DSP’s Past Can’t Hold A Candle to its FutureBy Gene Frantz
TI Principal Fellow and Business Development Manager, DSP

Has it really been 25 years? Can it be possible that TI’s digital signal processing technology is old enough to rent a car and appear in a light beer commercial? In 1982, the semiconductor market saw the first viable digital signal processor shipped. Over the ensuing 25 years a paradox has arisen. As they’ve aged, DSPs have grown smarter, faster and more agile while I have grown slower, and more apt to spend a Saturday night in front of the TV. Tempus fugit.

I kid, of course. But there is no overlooking the impact of the technology over that span of years. The industry has shipped 9.5 billion DSPs in a broad range of products that have improved our lives to a degree that was unimaginable even to those of us who helped usher in the DSP era. But if you think the last 25 years was something, just wait and see what will happen in the next 25 years. DSP is proliferating new areas in the semiconductor market, demonstrating that it has evolved into a catalyst for innovation that will change our very lives.

The main reason for this is that we have freed manufacturers from building products that are defined by the chip. We are on a product-first, chip-second paradigm that allows for broader innovation. The marriage of digital signal processors with other technologies like accelerators and ARMs has enabled SoC-based innovation that is leading to exponential breakthroughs in previously un-thought of application spaces. Currently, those spaces are video and audio entertainment for the most part. But these are just the tip of the iceberg. Let’s take a look at what life will be like just a few short years from now.

Here I am in the year 2020. It seems like a good place to position myself, as it implies clear vision. I’m in my car, racing to the airport. Of course, I’m not actually driving, that’s so 2010. No, automotive vision has reached a stage where cars drive themselves. Gridlock is a thing of the past as traffic moves in perfect syncopation. I’d be bored if I couldn’t instantly access my entire video and music library. I tell the inboard computer to load the Rolling Stones 2018 farewell concert. You’d think that Mick Jagger would have a heart attack the way he bounds across the stage – and at his age. Of course, if he did, sensors would instantly warn him of impending cardiac trouble and implanted medication would be dispensed. Do you remember when impending medical emergencies came as a surprise?

This reminds me, I have a medical checkup today. I download my vital signs into an e-mail and shoot it off to my doctor over my cell phone. I gave myself an MRI at home last night and include that information as well. Doctor Frantz – my grandson – instantly responds, giving me a clean bill of health. I can’t believe he didn’t become an engineer. Still, he did finish at the top of his class at Oxford, and never had to leave Texas. Distance learning has taken on a whole new meaning thanks to real-time, life-like video conferencing.

I have a conference, as well, and better check in. It’s a quick team meeting with Tahiti, Juneau and Rio de Janeiro. We’ve eliminated the need for most business travel and, thankfully, jet lag. Phone lag is still a problem, it’s 2 a.m. in UAE, but we’re working on that as well. I say a word and I am instantly connected. The video is so real, it’s like I’m sitting across the table rather than across the world. I speak in English and my words are translated into perfect French and Portuguese. After 15 minutes I beg off. I have a plane to catch.