Since the requirements and design constraints of a portable MP3 player are quite different from those of a medical scanner, product design begins with determining what customer needs to address, and what technical hurdles must be to overcome to do so. How do you get going? What resources are available?

Step One: Processor Selection | Step Two: Evaluation of Technology and Tools | Step Three: Initial Development | Step Four: Product Development

Step One: Processor Selection – Determine your system tradeoffs, and identify which processor will best suit your product design.

Access the DSP & ARM® MPU Selection Tool or for more detail access the cross-platform DSP & ARM MPU Parametric Search to help identify your optimal device.

Go to individual devices for Datasheets, Application Notes, User Guides, related Tools & Software, etc.

For specific platform getting started information see:

• Getting Started with Sitara™ Microprocessors (MPU)
• Getting Started with OMAP™ Applications Processors
• Getting Started with C5000™ DSPs
• Getting Started with C6000™ Fixed Point DSPs
• Getting Started with C6000™ Floating/Fixed Point DSPs
• Getting Started with DaVinci™ Video Processors

Back to Top

Step Two: Evaluation of Technology and Tools – Successfully introducing a product to market requires control of costs and accurate market timing. As a result, the success of any complex engineering design project depends upon the quality and breadth of the development tools available. In this stage, you will evaluate your device as a possible processor solution, and evaluate development tools.

• Free Evaluation Tools (FET) – A free 90-day trial period of Code Composer Studio™ IDE is available. TI’s single integrated development environment supports all of TI’s TMS320™ DSP platforms.
• Starter/experimenter boards – These boards (or USB sticks!) can have you building applications in less than an hour out of the box. Designed with a variety of peripherals and open on-board interfaces, many seamlessly interface with a variety of evaluation modules, integrating complementary technologies such as wireless interfaces and LAN connectivity. For DSP based kits, full integration with Code Composer Studio means DSP/BIOS™ Real-Time Kernel, and all necessary Device Drivers are already in place. Low-profile pods and long, flexible cables make for a painless transition to a developer's own prototype hardware. The kits are low-cost, entry-level tools starting at $49 USD. In addition there are community based boards from a variety of organizations based on TI technology that let you take advantage of open source Linux and a host of available software to evaluate the processors and discuss designs with a vibrant community.
• Evaluation Software – TI and its developer network offer a host of free drivers, software modules, libraries and codecs to aid in evaluation.
• Free Online Training Library – Pertinent free Online Courses (available 24/7) assist in a broad range of categories, including:
• Signal Processing Applications
• Silicon Products
• Tools and Software
• Applications

Back to Top

Step Three: Initial Development – At this stage, you have already decided which processor to use, but beta boards have not been built.

• Code Composer Studio IDE – Offering robust, mature core functions with easy-to-use configuration and graphical visualization tools for faster system design, CCStudio™ IDE is designed for all stages of product development. Code Composer Studio IDE pricing starts at $495 USD.
• Development Boards / Evaluation Modules – A wide variety of development boards, development kits and EVMs are available from TI and TI’s Developer Network. Designed for use in this initial stage of system development, and up to production, EVMs offer platform-specific hardware and software tools to begin any high performance or low power design. Pricing ranges from $295 USD to more than $1000 USD.
• Development Platforms – Combining production-ready application-specific software and hardware, and reducing design complexity, Development Platforms allow focus on system differentiation. Development Platforms are available for a wide variety of applications including Video and Imaging, Audio, Telecommunications and other DSP or ARM-based systems. Pricing ranges from $245 USD to several thousand dollars.

• eXpressDSP™ Software – Including:
• Code Composer Studio IDE
  • Code Composer Studio Free Evaluation Tool (FET)
  • Operating Systems (OS/RTOS) – Including DSP/BIOS™ Real-Time OS kernel
• Production Ready Algorithms/Codecs – Including TI’s Digital Media Software that can be available royalty free with acceptance of the license agreement.
• Seminars, One-Day and Multi-Day Workshops – Face-to-face training ranging from high-level overview Seminars, to deep-dive hands-on programming Workshops with TI technical experts.
• Developer Network – Products, tools, software and consulting services offered by TI’s Third Party network companies.

Back to Top

Step Four: Product Development – In the Product Development stage, you need full development capabilities – including debugging of product hardware and software. Tools designed to meet those needs include:

• Code Composer Studio IDE – Developers spend about 60% of their development time in the debug phase, alone. Mentioned in Step Two (above), CCStudio Integrated Development Environment supports you throughout production – including debugging and tuning your system. Code Composer Studio IDE pricing starts at $495.
• Emulators / Analyzers – TI provides XDS510™ – and XDS560™ – class emulators that support real-time JTAG scan-based emulation with product support across the complete line of TI DSPs. These emulators are tightly integrated with the Code Composer Studio debugger interface, to make all of TI’s real-time emulation control and visualization capabilities available to you. TI Third Parties provide logic analyzers, hardware testing equipment, and a wide array of emulators that support different host I/O interfaces, including USB, Ethernet, PCI, parallel port, PCMCIA, and ISA bus. TI’s XDS emulator pricing starts at $1500 USD.

Back to Top