Texas Instruments' new multistandard wireless base station SoC drives performance and efficiency to record levels

February 16, 2011

6 Min Read

BARCELONA -- Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) today unveiled a new multistandard wireless base station System-on-Chip (SoC) delivering double the LTE performance and a 2x power/performance improvement over existing macro and compact base station SoC solutions developed in 40-nm process technology. Based on TI's new TMS320C66x digital signal processor (DSP) generation, the TMS320TCI6618 utilizes a strategic design approach that accelerates the well-defined standard aspects of LTE. In addition, the programmable DSP cores allow customer differentiation in advanced techniques such as scheduling and multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) antenna processing.

"This advanced SoC brings the unmatched performance and flexibility that enables Nokia Siemens Networks to extend our leadership position in commercial radio products," said Tommi Uitto, head of LTE business line, Nokia Siemens Networks. "We have truly software-defined radio in the baseband as well as in the radio frequency (RF) parts. With our LTE-ready products shipping to over 200 operators worldwide, we value the innovation and high quality that Texas Instruments technology and our deep co-operation continue to deliver."

As wireless data rates increase with high-speed 3G and 4G services, the ability to efficiently handle the high numbers of bits flowing through base stations becomes critically important in SoC design. With the TCI6618, TI is introducing new hardware acceleration focused on this bit-rate processing which increases the SoC system performance and enables advanced receiver algorithms, achieving higher spectral efficiencies than competitive solutions. For the first time in an integrated base station SoC, TI's innovative architecture enables iterative decoding techniques, such as turbo interference cancellation, which can yield up to 40 percent or more spectral efficiency over conventional decoding techniques. These techniques, coupled with the powerful MIMO processing capabilities of TI's new fixed/floating point C66x DSP core, yield a SoC that delivers on the promise of 4G.

"TI is effectively breaking the constraints of Moore's Law with their new base station SoC, by doubling performance in less than six months and not changing any process nodes to achieve it," said Jagdish Rebello, Senior Director and Principal Analyst, IHS-iSuppli. "Wireless infrastructure developers stand to benefit from these advancements in performance, features and time to market, all suited for the demands of 4G networks."



In a separate release:

BARCELONA -- MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS -- Continuing to lead the industry with the highest performing digital signal processors (DSPs), Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) today announced a greater performance achievement with its TMS320C66x DSP core, which is at the heart of TI's multicore DSPs. At 1.5 GHz, TI's C66x DSP surpasses the performance of any other DSP in the industry, achieving the highest scores on both fixed- and floating-point performance in benchmark tests conducted by the independent third-party analysis firm, Berkeley Design Technology, Inc. (BDTI).

"Core performance is extremely important even for advanced multicore devices," said Niels Anderskouv, vice president, DSP Systems business, Texas Instruments. "For wireless base stations, our C66x cores coupled with powerful accelerators mean throughput and spectral efficiency will continue to rise, and power per bit will continue to fall. For multicore customers in the mission critical, high-end imaging and test and automation markets it means they can now build products they only dared to dream of just a few months ago. Our C66x DSP and KeyStone multicore architecture are major breakthroughs in the industry, and this is just the tip of the iceberg on the performance and innovation we will deliver to our customers over the next 12 to 18 months."

This marks the second time in three months that TI has achieved the highest scores on the fixed- and floating-point categories of the BDTI DSP Kernel Benchmarksâ„¢. The BDTImark2000â„¢ is one of the industry's most trusted benchmarks for DSP performance. It provides a summary measure of digital signal processing performance, based on a number of algorithms that are typically used in digital signal processing applications. TI's C66x DSP core in the TMS320CC6672 was benchmarked at a clock speed of 1.5 GHz and achieved a BDTImark2000 score of 12,860 on the floating-point portion of BDTI DSP Kernel Benchmarks and a score of 20,030 on the fixed-point portion of BDTI DSP Kernel Benchmarks. These scores are higher than any other scores in the industry for DSP cores certified by BDTI. TI is currently sampling the C6672 dual core device at 1.5 GHz with more devices in the KeyStone family to follow this year. Please see www.BDTI.com for additional information and other scores.

Earlier today, TI introduced a new System-on-Chip (SoC), the TMS320TCI6618, for wireless macro and compact base station applications, which is also based on the C66x DSP core. The TCI6618 delivers double the LTE performance and a 2x power/performance improvement over other base station SoC solutions developed in 40-nm process technology, and has been characterized as "effectively breaking the constraints of Moore's Law by doubling performance in less than six months and not changing any process nodes to achieve it," according to Jagdish Rebello, Senior Director and Principal Analyst, IHS-iSuppli. Additionally, for the small cell market, TI released a new base station platform, the TMDXSCBP6616X, focused on 3G and 4G high speed data systems. For more information on these products visit TI's C66x multicore site.



In a separate release:

BARCELONA -- Solidifying its commitment to the small cell market, Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) in collaboration with Azcom Technology, a leading provider of services and solutions in the wireless communications domain, today announced the availability of a new small cell base station platform focused on 3G and 4G high speed data systems. Based on TI's KeyStone multicore architecture and industry leading TMS320C66x digital signal processor (DSP) core, the TMDXSCBP6616X supports multi-carrier HSPA+ systems as well as full-rate, 20MHz LTE systems using multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) and advanced receiver algorithms.

Leveraging technology used in hundreds of carrier networks worldwide, TI and Azcom are delivering a platform capable of achieving macro-class performance in a pico-class form factor for small cell deployments.

For RF development, the platform connects directly to TI's upcoming TSW3725 analog/RF platform, which is available separately.

"With the small cell market now poised to transform the wireless network topology, our new base station platform with Azcom serves as a great stepping stone for designers to stay ahead of the cost, time and performance curve," said Kathy Brown, manager of TI's wireless base station infrastructure business. "Leveraging our decade-long experience in the wireless infrastructure market, we know what it takes for developers to succeed, and there is no doubt that they will now be able to quickly ramp up to field trials for any and all small cell base station configurations."

"Small cells can go a long way in addressing critical issues facing operators, which is, how to satisfy ever increasing bandwidth demand while maintaining an adequate return on their investment," said Ajit Singh, managing director, Azcom Technology." The platform provides everything a vendor needs for a small cell solution."

Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN)

Subscribe and receive the latest news from the industry.
Join 62,000+ members. Yes it's completely free.

You May Also Like