Analog Devices Blackfin, Getting Started

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What are Blackfin Processors?
1-2 Getting Started With Blackfin Processors
8-bit video processing performance that had previously been the exclusive
domain of very long instruction word (VLIW) media processors.
Blackfin processors include advanced memory management that supports
memory-protected and non memory-protected embedded operating sys-
tems such as µClinux™, ThreadX® (Express Logic), INTEGRITY®,
velOSity™, µ-velOSity™ (Green Hills Software), Nucleus® (Mentor
Graphics), Fusion™ (Unicoi Systems), RTXC Quadros™ (Quadros Sys-
tems), and µC/OS-II (Micrium), to name a few.
Combining RISC MCU and Signal Processor
Functionality
Blackfin processors provide microcontroller (MCU) and signal processing
functionality in a unified architecture, allowing flexible partitioning
between the needs of control and signal processing. If the application
demands, the Blackfin processor can act as 100% MCU (with code den-
sity on par with industry standards), 100% signal processor (with clock
rates at the leading edge of signal processor technology), or a combination
of the two.
The Blackfin family of processors from Analog Devices integrates a 32-bit
RISC instruction set with an 8-bit video instruction set with dual 16-bit
MAC units. The processor’s variable-length instruction set extends up to
64-bit opcodes used in processor inner loops (one single instruction, mul-
tiple data [SIMD] and two load/store/cycle), but is optimized so that
16-bit opcodes represent the most frequently used instructions. As a
result, compiled code density figures are competitive with industry-lead-
ing MCUs, yet its interlocked pipeline and algebraic instruction syntax
facilitate development in both C/C++ and assembly.
Figure 1-1 shows a block diagram of a single-core ADSP-BF549 Blackfin
16/32-bit processor.