Blackfin Processor Features - Analog Devices Blackfin Getting Started

Blackfin Processor Features

Blackfin Processor Features
Blackfin processors represent a new class of devices that combine an
extremely capable Single Instruction, Multiple Data (SIMD) processor
engine with powerful features such as a Memory Management Unit
(MMU), watchdog timer, real-time clock, variable length RISC instruc-
tions, UARTs, and SPI ports. These features are typically found only in
microcontrollers and microprocessors.
Because Blackfin processors possess all the power of a DSP and are full
featured, they can replace other classes of DSPs and 32-bit RISC MCU
(or an ASIC) in designs.
At the core, Blackfin processors have a 16-bit, dual MAC (multiply accu-
mulate) architecture with 32-bit registers and 64-bit internal data paths.
This core is surrounded by high speed memory and high speed peripherals
including 100 Mbps serial ports (SPORTs), a high speed parallel periph-
eral interface (PPI) capable of moving digital video on and off chip
(ITU-R/CCIR-656 compliant), UART with IRDA support, SPI port, and
an external memory interface for connection to SDRAM, FLASH, SRAM,
and so on.
In addition to its advanced peripherals, Blackfin processors include an
on-chip switching regulator and a software programmable on-chip phase
lock loop (PLL) that allows software to control the core clock speed and
core voltage. This can result in huge power savings because you can con-
stantly vary the clock and voltage, depending on the task at hand.
Since Blackfin processors can be used for both control/data processing and
signal processing, the efficiency of data movement and storage has a high
impact on performance. Efficient numerical precision ranks high on the
list of important features, although efficiency of data movement is equally
as important. The width of a signal processing device is often measured
based on the type of data it processes most efficiently. The width of a pro-
cessor is typically measured by its data paths and register widths. Blackfin
processors support 8-, 16-, and 32-bit arithmetic operations in hardware,
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