Symphony DSP56720 and DSP56721 Multicore Audio Processors - Freescale

Freescale recently announced the availability of Symphony DSP56720 and DSP56721,  multicore audio processors, specially design for high definition audio. The 400 MIPS Symphony audio DSP (Digital Signal Processing) chips incorporate two 24-bit DSP56300 cores with 48-bit double precision capability, which handle advanced post processing and the latest decoding standards on the same chip. The Symphony DSP56720 and DSP56721 audio processors are designed to support  high definition audio standards such as DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD. The multi-core audio processors are suitable for a range of high definition audio applications, as in car infotainment systems, professional audio equipment, A/V receivers, etc.

The multi-core Symphony DSP56720 and DSP56721 audio DSPs feature 248K x 24-bit words of integrated memory. The DSP56720 adds an external memory controller to give the option for expanding memory off-chip or to interface to external parallel peripherals. Both DSPs integrate an S/PDIF transceiver and a 10-channel asynchronous sample rate converter that reduces component cost. Additionally, the direct memory access (DMA) controller has been expanded to support up to eight DMA channels per core for higher bandwidth and more processing.

Symphony DSP56720 and DSP56721 audio DSPs are code compatible with Freescale’s existing 24-bit DSP solutions. This enables developer to migrate quickly and easily to a higher performance solution. DSP56720 and DSP56721 incorporate the same plug-and-play software architecture used in the Freescale DSP563xx family.

Key features of Symphony DSP56720 audio processor:

• Dual DSP56300 cores for high performance
• 248K x 24-bit words RAM
• Asynchronous Sample Rate Converter (ASRC) to allow multiple data rates in a system
• Integrated S/PDIF transceiver to reduce system cost and complexity
• External Memory Controller (EMC) provides for memory expansion to cost-effective SDRAM and flexibility in system design by providing memory expansion for one or both cores
• Enhanced Serial Audio Interface (ESAI) – 4 modules to allow multiple sources
• Dual Serial Host Interfaces (SHI) that support SPI or I2C protocols which provides high speed communication between multiple the DSP and other integrated circuits in the system
• Dual Triple Timer modules for a flexible, programmable timer system
• Dual Hardware Watchdog Timers (WDT) to allow for recovery from runaway code
• 144LQFP Package

Freescale Symphony DSP56720 Audio Processor - Block Diagram

Key features of Symphony DSP56721 audio processor:

• Dual DSP56300 cores for high performance
• 248K x 24-bit words RAM
• Asynchronous Sample Rate Converter (ASRC) to allow multiple data rates in a system
• Integrated S/PDIF transceiver to reduce system cost and complexity
• Enhanced Serial Audio Interface (ESAI) – 4 modules to allow multiple sources
• Dual Serial Host Interfaces (SHI) that support SPI or I2C protocols which provides high speed communication between multiple the DSP and other integrated circuits in the system
• Dual Triple Timer modules for a flexible, programmable timer system
• Dual Hardware Watchdog Timers (WDT) to allow for recovery from runaway code
• Host Interface for DMA Support to allow for high speed audio or control transfers (144LQFP package only)
• 144LQFP and 80LQFP package options

Freescale Symphony DSP56721 Audio Processor - Block Diagram

Symphony DSP56720 and DSP56721 audio processors are available now. Price is  $11.21  for the 144 LQFP package in 10K unit quantities.

More info: Freescale Symphony Audio Processors