Beginner DSP Evaluation Board - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: rcahill
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 30, 2015, 06:10:00 pm
content: Hi all,I'm looking to do some real time audio processing (specifically a FFT on an incoming audio signal), and it seems like DSPs are the way forward. I'd like to get started using an evaluation board, and theEVAL-BF706M-EZLITEfrom Analog devices looks perfect - low cost, USB interface, built in audio jacks. Does anybody with experience know if this would be a good board to start with / if there's something else I should be looking at?Thanks!

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 30, 2015, 06:39:08 pm
content: The price of this board is really good - just beware of the price of "accessories" such as JTAG and the IDE to develop your code.Also, depending on the raw processing power you need (audio may require floating point for all the effects) I would also take a look at theC6748 LCDK. That board would require an additional $79 for the JTAG debugger (XDS100v2) but you can use the IDE for free (Code Composer Studio).

author: rcahill
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 30, 2015, 07:03:04 pm
content: Thanks for the response rsjsouza. So far as I can tell the EVAL-BF706M-EZLITE has onboard debugging via the USB port, so I don't think it needs any accessories. The C6748 DSP does look encouraging (at least it mentions real time audio in the product description) but if the Analog Devices board can also handle real time audio it does work out significantly cheaper.

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 30, 2015, 07:31:28 pm
content: Quote from: rcahill on October 30, 2015, 07:03:04 pmI see. If you can use their IDE for free on this board, then that is certainly the cheapest way.Just keep in mind that, if you eventually intend to create your own board, there is a chance the embedded USB does not work to debug it and you will have to consider the overall price of a standalone JTAG debugger and (maybe) an IDE license in the overall price. I have been burned by this in the past.Also, if you are working (or plan to work) with different AD devices, check if their JTAG debugger also works with their other devices as well. I know from my experience the JTAG debugger I mentioned before works not only with TI DSPs, but also with some of their microcontrollers and ARM devices.All in all, if it matters to you don't forget to check what is the long term cost of the whole solution.

author: Kalvin
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 30, 2015, 07:33:36 pm
content: One can use the real hardware for evaluating the algorithm performance and cycle requirements etc. on the target DSP processor by using a simple serial protocol to upload the samples to be processed onto the target hardware, perform the processing, calculate the cycles used**, and download the processed data back to PC for further analysis and regression testing etc. It doesn't have to be always real-time processing. Running the algorithm on the target DSP processor will tell accurately how the algorithm performs on the actual fixed-point or floating-point environment.** if the DSP processor doesn't have hardware support for cycle counting, one can use on-chip timer as a cycle counter: Start the timer at the beginning of the processing and stop the timer at the end of the processing. Typically the result is within few cycles to the actual cycles used.

author: Marco
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 30, 2015, 07:53:57 pm
content: Quote from: rcahill on October 30, 2015, 06:10:00 pmIf you want to make your own hardware and if you want expensive toolsets then DSPs are the way to go.Otherwise I'd go for Cortex-M4s or if you need more power Raspberri/beaglebone-black/etc.PS. that ADSP-BF706 EZ-Kit Lite mini evaluation looks nice, but that 1 year evaluation license for the IDE, ick.

author: Kalvin
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 30, 2015, 07:57:44 pm
content: XMOS is used also for the digital audio signal processing applications. Eval boards are inexpensive, tools are freely available and the chips are very inexpensive.