Convergent Industrial Applications Profit From Widespread Adoption Of Analog Devices Processors

Developers find the Blackfin processor family ideally suited for a wide range of industrial designs where a convergence of capabilities is necessary. These include multiformat audio, video, voice, and image processing; multimode baseband and packet processing; and real-time security and control processing. Recent Blackfin family product announcements highlight new features that add to an already rich variety of features and peripherals. The IEEE1588 functionality integrated into the new BF516 processor, for example, will make an immediate impact in IP-connected control and measurement systems, and the device’s PWM feature is ideal for motor control designs.

“Blackfin has delivered superior performance in our systems to allow us to optimise our power meter equipment both with regards to cost and functionality in terms of grid automation and communication”, said Alexander Schenk, Head of subdivision AMIS, Siemens. “Furthermore Blackfin allows us to scale our newest generations of systems to give our customers the possibility to “smarten” their grids step by step as demanded by the EU directives and legislation.”

Based in Vienna, Austria, the AMIS-Subdivision has led Siemens’ development efforts to provide and introduce a seamless and complete solution with regards to smart power automation and smart power metering for utility market and energy providers.

“Blackfin processors give us the right mix of processor power, memory capacity and richness of peripherals to efficiently handle diverse tasks,” said Marco Schmid, President and CEO of Schmid Engineering. The company, using 5 networked Blackfin processors in a recent design to locate and repair rail defects, relies on reliability and scalable performance across a wide range of functions from machine control and user interfaces to complex signal processing. “The integration of a system as complex as ours was also greatly enhanced by support from leading embedded tools vendors for the Blackfin processor,” concluded Schmid.

Microsoft’s recently announced support for the Blackfin processor in its .NET Micro Framework adds the very powerful and widely adopted Visual Studio tools to the Blackfin kit for programming ‘ease of use’.

ADI’s SHARC processors provide the industry’s best floating-point performance for industrial applications where dynamic range is a key consideration. SHARC devices dominate the floating-point digital signal processing market, delivering exceptional core and memory performance complemented by outstanding I/O throughput.

“The SHARC processor is intuitive, easy to work with and highly cost-effective....definitely a slam-dunk choice,” said Bob Higgins, principal electrical engineer at Polhemus, who uses SHARC for its latest 16-sensor, 3D motion tracking system. Higgins says his team chose the SHARC processor for its high degree of math precision and accuracy, its support for IEEE- fixed and floating point math compatibility, and the way the processor’s general-purpose I/O pins simplified sensor interfacing. “The number crunching is great,” said Higgins, “plus ADI’s support, which includes people with years of experience, is fabulous.”