Digital Signal Processing Reference
In-Depth Information
and digital video imaging, the latter being associated almost exclusively with
the fixed-point C64x family of processors. The key issues in DSP system design
are power consumption, processing power, size, reliability, and efficiency.
In earlier times, assembly language was preferred for DSP programming.
Today, C is the preferred way to code algorithms, and we shall use it for
fixed- and floating-point processing. Please refer to
Appendix E
for more
details on the TI 6000 series DSP.
7.1.3
TMS320C6711 DSP Starter Kit
The TMS320C6711 DSP chip is very powerful by itself, but for development
of programs, a supporting architecture is required to store programs and
data and to bring signals on and off the board. In order to use this DSP chip
in a lab, a circuit board is provided that contains appropriate components.
Together, Code Composer Studio (CCS), DSP chip, and supporting hardware
make up the DSP Starter Kit, or DSK. A photograph of the TMS320C6711
4
DSK is shown in
Figure 7.1
.
The following hardware is included with the
'C6711 DSK board:
•
150 MHz 'C6711 DSP
•
16 MB External SDRAM and 128 KB External Flash; provides addi-
tional program and data storage
•
TI's TLC320AD535 16-Bit Data Converter
•
TI's TPS56100 Power Management Device
•
JTAG Controller; provides easy emulation and debugging
•
Expansion Daughter Card Interface; provides extensible system
development
•
CE-Compliant Universal Power Supply for DSK
7.1.4
Programming Languages
Assembly language was once the most commonly used programming lan-
guage for DSP chips (such as TI's TMS320 series) and microprocessors (such
as Motorola's 68MC11 series). Coding in assembly forces the programmer
to manage CPU core registers (located on the DSP chip) and to schedule
events in the CPU core. It is the most time consuming way to program, but
it is the only way to fully optimize a program. Assembly language is specific
to a given architecture and is primarily used to schedule time-critical and
memory-critical parts of algorithms.
The preferred way to code algorithms is to code them in C. Coding in C
requires a compiler that will convert C code to the assembly code of a given
DSP instruction set. C compilers are very common, so this is not a limitation.
In fact, it is an advantage, because C coded algorithms may be implemented
