Embedded Processor Watch

Editor: Tom Halfhill

In This Issue:

• Embedded Benchmarks Grow Up
• TI's 'C5000 Goes Low Power
• Industry Resources: HDI Expo 1999
• New Embedded IC Announcements

Embedded Benchmarks Grow Up

After years of searching for an alternative to Dhrystone and other marginally useful benchmarks, the industry finally has a way to compare the performance of microcontrollers, microprocessors, compilers, and other system components. It's a series of benchmarking suites from EEMBC (pronounced "embassy"), the EDN Embedded Benchmark Consortium. (EDN -- the trade publication that was the driving force behind the initiative -- is published by Cahners, which also publishes Embedded Processor Watch.) The nonprofit consortium currently has 29 members, including every important vendor of embedded processors.

EEMBC (http://www.eembc.org/) has been working on its benchmarking methods for almost three years (see Embedded Processor Watch #33 and #38). At last month's Embedded Processor Forum, EEMBC went public with preliminary results based on version 0.9 of the benchmark source code. The first official results based on the 1.0 version of the benchmarks aren't due until 3Q99. In the meantime, EEMBC wants the industry to start thinking about how to interpret the data in ways that make sense.

Currently, EEMBC has five benchmarking suites that cover various applications for embedded processors: automotive/industrial systems, consumer electronics, networking, office automation, and telecommunications. Technical subcommittees of EEMBC members define the benchmark tests in each suite. After extensive discussion, the subcommittees came up with a series of tests based on commonly used algorithms in each category. More tests will be added, and some tests will be changed for the 1.0 version of the benchmarks, which EEMBC hopes to firm up this month.

Right away, it's apparent that the EEMBC suites are a cross between purely synthetic benchmarks, such as Dhrystone 2.1, and true application benchmarks, such as the ZD WinBench suite for PCs. The EEMBC programs are synthetic in the sense that they are not real applications, but they consist of algorithms typically found in real applications. This is similar to SPEC's approach for PC/server benchmarks, and for the same reason: easier portability across different microprocessor architectures.

Nobody claims EEMBC will put an end to the fine art of "benchmarketing." Indeed, the new wealth of data will probably inspire marketing departments to invent some more creative ways to make a pokey processor look like a speed demon. But even those who criticize some aspects of EEMBC agree it's a significant step beyond Dhrystone, a nearly worthless metric that survives only in lieu of viable alternatives. --T.R.H. (The full version of this article appears in the June 21 issue of Microprocessor Report.)

TI's 'C5000 Goes Low Power

Texas Instruments has announced low-power versions of its fixed-point TMSC5409 and 'C5402 DSPs. The 'C5409 is a new device targeting personal-audio applications and comes in three flavors: 100, 80, and 30 MIPS.

The 'C5409 is pin compatible with TI's popular TMS320C549 and matches its 100 MIPS and 32K words of SRAM while adding new peripherals for more flexibility and improved system performance. The 'C5409 also has 16K words of ROM, three multichannel buffered serial ports, a six-channel DMA, an 8/16-bit host processor interface, and one timer. These devices are priced at $12.75 for the 100-MIPS version, $15.00 for the 80-MIPS version, and $16.50 for the 30-MIPS version in 10,000 unit quantities. The low-performance versions are more expensive than the high-performance versions, due to their lower power ratings.

TI has also announced plans to build even lower-power devices that will run at 1.5 V and at 0.9 V in a 0.15-micron process. These devices are expected to have power dissipations of 0.42 and 0.20 mW/million MACs, respectively. Some of the target applications for all these new devices are low-power telecom, blood-glucose monitors, heart-rate monitors, hearing aids, cochlear implants, solid-state voice recorders, MP3 audio devices, and noise-cancellation headphones. --Krishna Yarlagadda (The full version of this article appeared in the May 31 issue of Microprocessor Report.)

Industry Resources: Hidi HDI Hidi Ho

If you work with semiconductor packaging or substrate technology, check out HDI Expo 1999, the show on high-density interconnect. This event -- held at the Sheraton Mesa Hotel in Mesa, Arizona -- takes a close look at the latest advances in IC packaging such as microvias, flip-chip, chip-scale packaging (CSP), and organic substrates. It consists of a series of tutorials, workshops, and seminars on August 23-25, along with an exhibition of tools, product, and service vendors.

Early (by June 30) registration fees range from $495 for a one-day tutorial to $1,055 for a three-day package; exhibition passes are free before June 30. Contact HDI Expo (Dallas, Texas) at 800.789.2223 or on the Web at http://www.hdiexpo.com/.

New Embedded IC Announcements

Crystal CS5460 (Cirrus Logic): an integrated analog-to-digital converter (ADC) chip for digital power meters that has two delta-sigma ADCs, on-chip reference, high-speed power calculation functions, and a serial interface for connecting to a microcontroller. Price: $4.00/1,000; samples: now; production: 3Q99. Contact Cirrus Logic at 800.888.5016 or go to http://www.cirrus.com/.

EasyFLASH ZPSD813F (WSI): a family of five devices that add external in-system programmable flash memory and programmable logic to 5-V designs using 8- or 16-bit microcontrollers such as the 8051. All have 3,000-gate CPLDs, 128K main flash arrays, a JTAG programming interface, a programmable MCU interface, and other features. Price: $5.08 to $8.89/25,000; production: now. Call WSI at 510.656.5400 or go to http://www.waferscale.com/.