounds,
driving modems and making hard drives spin.
Used at a phone company switching center or an Internet service
company, the new chip can manipulate signals from 24 calls at once,
an operation that previously required 24 chips.
``With this chip, not only will more users be able to log on to the
Internet, but they will also be able to download files 120 times faster
than today,'' said Dale Walsh, vice president for advanced
development of U.S. Robotics Inc., a modem manufacturer.
In addition to speed, the new chip will allow callers to use one phone
line for both regular voice telephone calls and data calls at the same
time, eliminating the need for a separate modem line.
Future digital-signal processors in the new product family will be
designed for other uses, such as controlling graphics in computers.
Texas Instruments is the leading maker of DSPs with about 45
percent share of the $2.28 billion market, according to Forward
Concepts Inc. of Tempe, Ariz. The company is also one of the top
U.S. makers of memory chips.
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