VLSI adds new DSP core to boost embedded effort

Electronic News, May 8, 1995 by Jim DeTar

SAN JOSE, CALIF. - VLSI Technology Inc. this week will add a digital signal processing (DSP) core from DSP Group to its application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) library. The Pine DSP core will be available as the VVF3000 embedded DSP core from VLSI. The move presages a strong thrust by VLSI into the DSP-ASIC market.

The VVF3000 offers 40MIPS performance at 5 volts, with operation down to 2.7 volts, to support a wide range of applications. By combining one or several of these cores with customer ASIC logic, user-configurable memory and other FSB (functional system blocks) cores from VLSI's library of system building blocks, a system designer can create an IC for use in such varied applications as data and fax modems, cellular and cordless telephones, industrial systems and multimedia audio and video products.

In addition, VLSI also laid out a future product roadmap, saying it will follow the introduction of the Pine core with another DSP core - the Oak second generation platform from DSP Group which is specifically designed for personal communication systems requiring both low power and small size.

According to Donald L. Ciffone, vice president and general manager of the VLSI Product Division, "With the introduction of the enabling core in our growing FSB library, more people are now gaining access to this key DSP technology than ever before, so their embedded applications can create the differentiated products they need in order to succeed."

Among DSP Group's other licensees of its Pine DSP core design are Siemens AG of Munich, Germany, Silicon Systems Inc. of Tustin, Calif., and Integrated Circuit Systems (ICS) of Valley Forge, Pa. Adaptec has also used the Pine core in its programmable disk drive manager chips. DSP Group also licenses a DSP algorithm called TrueSpeech for voice compression in PCs.

However, VLSI claims it is uniquely positioned to become "the leading supplier of DSP-ASICs." The company cited its ASIC approach of customized solutions; optimized FSB cells such as Pine, ARM Z80, SSA, SCSI, PCI and error correction; and mixed signal technology such as integrated analog converters with digital ASIC as factors that will enable its DSP-ASIC market thrust.

Using what a company spokesman termed "best estimate" internal VLSI research, the company has determined after studying the market that DSP-ASIC demand - the number of electronics OEMs having more than 50,000 DSP units-a-year volume - was about 10 percent in 1993 and grew to more than 30 percent in 1994, and is expected to increase to nearly 60 percent in 1995.

VVF3000 embedded DSP core features include 16-bit fixed-point processor; 40MIPS performance at 5 volts, 33MIPS at 3.3V, and 30MIPS at 3V; and 4mW/MHz at 5V, 1.6mW/MHz at 3.3V power usage. The core also has built-in power management features such as active power management implemented in five levels, available under software and hardware control, and extendible architecture through user-defined registers.

ASIC features include user-defined ASIC logic integrated with the DSP core, optional customized accelerators and user configurable RAM and ROM. Mixed signal features include integrated analog converters up to 10M samples/sec. (8-bit).

Software and hardware tools are available including support from Mentor Graphics' DSP Station and a real time operating system - Eonic Systems' Virtuoso OS, which provides multitasking, small code size and fast task switching (500 nanoseconds to 1.5ns), according to VLSI.