SCIENCE

Freescale Semiconductor’s SC3850 digital signal processor (DSP) core has earned leading benchmark results from independent signal-processing technology analysis firm Berkeley Design Technology, Inc. (BDTI). Specifically, Freescale’s SC3850 1.2 GHz core registered a fixed-point BDTIsimMark2000 score of 18,500 – the highest score of any DSP architecture tested by BDTI to date.

BDTI’s DSP benchmarks are the industry's most respected measures for DSP performance. The score is distilled from a processor’s results on 12 key DSP algorithm kernels comprising the BDTI DSP Kernel Benchmarks.  A higher score indicates a faster core or processor.

“Freescale is pleased to continue its role as the leader in high performance DSP technology,” said Scott Aylor, director and general manager of DSP Products for Freescale’s Networking and Multimedia Group. “The widely recognized and respected BDTI score substantiates the innovation and performance levels we have been able to achieve with our highly advanced StarCore DSPs.”

Running at 1.2 Ghz, Freescale’s SC3850 core powers Freescale’s new MSC8157/58 family, which is the company’s second generation 45-nm DSP product line. The six-core MSC8157 and MSC8158 leverage an advanced acceleration engine which enables the DSPs to deliver more than twice the base station throughput of previous generation products.  The MSC8157 additionally features multimode operation, enabling the creation of  3G-LTE, WCDMA-HSPA+, WiMAX and LTE-Advanced wireless base stations.