Objective Interface Launches High-Performance Communications Middleware for Texas Instruments DSP Platforms

Objective Interface Systems, Inc., developer of the world's smallest, fastest Object Request Broker (ORB), today introduced ORBexpress® DSP, a new communications middleware product engineered for the Texas Instruments Incorporated's (TI) TMS320C6000(TM) digital signal processor (DSP) platform, including the widely-used TMS320C64x(TM) DSP generation. Developers can now use TI's performance-leading DSPs with ORBexpress DSP to enable development of scalable, efficient distributed applications that meet the industry's most rigorous standards for speed and power.

The ORBexpress DSP technology allows systems engineers to transparently migrate logic between general purpose processors (GPPs) and TI DSPs. DSPs excel at certain types of processing such as video and Intermediate Frequency (IF) radio signal processing. Systems engineers can now save power and increase system performance by using the flexibility of ORBexpress DSP to:

--  ensure that the appropriate waveform and signal processing workload is
    efficiently moved to the DSP; and
--  easily and efficiently remove from the DSP all non-signal processing
    workload that might otherwise interfere with optimal performance of the
    DSP.

This flexibility to relocate processing allows the DSP to communicate independently with other processors without depending on the GPP. ORBexpress DSP thereby optimizes the DSP for both intra-board and extra-board communications, improving overall system performance.

ORBexpress DSP provides a distributed communications platform for performance-intensive C6000(TM) DSP-based applications such as software defined radios (SDRs) and wireless infrastructure. For Software Communications Architecture (SCA)-based SDRs, ORBexpress DSP provides the communication layer for the application framework and waveform application components operating on DSPs. Designed based on years of experience working with the world's major SDR vendors, ORBexpress DSP is the world's only SCA-certified ORB available for digital signal processors.

"We are pleased to be the first DSP supplier supported by Objective Interface," said Ram Sathappan, Software Defined Radio Business Manager, TI. "As a small-footprint, real-time product, ORBexpress DSP allows developers using our highest-performing DSP platform to easily build communications into SDRs, cellular base stations and other wireless infrastructure applications."

Mr. Sathappan added, "Because ORBexpress DSP raises the level of abstraction to a higher level, TI DSP designers will find that ORBexpress DSP can speed development of families of applications based on the same processor -- without requiring modifications at the code level."

"Our close work with and strong support from TI, as the industry leader in DSPs, has allowed us to fully optimize and customize our ORB technologies for the TI DSP platforms," said Bill Beckwith, CEO/CTO of Objective Interface Systems. "Our products complement each other nicely. TI DSPs are recognized throughout the world as high-performance, robust processing platforms that provide a highly optimized mix of throughput and power utilization. Because of this performance-power mix, they are used in a variety of mission-critical systems. These are the very systems that benefit from the reliable ORBexpress communications middleware."

Mr. Beckwith commented further: "Together, TI DSPs and ORBexpress DSP allow developers to facilitate transparent interoperability between processors and between classes of processors to enhance application performance. They do this by making it easier for developers to move the execution logic to the most appropriate processor and class of processor available in their system."

ORBexpress DSP offers specific technical benefits to developers using TI's C6000 DSP platform. ORBexpress DSP customizes size, speed and functionality through user configuration options, providing a high degree of optimization. It also provides flexibility, enabling components executing on DSPs to be accessed directly by simple CORBA calls as easily as if they were local. ORBexpress DSP is engineered to minimize the latency and maximize the bandwidth of all inter-processor communications. In addition, intra-processor communications via ORBexpress DSP are only 10 to 20 clock cycles.

Will Strauss, President of Forward Concepts, commented on the relationship between DSPs and communications middleware: "Communications middleware speeds the development of deterministic distributed applications, which include many DSP-based applications in telecommunications and data communications. DSP developers can benefit from low-footprint, low-latency and low-overhead communications middleware when building high-performance systems such as SDRs and other communications systems."

About ORBexpress DSP

ORBexpress DSP is based on the new CORBA/e standard that enables real-time and embedded devices in heterogeneous environments to communicate seamlessly. ORBexpress DSP fully supports the tool chain for TI's C6000 generation of DSPs. It supports TI's Code Composer Studio(TM) Integrated Development Environment and DSP/BIOS(TM) real-time kernel, speeding development of C6000 DSP-based systems. Optimized for an extremely small footprint and high-throughput, ORBexpress DSP gives TI C6000 DSP developers the ability to easily implement whichever specialized transport protocol they choose.