September 1997, Volume 14, No. 9 Digital introduces StrongARM microprocessor

New chip boosts speech recognition capabilities Speech recognition technology developers will soon enjoy a tremendous boost, thanks to the new StrongARM chip from Digital Equipment Corp. (Maynard, Mass.; http://www.digital.com). Digital's SA-1100 microprocessor has been designed to boost the capabilities and appeal of such consumer devices as handheld PCs, subnotebooks, wallet PCs, "smart" cellular phones, and Internet-enabled Web phones. Digital believes its StrongARM SA-1100 chip can deliver "three to five times the performance of competing products either currently available or on the drawing board." Of course, every chip manufacturer uses different benchmarks that favor their product. However, Digital is positioning its new chip specifically for the handheld market. Features that users can expect to see in StrongARM-based handheld systems include more accurate user interfaces such as handwriting and speech recognition; color displays; faster synchronization with desktop systems; softmodems; and integrated communications. For OEMs, the chip offers the ability to run Java applications off the Web. Companies that have already announced plans to support the SA-1100 chip include Microsoft for its Windows CE platform, JavaSoft for its JavaOS, Lucent Technologies for its Inferno platform, Newton for its NewtonOS, Wind River Systems for its VxWorks, as well as Geoworks, JMI Software Systems, Microware, and Psion Software. The StrongARM SA-1100 chip is capable of emulating a v.34+ modem in software, utilizing less than 25% of the CPU. An integrated high-speed multiplier with digital signal processor (DSP) functions enables improved speech and handwriting recognition. Digital also claims that the chip's low operational power consumption, combined with power-conserving idle and sleep modes, will enable AA battery-operated devices to provide three to six weeks of normal use between battery changes. The chip's integrated features include a memory controller that supports SRAM, DRAM, Flash, and ROM as well as single or dual PCMCIA cards; a flexible display controller that supports monochrome and color displays; 28 general purpose I/O and six serial interfaces; and all required timer and system functions. The StrongARM microprocessor was developed by Advanced RISC Machines and licensed to Digital.

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