Texas Instruments (TI) has produced a 1GHz DSP (digital signal processor) that allows designers to venture into a new realm of applications.
'From digital cell phones to video cameras and medical imaging, millions of consumers are already benefiting from the real-time performance of DSPs without even realizing it," says Greg Delagi, vice president and general manager, digital signal processors, TI. "This 1GHz level of performance will bring even faster streaming, richer content, and anywhere, always-on connectivity, enabling a true digital lifestyle."
Researchers at the University of Southern California are already tapping into the performance of the 1GHz DSP by developing artificial vision to enable vision-impaired people to improve their visibility from 16 to 1,000 pixels.
In the home, 1GHz performance will lead to the development of products such as a wireless media center for viewing high-definition television not just on regular TVs but on devices such as PCs and PDAs as well. It will also enable simultaneous recording of high-definition content.
A 1GHz-class processor will further enable transcoding video (convert from one video format to another), transrating video (scaling from higher bit-rate to lower bit-rate), real-time audio synchronization, audio encoding/decoding support, multiplexing and demultiplexing of video streams, and encryption.
