University of Illinois DSP Seminar on 9/21/2005

ABSTRACT:

Flexible Multi-Media SOC Platform

Thanh Tran, Ph.D.
Hardware Productization Manager
Texas Instruments Inc.

ABSTRACT:

One of the biggest challenges designers face as they approach developing today’s increasingly complex 
multimedia systems is determining the appropriate mix of processing elements to use to optimize the 
three Ps: system performance, price, and power consumption. The SOC (system-on-a-chip) integration 
that makes today’s innovations possible often involves combining different processing elements on a single 
device. These elements can include programmable functions, such as general-purpose (usually RISC) 
microprocessors, DSPs, and accelerators. Because all of these elements are available as dedicated devices 
or as a single SOC, evaluating trade-offs among them and determining how to most effectively use them, 
can be a source of considerable difficulty.  This talk outlines the hardware and software frameworks Texas 
Instruments Inc has done to enable rapid prototyping of your algorithms and/or new product concepts.


BIOGRAPHY:

Dr. Thanh Tran has 20 years plus of experience in audio, video, computer and communication 
systems design and is a Hardware Productization Manager at Texas Instruments Incorporated where 
he is leading an embedded systems team to assist customers and to develop reference designs and 
frameworks for high speed DSP/SOC systems.  He has held other senior design positions at Compaq 
Computer, ReplayTV, Eagle Wireless Incorporated, Bose Corporation and Zenith Electronics Corporation.  
Tran is an IEEE Senior member and currently serves on the Texas Instruments Developers Conference 
Advisory Committee and the IEEE System-On-Chip Organizing Committee.  He has published over 
14 technical papers and current holds 18 issued patents related to designs of video, audio and communication 
systems.  Tran’s doctoral research led to a creation of innovative and patent pending methods to reduce 
electromagnetic interference and of a startup company, X-EMI, in Austin, Texas.  He is currently an 
adjunct faculty member at Rice University where he is teaching a graduate electrical engineering course 
in digital audio and video DSP systems design.  Tran received a BSEE degree from the University of 
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois and Master of Electrical Engineering and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering 
degrees from the University of Houston, Houston, Texas.