Texas Instruments Unveils DSP-based System-on-a-Chip Roadmap to Three TrillionInstructions Per Second by 2010;Technology Behind 21st Century Digital Products Announced
WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- At a speech before the International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) in Washington D.C. Gene Frantz, Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) Senior Fellow and New Business Development Manager for Digital Signal Processors, and a pioneer in digital signal processor (DSP) development, unveiled a DSP roadmap that promises system performance increases of more than 15 times by 2005, and more than 230 times by 2010. This level of DSP performance, combined with reduced power consumption and space requirements is vital for applications such as DSP-based residential gateways, Internet TV, wearable health monitoring devices, autonomous home robots and real-time videophones. (www.ti.com/future)
"Semiconductor manufacturers must provide not only higher performance, but increased power efficiency, functionality and a greatly simplified software development process to meet the increased original equipment manufacturers (OEM) demand for highly integrated system on chip (SOC) solutions," said Frantz. "TI is combining advanced DSP architectures with leading system-level integration and process technologies, including copper interconnect technology and Silicon on Insulator to propel the performance of TI TMS320(TM) DSPs beyond 1,000,000 MIPS (million instructions per second) and even up to 3,000,000 MIPS by 2010. This is well beyond what is currently envisioned for the digital future."
TI's DSP technology roadmap makes it possible for OEMs to deliver future converging voice and video, personal and portable, and "always on" applications. Next-generation DSP-based products demand SOC solutions for applications like TV-quality wireless videophones; digital home managers, and in-home entertainment and games; as well as many yet to be imagined devices.
Process Technology and Digital and Analog Integration
By 2010, TI process technology will enable dozens of DSPs; each with 500 million transistors, to be integrated onto a single chip. This will deliver the functionality of today's laptop computers in a device the size of a wristwatch. To get there, TI will begin production plans next year using its industry-first 0.10um (drawn) process technology, which for the first time includes transistors designed for analog and digital operation. This equates to unprecedented levels of integration, and makes it possible for complete system solutions to operate on a single chip. By 2005, TI will be on the path to exceed 0.075um (drawn) process, with more than eight TMS320 DSP cores, each with more than 100 million transistors, integrated on a single chip the size of a thumbtack.
"The benefits of TI's leading process technology and silicon integration plays a vital role in our ability to develop DSPs that are designed into next generation (3G) digital handsets," said Frantz. "The future of wireless communications is the convergence of voice and video, and real-time DSP-based products providing the processing power and the flexibility to make this future a reality today."
TI's DSP technology roadmap also cites the soon-to-be-added production capabilities of its newest semiconductor fabrication facility, DMOS-6, and other internal fabrication capabilities as key drivers for DSP performance and growth. TI expects DMOS-6 to begin 300mm wafer production by second half 2001.
Usability and Programmability
System-specific and DSP enhancing software is crucial in making these next century high-performance DSP-based products easier to develop and quicker to market. New products and systems that make use of trillions of instructions per second will also need hundreds of millions of lines of code to operate. "The trick for system designers in the 21st Century will be how to quickly and cost effectively write the massive amounts of code required to harness this performance and create the next generation of digital products," said Frantz.
To overcome this problem, TI's software technology roadmap has been designed to ensure that reusable software components, combined with "intelligent" profiling compilers, and advanced software tools now in development, will maximize hardware efficiency while making DSPs much easier to program. TI's eXpressDSP(TM) Real Time Software Technology, an industry first, simplifies and streamlines the DSP product development process, by providing OEMs the ability to reuse, or acquire from third parties, software components such as complex DSP algorithms.
History of DSP Growth
TI introduced the world's first commercially successful programmable DSP in 1982, and today is the world leader in programmable DSPs with 47.1 percent market share according to Forward Concepts. The programmable DSP market is expected to grow annually by 30 percent over the next five years, reaching more than $13 Billion in 2002 (Forward Concepts).
To see how TI's DSP technology roadmap will impact the electronics and communications industry, visit the TI Digital Future website at www.ti.com/future.
The worldwide leader and pioneer in digital signal processing solutions since 1982, Texas Instruments provides innovative DSP and mixed signal/analog technologies to more than 30,000 customers in the computer, wireless communications, networking, Internet, consumer, digital motor control and mass storage markets worldwide. To help customers get to market faster, TI offers easy-to-use development tools and extensive software and hardware support, further complemented by close to 300 third-party DSP solutions providers.
Texas Instruments Incorporated is a global semiconductor company and the world's leading designer and supplier of digital signal processing and analog technologies, the engines driving and digitalization of electronics. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company's businesses also include materials and controls, educational and productivity solutions, and digital imaging. The company has manufacturing or sales operations in more than 25 countries.
Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TXN. More information is located on the World Wide Web at ti.com
Please refer all reader inquiries to: Texas Instruments Incorporated
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SOURCE Texas Instruments Semiconductor Group
CO: Texas Instruments Semiconductor Group
ST: Texas, District of Columbia
IN: CPR
SU: PDT
12/06/1999 07:00 EST prnewswire.com
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