Altera claims the most DSP cores for programmable logic

Altera claims the most DSP cores for programmable logic
By Semiconductor Business News
March 21, 2001 (9:07 a.m. EST)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20010321S0004

SAN JOSE -- Altera Corp. today (March 21) pushed deeper into digital signal processing applications with the introduction of two new embedded cores for filtering and modulator/demodulator functions.

The programmable logic supplier now claims to have the largest selection of signal processing cores, with over 50 intellectual property (IP) blocks mainly targeted at next-generation wireless applications.

In the past five years, programmable logic suppliers are been increasing their emphasis on DSP applications, offering embedded cores for customer-configurable ICs that provide more flexible than DSP processors or ASICs. The use of programmable logic in DSP is exploding and expected to increase at a 37% compound average growth rate during the next five years, according to Forward Concepts, a market research firm in Tempe, Ariz.

Altera is pushing hard to grab that DSP turf. "PLDs, because of their unique parallel processing architecture, con tinue to see tremendous growth in DSP applications," said Tapan Mehta, intellectual property marketing manager at Altera. The San Jose-based programmable logic device supplier is targeting such wireless applications as third-generation (3G) cellular phones, LMDS (local multipoint distribution system), MMDS (microwave multipoint distribution system), and satellite communications.

For filtering applications, Altera is adding a new infinite impulse response (IIR) structure, which the company says is suited to automatic gain control circuits (AGC), Goertzel algorithm implementation, digital direct synthesis, or cascaded integrated comb (CIC) filters. The company said an IIR order-2 filter, for industrial control applications, can be implemented in its Apex EP20K30E device for less than $2. The IIR Compiler tool is priced at $7,995.

Altera's new Constellation mapper/demapper core is aimed at modulator/demodulator functions that are used in virtually all digital band pass communication systems. The core ca n be used to implement a 256 QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) demodulator in a 3G wireless base station for less than $2.50 in the Apex EP20K30E device. The Constellation mapper/demapper tool is priced at $3,995.