eetimes.com
EE Times Home
Intel, ADI to partner on DSP
By Stephan Ohr
EE Times
(02/04/99, 10:38 a.m. EDT)
SANTA CLARA, Calif. ‹ Intel Corp. and Analog Devices Inc. announced
today (Feb 3) that they have established a strategic partnership to
develop a new digital signal processor (DSP) core architecture. The
fixed-point device will be targeted at video, image, voice and data
processing applications in emerging communications and Internet
appliance markets.
Intel had relied extensively on "host-based signal processing" for these applications in the past, and was looking for a dedicated DSP to extend the math-processing capabilities of systems in these application, said Ron Smith, corporate vice president and general manager of Intel's Computing Enhancement Group.
"We sought a collaborator to expedite achieving this goal and with their expertise and experience in DSP technology, Analog Devices fits the bill," Smith said, who acknowledged a working relationship between the two companies that has spurred the development of many analog PC
peripherals, inlcuding audio D/As, modems and system monitoring devices.
Smith's group also oversees development and deployment of StrongARM
processors (a technology acquired from Digital Equipment Corp.). Smith
indicated that Intel was looking for a DSP to complement its StrongARM
low-power, high-performance processor line ‹ but refused to comment on
whether the projected DSP core could or would be integrated with that
microcontroller.
At the press conference, Jerald Fishman, president and chief executive
officer of ADI (Norwood, MA), commented extensively on the complementary skill sets of Intel and ADI. He volunteered on questions from reporters that his company's 16-bit fixed-point DSPs could be a starting point for the joint development effort, but that the team would be looking for higher DSP processing capability. "A 100-to-200-Mips would be a low-end expectation," he said.
Under terms of the agreement, Intel and Analog Devices will combine
design engineering teams from both companies into a joint design group
primarily located in Austin, Texas. The team will be chartered to design a DSP core, programmers' tools, and algorithms necessary to proliferate third-party development and OEM adoption in vertical and general-purpose markets. Neither company would disclose the financial details of the transaction, the value of the engineering support required, or the revenues the new core was expected to generate.<b/>
Intel's Smith did say, however, that the joint design group is expected to begin work immediately, and the first core design is expected to be completed in the second half of 2000. Though the two companies will collaborate on the core design, they will separately market and sell products from based on that design.
Other collaborations in the DSP arena include a joint venture between
Lucent Technologies (Murray Hill, N.J.) and Motorola Semiconductor
Products Sector (Austin, Texas). Called StarCore, this joint venture
hopes to develop high-performance DSP cores for cellular basestation and telecom infrastructure applications. The Intel-ADI projected, in
contrast, is targeted more toward embedded applications in personal
computer space.
The Intel-ADI partnership is expected to have its largest impact on
Texas Instruments Inc., the world's largest supplier of DSP chips with
almost 45 percent of the $3.25-billion worldwide market in 1997,
according to Will Strauss of Forward Concepts (Tempe, Ariz.). Though
Analog Devices is the market's fourth-largest DSP supplier, behind TI,
Lucent and Motorola, the company had been aggressively pursuing TI's
market with an array of offerings from high-performance floating-point
processors, to mid-range audio DSPs, to budget-priced motor controllers. ADI grew at 40 percent last year, faster than any DSP supplier, said
Strauss.
Intel meanwhile had carved a position for itself and put one foot in the DSP market with its i860 processor, a device that specialized computer makers had used to built floating-point array processor boards. "Everyone is wondering when the other shoe was going to fall," Strauss had said in the past.
Intel's entry in the DSP market with ADI will not alter TI's basic
strategy, according to a spokeswoman for TI (Dallas). "Based on the
growth and size of the DSP market," she said, "Intel's entry is not a
surprise."
Mike Hames, vice president in charge of DSPs at TI's Semiconductor
Group, said software compatibility with existing DSPs should be a major concern of the Intel-ADI partners. "Our customers' biggest fear is writing software that may not be compatible with future architectures," he said. "But our strategy is based on our customers' needs especially in the area of software support."
ADI's Fishman did not guarantee that the upcoming DSP core would be code compatible with earlier-generation DSPs of ADI or StrongARM processors from Intel.
|
