TMS320TCI6488 W-CDMA DSP SoC

Introduction This white paper will highlight the Digital Signal Processor (DSP) based System-onChip (SoC) approach for high-performance wireless Base Stations. TI’s TMS320TCI6488 device will be used as an example to highlight the benefits of a flexible DSP SoC approach for W-CDMA baseband processing. A DSP SoC can provide a single-chip solution, lower power usage, better performance, more frugal use of board real estate, simpler integration, and lower part counts. Compared to multi-chip solutions, the DSP SoC has several advantages that will be discussed in this paper. Introduction to TMS320TCI6488 The TMS320TCI6488, as shown in Figure 1, is a very high-performance baseband DSP SoC designed specifically for W-CDMA base stations. This three-core DSP, running at 1GHz per core, supports all of the necessary baseband functions required for a macro base station – on a single chip. Designed specifically to solve problems at a system level, this “baseband on a chip” eliminates the need for Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) and Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC) and other bridging devices, reducing the total bill of materials for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) by up to a factor of five, resulting in lowered equipment costs for service providers. The TCI6488 is built on the latest cutting edge technology, the new 65-nm process node, allowing an unprecedented level of functional integration leading to a very high-performance, high-density modem solution. This allows the device to perform at a level that is an order of magnitude higher than the previous process node at a fraction of the power consumption. W H I T E P A P E R