Tensilica,® Inc. today introduced a new family of high-performance DSPs (digital signal processors) – the ConnX DSP family – that are click-box options for its proven Xtensa® LX customizable processor cores for SoC (system-on-chip) designs. The newest member of the family, the ConnX Baseband Engine – see separate press release – provides industry leading computational throughput (16 18-bit MACs per cycle) due to its application-specific instruction set optimized for computer-intensive LTE (Long-term Evolution) and 4G Wireless base stations. Tensilica plans other ConnX family members for the low-power requirements of the handset market.
“With its configurable instruction set, Tensilica has morphed its basic Xtensa RISC architecture to become a compelling DSP engine,” stated Will Strauss, president of Forward Concepts. “The company’s giant leap into the DSP world was through the design of their HiFi 2 Audio Engine into cellular phones, Blu-ray Disc players, and other home entertainment products, where they’ve had considerable success. Now, with the ConnX DSP Baseband Engine, Tensilica is taking aim at the fastest growing part of the market – next generation wireless. They already have major customers – including Fujitsu, Panasonic and NEC – doing their own designs in this market. I expect they will do quite well with this high-performance DSP engine.”
“Our customers have been customizing Xtensa LX processor for complex DSP functions in the SOC dataplane for years now,” stated Jack Guedj, Tensilica’s president and CEO. “The vast majority of our over 350 million cores shipped have performed complex DSP functions. Now, with these pre-designed modules, our customers will be able to get new next-generation products to market much faster.”
Tensilica realizes that there are two very different types of requirements for DSPS in wireless systems. The ConnX Baseband Engine fills the more traditional software-centric compute-intensive DSP requirements for base stations. Tensilica’s Xtensa technology can also be optimized in areas where traditional DSPs fall short in the hardware-centric design style of the typical handset, and Tensilica plans several products in this area.
The ConnX Baseband Engine joins the proven quad-MAC Vectra DSP option, which is now re-branded as the ConnX Vectra Engine. The ConnX Vectra Engine has been used in many customer designs and is an integral part of the re-branded ConnX 545CK. The ConnX 545CK was previously known as the Diamond 545CK, which received a BDTIsimMark2000TM score of 3820. The BDTIsimMark is a summary measure of overall DSP processing speed based on BDTI’s DSP Kernel BenchmarksTM *, and the 545CK received the highest BDTIsimMark2000 score of all licensable cores evaluated by BDTI. The ConnX family of DSP engines includes other functions that are in high demand for next-generation compute-intensive tasks. Tensilica expects that it can quickly leverage its customizable processor technology to develop key functions that will significantly expand its business in several market areas.
About Tensilica
Tensilica, Inc. – the leader in customizable dataplane processors – is a semiconductor IP licensor recognized by the Gartner Group as the fastest growing semiconductor IP supplier in 2008. Dataplane Processor Units (DPUs) combine the best capabilities of CPUs and DSPs while delivering 10-to-100-times the performance because they can be customized using Tensilica’s automated design tools to meet specific dataplane performance targets. Tensilica’s DPUs power SOC designs at system OEMs and five out of the top 10 semiconductor companies for products including mobile phones, consumer electronics devices (including digital TV, Blu-ray Disc players, broadband set top boxes and portable media players), computers, and storage, networking and communications equipment. For more information on Tensilica’s patented, benchmark-proven DPUs visit www.tensilica.com.
