Analog Devices Expands Blackfin Family with Ultra Low Cost, 800 MMACs DSP

“The low-cost, high-performance BF592 opens up many product possibilities for current and new Blackfin customers,” said Richard Murphy, business development manager, Processors-DSP Core Technology Group, Analog Devices. “Having an affordable 800 MMACs of DSP allows designers to incorporate sophisticated signal processing previously only feasible for higher-priced end products.”

Target applications for the BF592 include portable medical products; audio devices; imaging products, such as CMOS-sensor-based 2D barcode scanners; and smart metering products in smart grid applications.

“Analog Devices is pushing the DSP cost/performance envelope to make it easier for designers to differentiate their price- and power-constrained products,” said Tony Massimini, chief of technology, Semico Research Corp. “The Blackfin BF592 offers performance and lower power consumption at competitive pricing. These are important factors for designs in high-growth consumer markets, especially portable applications.”

Blackfin BF592 Highlights

* The highest pure DSP performance for its price point - At 800 MMACs or 400-MHz clock speed, the Blackfin BF592 provides developers the ability to run more sophisticated algorithms for more system-level advantages.
* The lowest power in ADI’s Blackfin portfolio - The BF592 consumes 80 percent less power than comparable solutions. A low active power draw of just 88 mW at 300 MHz and low standby power of less than 1 mW extends battery life.
* Smaller footprint – With a 9 mm x 9 mm footprint, the industry’s smallest 800-MMAC device allows designers to pack a tremendous amount of performance into space-constrained designs.
* Optimized for multiple applications - With a peripheral set including two SPORT’s, a PPI, two SPI’s, four general-purpose counters and a factory-programmed instruction ROM block containing the VDK RTOS and C-runtime libraries, the BF592 is feature- and cost-optimized for compute-intensive applications that operate without the need for external memory or executable flash.
* The BF592 is offered in commercial and industrial temperature grades and is automotive qualified.

Low-cost development platform

An EZ-KIT Lite® evaluation kit for the Blackfin BF592 is available for only $199, and includes an evaluation suite of ADI’s VisualDSP++ development environment with the C/C++ compiler, assembler and linker. ADI also offers a $150 Blackfin emulator (ADZS-ICE-100B), which provides designers with a comprehensive development platform that lowers the cost of entry to the Blackfin BF592. In addition, a complementary selection of ADI’s power ICs, data converters, sensors, signal conditioning ICs are available for optimizing processor and overall signal-chain performance.