Monday, December 15 2008 @ 03:02 PM EST Contributed by: sde
Texas Instruments (TI) is shipping a third-generation "Aureus" digital audio processor platform with a Linux software developer's kit (SDK). Available with an evaluation module (EVM) from Spectrum Digital, the DA830 and DA828 system-on-chips (SoCs) combine an ARM9 core with a digital signal processor (DSP).
Both the DA830 and lower-cost DA828 target network-connected audio/video receivers, home theater in-a-box, and mini/micro component systems, says TI. Specific applications are said to include remote access to digital music and streaming Internet radio, with support for features including "smart volume" and room correction.
Unlike TI's previous DA7x generation of DSPs, the DA8x SoCs add a programmable ARM9 core supported by a Linux distribution, opening up more possibilities for application development, says TI. Both DA8x SoCs combine a TMS320C674x 64-bit floating/fixed point audio DSP engine clocked at 300MHz, along with a 300MHz ARM926EJ-S core. Both DA8x versions offer 384KB DSP RAM and 1MB DSP ROM, with the ARM9 core offering 32KB/32KB L1 and 256KB L2 cache. All of these capacities are higher than those offered by the DA7x SoCs, which used older C67x DSPs.
