Another Native DSP Linux Port – ADIS Blackfin

This article provides an introduction to programming the BF533 STAMP board and is meant for readers with some expertise in UNIX and also with embedded devices. It contains a basic description of utilizing the board for embedded programming as I actually have dodged any drawback.

Softier’s native-DSP UNIX, the Blackfin uClinux can run as a native app on a 1-core Digital Signal Processing processor. 1-core DSPs are cheaper to manufacture than 2-core processors, and as a result, they need fewer transistors and therefore a lot of them are made on one Si wafer. In fact, ADI says its Blackfin DSPs value 50% but typical dual-core DSPs, and its Blackfin processors are offered during a range of configurations range between $5 and $32 (at 10,000 units).

The STAMP board features:

  • ADSP-BF533 five hundred megahertz Blackfin Processor
  • 128 MB SDRAM
  • 4 MB non-volatile storage
  • 10/100 local area network Controller
  • RS232 Serial Interface
  • Joint Test Action Group interface for debugging and flash programming
  • I/O connectors for Blackfin Peripherals:
  • SPI
  • TIMERS
  • PPI
  • TWI
  • SPORT0 & SPORT1
  • IRDA

Highly integrated system-on-chip (SoC) styles like the ADI Blackfin and TI DM64x cannot solely cut back value, however, they will additionally considerably cut back power consumption. Blackfin DSPs support dynamic power management (DPM) — freelance adjustment of each voltage associated frequency — through an integrated, package programmable transformer.

The initial port of uClinux to ADI’s Blackfin DSPs supports the ADSP-BF535, that sells for $31.25 (in quantity) and runs at clock rates up to 350MHz at this time, with speeds on the far side 1GHz coming back shortly. It targets “video-enabled web applications like video telephones, diversion devices, internet terminals, NetTVs, and good hand-held devices,” in keeping with ADI. ADI additionally offers the more cost-effective BF531/2/3 series, with less on-chip memory and alternative performance-enhancing options, that begin at $4.95 for the 300MHz BF531.

Intel and Analog Devices Iraqi National Congress. (ADI) put together developed the small Signal design (MSA) core and introduced it in the Gregorian calendar month of 2000. ADI’s Blackfin processor functions as a DSP and a microcontroller. This device is presently used for multimedia system applications.