DSP: Driving Convergence in Digital Communications

Abstract

Until recently, the four major sectors of the digital communications market - telecommunications, data communications, utility communications and enterprise communications – had little in common. Each sector developed relatively independent of the others, using different (and often isolated) networks and data types to transmit information. This paradigm is changing rapidly – with profound implications for the hardcopy industry, not only in terms of product functionality and printer controller architectures, but also in terms of the acquisition and use of hardcopy data.Advances in semiconductor technology such as the programmable DSP are making digital convergence a reality. As a result, hardcopy, softcopy, voice, audio, video, and enterprise data soon all will be traveling over the same airwaves and wires at extremely high data rates. This DSP-driven digital convergence will give rise to a new generation of networked communication or information appliances that capture, create, and display data types in useful and intriguing new ways. Technologies from Texas Instruments are at the heart of this revolution, and our insights may help product engineers understand the business opportunities and market dynamics created by the powerful new connections now taking shape in the digital communications marketplace.