Tensilica Previews Next-Generation Audio Technology At Spring Processor Forum

– Tensilica, Inc., the only company to automate the design of optimized application-specific configurable processors for system-on-chip (SOC) design, will preview its next-generation audio technology at the Spring Processor Forum in San Jose, CA, Wednesday afternoon, May 18, 2005 (see http://www.in-stat.com/spf/05/ for more details). By leveraging Tensilica’s Xtensa LX configurable processor technology, Tensilica’s engineers are developing a turn-key audio solution with lower power, faster processing, and a full set of optimized audio encoders and decoders for popular standards such as AAC, MIDI, MP3, and WMA.

The next-generation audio engine will take advantage of Tensilica’s Xtensa LX capability to selectively use specially designed dual-issue 64-bit instructions to significantly improve performance. Over 300 audio-specific instructions are being added to Tensilica’s Xtensa LX configurable processor to optimize it for audio streams. Some of these instructions include:

• Dual multiply/accumulate, each supporting 24x24 and 32x16 bits
• Huffman encode/decode and bit stream support
• Two special audio register files with multiple data types
• Two-way SIMD arithmetic and Boolean operations

Tensilica’s first-generation audio product, the Xtensa HiFi Audio Engine, has been designed into integrated circuit designs for several cellular phone handsets and other portable consumer devices.

Robert Kennedy, Tensilica’s senior software engineering manager, will deliver the presentation at this prestigious conference. Tensilica expects to make a formal announcement and have this second-generation audio engine available for customer shipment in the fall of this year.

About Tensilica

Tensilica was founded in July 1997 to address the growing need for optimized, application-specific microprocessor solutions in high-volume embedded applications. With a configurable and extensible microprocessor core called Xtensa, Tensilica is the only company that has automated and patented the time-consuming process of generating a customized microprocessor core along with a complete software development tool environment, producing new configurations in a matter of hours. For more information, visit www.tensilica.com.

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Editors’ Notes:

Tensilica and Xtensa are registered trademarks belonging to Tensilica, Inc. All other company and product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Tensilica’s announced licensees include Agilent, ALPS, AMCC (JNI Corporation), Astute Networks, ATI, Avision, Bay Microsystems, Berkeley Wireless Research Center, Broadcom, Cisco Systems, Conexant Systems, Cypress, Crimson Microsystems, ETRI, FUJIFILM Microdevices, Fujitsu Ltd., Hudson Soft, Hughes Network Systems, Ikanos Communications, LG Electronics, Marvell, NEC Laboratories America, NEC Corporation, NetEffect, Neterion, Nippon Telephone and Telegraph (NTT), NVIDIA, Olympus Optical Co. Ltd.,  sci-worx, Seiko Epson, Solid State Systems, Sony, STMicroelectronics, Stretch, TranSwitch Corporation, and Victor Company of Japan (JVC).