Hoping to advance the capabilities of digital-signal-processor (DSP) software development, Texas Instruments, Inc. and The MathWorks have announced two software tools. Both tools work to simplify development while speeding time-to-market for DSP-based systems. By putting more problem-solving capabilities into the hands of DSP developers, the MATLAB Link for Code Composer Studio Development Tools (CCStudio) and the Embedded Target for the C6000 DSP platform should enable faster system integration.

The MATLAB Link for CCStudio enables communication between MATLAB and TI's Code Composer Studio Development Tools. This capability should help to simplify software development, real-time software validation, analysis, and testing for all TI DSPs supported by CCStudio. Designers of systems based on those TI platforms can now systematically test software, analyze and optimize code performance, and solve complex debugging problems with the analysis and visualization capabilities in MATLAB. Unlike traditional programming methods, the MATLAB Link for CCStudio permits designers to easily verify DSP implementation against a validated algorithm design in MATLAB.

The MATLAB Link for CCStudio also supports the high-speed RTDX Data Link for TI's new JTAG XDS560 Emulator. It provides a 2-MBps real-time data exchange from the host to the DSP target. MATLAB thus enables the real-time testing, verifying, and visualizing of DSP code running on target hardware. It should provide additional confidence that the system will perform according to the specification.

Also hailing from The MathWorks, the Embedded Target for the C6000 DSP platform simplifies software design and analysis for TI's C6000 DSPs. It enables rapid prototyping and the direct generation of optimized code from The MathWorks' Simulink system-level modeling product. As a design and code-generation tool, the Embedded Target lets developers create, validate, and deploy C6000 fixed- and floating-point DSP software in less time. Designers can simulate a system-level model in Simulink's hierarchical block-diagram environment to produce an unambiguous, executable specification of the algorithm.

Being eXpressDSP-compliant plug-ins, both tools extend and enhance the development capabilities available through TI's CCStudio. They hope to turn DSP algorithm research directly into software implementation. Both the MATLAB Link for CCStudio and the Embedded Target for C6000 DSP are key elements of The MathWorks' recently announced Release 13 family of products.

MATLAB Link for CCStudio is available now from The MathWorks starting at $1000 per individual PC license. The Embedded Target for C6000 DSP is available at a starting price of U.S. $4,000 per individual PC license. For more information on using MATLAB and Simulink with TI DSKs, see www.ti.com/mathworkspr.

The Mathworks
3 Apple Hill Dr., Natick, MA 01760-2098; (508) 647-7000, FAX: (508) 647-7001, www.mathworks.com.

Texas Instruments, Inc.
12500 TI Blvd., Dallas, TX 75243-4136; (800) 336-5236, www.ti.com.