Atari Falcon 030 DSP
MOTOROLA'S 56001 PROVIDES AUDIO/VIDEO FEATURES FOR ATARI'S FALCON030 PERSONAL INTEGRATED MEDIA COMPUTER
BOSTON, Mass., September 23, 1992 - Motorola Inc.'s Microprocessor and Memory Technologies Group today announced that its 56001 digital signal processor (DSP) performs key audio/video functions on the motherboard of the new Atari Falcon030(tm) personal- integrated, media computer. The Falcon030 is a full-scale computer that uses the 32 MHz 56001 to process and manipulate compact-disc-quality digital audio and voice signals which, combined with Atari's integrated software, makes the Falcon030 a complete, personal integrated media computer.
" Motorola's 24-bit DSPs continue to be the choice for manufacturers that want to embed compact-disc, digital audio functions," said Bryant Wilder, Motorola's DSP operations manager. "The 56001 gives Atari's Falcon030 an impressive feature set that is showing the rest of the industry where personal computers are heading. "
DSPs are capable of performing functions such as compact disc quality sound, voicemail, voice annotation and recognition, video compression, facsimile transmission, high-speed modem, array processing and high-speed numeric processing. Other major computer manufacturers that use the DSP56000 family on their motherboard include the NeXT Computer System and Silicon Graphics IRIS Indigo(tm) RISC PC.
Atari's Falcon030 Personal Integrated Media Computer
Atari's Falcon030 is designed for personal-integrated media functions including video, audio, animation, telecommunications and graphics. The Atari Falcon030 uses the 56001 DSP to process compact-disc quality audio and voice synthesis capabilities. The 56001 operates independent of the central processor, Motorola's 68030, and completes a variety of tasks without slowing the system. Within the Atari Falcon030, Motorola's 56001 drives digital audio functions including graphic equalization, channel manipulation, reverberation and surround sound, all which provide the user professional audio effects for tasks such as video sound augmenting and recording capabilities.
" Atari's Falcon030, with the help of Motorola's 56001 DSP, is bringing professional-level recording and audio manipulation capabilities to the consumer," said Sam Tramiel, Atari's president and CEO. "Motorola's 56001 provides a single chip solution for digital audio and voice capabilities optimizing the Falcon030 as a personal-integrated media computer. "
Motorola's DSP56001
Motorola's 24-bit, 32 MHz 56001 processes 16 million instructions per second (MIPS) and performs 96 million operations per second (MOPS). The 56001 recreates CD-quality sound because its architecture is highly parallel and its 24-bit word width generates sound up to 144 decibels of dynamic range. The 56001 differs from other DSPs in that it processes signals in 24-bit data chunks providing throughput of more than 100 million operations per second.
Motorola's 24-bit 56000 architecture is important since most analog-to-digital converter chips, which convert analog signals into digital bit streams, translate analog signals in the ranges of 14 to 20 bits at a time. The extra bits in the 56000 architecture allow additional calculations to be performed on these digital samples while maintaining the input signal accuracy.
Atari Corporation (AMEX:ATC) is a worldwide manufacturer and marketer of palmtop through desktop computer systems. The company sells its systems, peripherals and software through authorized distributors, resellers and integrators.
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MOTOROLA'S 68030 MICROPROCESSORS POWER ATARI'S FALCON030 PERSONAL INTEGRATED MEDIA COMPUTER
AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 23, 1992 - Motorola's High Performance Microprocessor Division today announced that its 68030 provides the processing power for Atari Corporation's new Atari Falcon030, the industry's first personal integrated media system. The Atari Falcon030 is a full-scale computer based on the powerful 68030 and is specifically designed for personal integrated media functions including video, audio, animation, telecommunications and graphics. Users of the Atari Falcon030 can create home videos complete with text and music; can record lead vocals on a favorite musical recording; can narrate and score a family photo album and can execute many more exciting applications.
The Atari Falcon030 also incorporates Motorola's 56001 digital signal processor (DSP) to process and manipulate compact-disc- quality digital audio and voice signals which, combined with the 68030's processing power and Atari's integrated software, makes the Atari Falcon030 a complete personal integrated media system. This announcement is an example of how microprocessors are entering the home through the burgeoning availability of consumerized computing devices.
" With the introduction of the Atari Falcon030, Atari is raising the standards of consumerized computing to a new level, providing integration of text, music and images with unparalleled levels of quality, performance and price," said Jim Reinhart, Motorola's manager of M68000 marketing and applications. "The robust processing capabilities of the 68030 make it an ideal microprocessor for such a graphically-based product as the Atari Falcon030. "
" The Atari Falcon030, with the help of Motorola's 68030 and 56001 DSP, is bringing production-quality graphics, professional-level recording and audio manipulation capabilities to the consumer, " said Sam Tramiel, president and CEO of Atari. " The processing power of Motorola's 68030 allows the Atari Falcon030 to be a powerful full-scale computer, giving users access to a new world of applications while remaining affordable. "
The Motorola 68030 integrates advanced features into a full 32-bit microprocessor design, optimized for low-cost, memory-based applications. Its burst fill functionality provides an efficient bus and memory interface, enabling the 68030 to substantially increase overall system throughput. This capability is especially well-suited for multimedia personal integrated media products, such as the Atari Falcon030, that require large amounts of information to be continuously transmitted from external memory to the processor's dual internal caches. The efficient memory interface results in cost and time savings, allowing the Atari Falcon030 to achieve excellent price/performance ratios.
Available immediately, the Atari Falcon030 is priced under $1,000, making it ideal for users who want a powerful, efficient and cost- effective device to harness today's myriad technologies.
Atari Computer Corporation is a worldwide manufacturer and marketer of palmtop through desktop computer systems. The company, a division of Atari Corporation (AMEX:ATC), sells its systems, peripherals and software through authorized distributors, resellers and integrators.
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Atari Falcon030 is a trademark of Atari Corporation
IRIS Indigo is a trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc.
EDITORIAL CONTACT:
Motorola, Inc.
Joan MacNeil
Cunningham Communication, Inc.
(408) 982-0400
