DSPs and DSCs

Time is of the Essence Digital signal processors (DSPs) and digital signal controllers (DSCs) are designed for time-critical execution of complex algorithms. These chips are crucial to many high-end, high-performance applications today. Topics Covered Digital signal processors digital signal controllers  Tech Discussed ADSP-SC59x ADSP-2159x ADAU1797 Asahi Kasei Microdevices Corporation AK7709VQ multi-core DSP   CS49834/44 Audio DSPs WA’A 400G 800G coherent digital signal processor dsPIC33CK1024MP710 dsPIC33CK512MP60x 16-Bit DSCs  MC56F80xxx  Digital signal processors (DSPs) and their cousins, digital signal controllers (DSCs), are microprocessors optimized for, well, digital signal processing. That is, they’re built to handle complex mathematical computations and processing of digital signals in time-critical operations. You see them pop up a lot in audio signal processing, and that becomes evident in this month’s Datasheet gallery. But they’re also found in radar and sonar, digital image processing, telecommunications, and more. Simple enough. Only, there's the pesky business of names. The same device that might be called a DSP by some vendors could be called a microcontroller (MCU) by others. So here, we take a defining characteristic of DSPs to be the “deterministic” execution of tasks, which is their ability to handle tasks in a prescribed amount of time—no exceptions, no delays. That's sort of their point: DSPs are meant for applications that require the processing of complex algorithms in a time-critical fashion. To further complicate naming conventions, DSCs are hybrids of DSPs and MCUs. They have common DSP features—like barrel shifters, large accumulators, and single-cycle multiply-accumulate (MAC) units—with the fast interrupt responses and control-oriented peripherals typical of MCUs. Not everyone uses the term DSC, but you'll see some examples i