SV: Re: [sdiy] audio microprocessors and C++

[Veronica Merryfield]

It's worth looking at the Intel XScale and the Freescale processors  
since I believe they have a MAC. With the XScale, it is through a trap  
door and I have forgotten the exact method. My knowledge on the  
freescale is sketchier but I seem to remember from discussions that it  
has a MAC.

I spent a few year working at Symbian on the front line with customers  
supporting the porting of the OS (kernel and device drivers) to the  
phone makers hardware then a few year being a program manager for a  
consultancy companies Symbian group working in the mobile sector.

By the way, the XScale can run staggeringly fast if need be and  
without being too much of a power hog. The XScale and OMAP, and  
possibly others, also have sophisticated power saving features.  Yes,  
ARM MCUs are getting really cheap. There are excellent free tools and  
cheap JTAG adaptors if anyone ever thinks of playing with an ARM MCU.

Vrnc

On 6-Mar-08, at 6:03 PM, Joe Grisso wrote:

>> Indeed. Most have an ARM9 or better in them together with a
>> significant DSP processor. Some have just a DSP and some have a  
>> second
>> ARM core. Take a look at TI's OMAP range to get a good idea of what  
>> is
>> in many phones. Intel XScale has ben used along with devices from
>> Freescale. Also, Samsung have a couple of dev boards that are an
>> almost ready to go phone solution.
>
> Another thing to keep in mind that procs with the ARM9E core are
> fairly capable DSPs in their own right. Just the addition of a decent
> MAC operation gives a huge boost over standard MPUs/MCUs. When you can
> get an ARM9E processor for US$16 in piece quantities, that opens the
> door to doing a lot of interesting things. I see it as a
> first-generation integer-only MMX-class Pentium rather than the
> multi-core behemoths we have today. Couple the proc with a very
> tightly embedded O/S like FreeRTOS, and code away.
>
> -- 
> Joe Grisso
> Detachment 3 Engineering
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