DSP targets IoT & wearable SoCs

23rd April 2015

Siobhan O'Gorman

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Suitable for applications requiring merged controller plus DSP computation, ultra-low energy and a small footprint, the Tensilica Fusion DSP has been released by Cadence Design Systems. Based on the Xtensa customisable processor, the device can be designed into SoCs for wearable activity monitoring, indoor navigation, context-aware sensor fusion, secure local wireless connectivity, face trigger, voice trigger and voice recognition.

Optional instruction set architecture extensions are included to accelerate multiple wireless protocols including BLE, Thread and Zigbee using IEEE 802.15.4, SmartGrid 802.15.4g, WiFi 802.11n and 802.11ah, 2G and LTE Category 0 release 12 and 13, and GNSS.

The Tensilica Fusion sets a new ultra-low-power benchmark using 25% less energy, based on running a power diagnostic derived from the Sensory Truly Handsfree always-on algorithm, when compared to the current low-power Cadence Tensilica HiFi Mini DSP.

The DSP combines an enhanced 32-bit Xtensa control processor with outstanding base DSP features and flexible algorithm-specific acceleration for a fully programmable approach, supporting multiple existing and developing standards and customer algorithms. Many IoT applications are space- and energy-constrained, but still require advanced sensor processing, wireless communications and control. IoT device designers can configure just the options they need using the Xtensa Processor Generator to create an optimised Tensilica Fusion processor. Configurable elements include: a tightly integrated floating point, one to four MACs supporting real and complex operations, AES-128 encryption, flexible memory architecture, MAC and PHY algorithm acceleration and audio/voice compatibility with the Tensilica HiFi architecture.

The Tensilica Fusion DSP combines flexible hardware choices with a library of DSP functions and more than 150 audio/voice/fusion applications from over 70 partners. It also shares the Tensilica partner ecosystem for other applications software, emulation and probes and silicon and services. The Tensilica Xtensa architecture is the second most popular licensable processor architecture, shipping at a rate of over 2bn cores per year in products spanning sensors to supercomputers.