Sandblaster® DSP

The Sandblaster® DSP, a Sandbridge innovation allows development communication systems in software. Rather than designing custom hardware blocks for every function in the communication system, the Sandblaster® DSP is implemented as a compact and power-efficient core, and is replicated to provide a system-on-chip platform (SB3500) tailored for wireless devices. This approach scales well with successive generations of silicon process technology and provides optimum efficiency and programmability.

To address stringent timing constraints, Sandblaster® DSP employs a multithreading technique as an elegant method of servicing events within specified latencies. Uni-processors on the other hand, particularly non-interlocked (i.e. non-transparent) processors, may have significant challenges meeting real-time constraints due to non-interruptible execution sequences. The Sandblaster® approach allows for any thread to be interrupted on an instruction boundary without side effects (i.e. transparent execution). Additionally, any thread can be dynamically programmed to handle an array of interrupt driven events.

The result of this methodology is the ability to develop real-time communication systems, with low power consumption and an efficient development cycle.