Analog Devices has tuned its Blackfin processor range for motor control and power conversion systems with its first devices with on-chip SAR 12-bit analogue-to-digital converters (ADCs).
“The devices now offer a complete system build for industrial control applications,” Anders Frederiksen, DSP marketing manager at Analog Devices told EW.
See video of Anders Frederiksen talking about the latest Blackfin processor
The Blackfin BF50x processor has a peak 400MHz performance.
"The aim was to give designers performance headroom for implementing greater system functionality and precision through the use of more sophisticated algorithms,” said Frederiksen.
The interesting features are the optional integrated dual-SAR 12-bit ADI ADCs and 4Mbyte of on-board executable flash memory.
“This is our highest performing DSP with integrated ADC,” said Frederiksen.
Likely applications are industrial control and automation systems spanning power inverters, UPS, power and motion control, as well as smart metering and advanced sensing applications including power metering and flow/level metering.
There is also an entry-level development kit priced at $199, which includes an evaluation suite of ADI’s VisualDSP++ development environment.
There is also a $150 Blackfin emulator (ADZS-ICE-100B). The compiler is optimised for C.
Third-party design support includes Boston Engineering, Advanced Energy Conversion, and Schmid Engineering.
The BF50x family includes the BF504 starting at $4.50, the BF504F with integrated flash memory starting at $6.50, and the BF506F with integrated flash memory and ADC starting at $10.60 - all prices are based on 10,000 unit quantities.