HiFi 2 & HiFi EP Audio DSP Product Brief
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The Xtensa HiFi 2 and HiFi EP Audio DSPs are add-ons to Tensilica's benchmark-breaking Xtensa LX processor. HiFi EP is a superset of HiFi 2, optimized for DTS Master Audio. The HiFi 2 Auido DSP is an integral part of Tensilica's 330HiFi processor core.
Tensilica's Xtensa HiFi 2 and HiFi EP DSPs maintain full 24-bit resolution throughout. This resolution provides audibly superior quality over 16-bit competitors, making it ideal for high-quality consumer applications. That's why the HiFi architecture has been adopted by so many handset manufacturers.
But while these are very low power for mobile handsets, they also are optimized to run home theater quality, 7.1-channel audio. HiFi EP adds additional optimizing instructions for DTS Master Audio. See our full list of audiosoftware support.
Because the processor is not hardened, designers can make further modifications to have the processor exactly match the intended application. Any further changes to the Xtensa HiFi 2 or HiFi EP Audio DSPs will be reflected in the entire software tool chain automatically created by the Xtensa LX3 processor generator for ease of integration.
A key advantage of the HiFi 2 and HiFi EP DSPs are their simple programming model. Because of the efficiency of the optimized audio and voice instructions, software developers can port audio and voice codecs completely in C while maintaining or surpassing the performance of assembly on other DSP and CPU architectures.
Through a combination of significantly lower power per MHz and architectural optimization of the HiFi 2 Audio DSP instruction set, the HiFi 2 DSP delivers dramatic improvements in energy efficiency that lead to increased battery life for portable and wireless applications. Based on TSMC’s 65 nm LP process and a minimal HiFi 2 configuration, power including memories is as low as 66 µW/MHz dynamic and 69 µW static. Decoding a typical MP3 file at 5.7 MHz requires only 0.46 mW of total power. For the Diamond 330HiFi core, power ranges from 0.089 – 0.352 mW/MHz in 0.13G and is typically 0.148 mW/MHz in TSMC 90 nm G.
Through careful engineering and by fully exploiting the features of the Xtensa LX architecture, Tensilica was able to implement the Xtensa HiFi 2 AudioDSP in approximately 45K gates. A minimal configuration, including the Xtensa LX processor, is approximately 67K gates. For the Diamond 330HiFi core, the die area, post synthesis, flop based is approximately 0.60 mm2 post-route in 90G.
Because of the efficiency of the Xtensa HiFi architecture, it requires only a fraction of the available MHz to perform the audio decoding and encoding functions. Targeting high-performance applications, it can support speeds greater than 300 MHz in TSMC 90G and 450 mHz in TSMC 65GP, leaving lots of headroom for other control, media, and signal processing tasks.
For an in-depth look at the instructions added to the Xtensa LX processor for the Xtensa HiFi 2 and HiFi EP Audio DSPs, please read the product brief.
