
Rev. 0
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Page 6  of 44
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March 2006
ADSP-21261
Flexible Instruction Set
The 48-bit instruction word accommodates a variety of parallel 
operations for concise programming. For example, the 
ADSP-21261 can conditionally execute a multiply, an add, and a 
subtract in both processing elements while branching and fetch-
ing up to four 32-bit values from memory—all in a single 
instruction.
ADSP-21261 MEMORY AND I/O INTERFACE 
FEATURES
The ADSP-21261 adds the following architectural features to 
the SIMD SHARC family core:
Dual-Ported On-Chip Memory
The ADSP-21261 contains one megabit of internal SRAM and 
three megabits of internal mask-programmable ROM. Each 
block can be configured for different combinations of code and 
data storage (see memory map, 
Figure 3
). Each memory block is 
dual-ported for single-cycle, independent accesses by the core 
processor and I/O processor. The dual-ported memory, in com-
bination with three separate on-chip buses, allows two data 
transfers from the core and one from the I/O processor, in a sin-
gle cycle.
The ADSP-21261’s SRAM can be configured as a maximum of 
48K words of 32-bit data, 46K words of 16-bit data, 31.5K words 
of 48-bit instructions (or 40-bit data), or combinations of differ-
ent word sizes up to one megabit. All of the memory can be 
accessed as 16-bit, 32-bit, 48-bit, or 64-bit words. A 16-bit float-
ing-point storage format is supported that effectively doubles 
the amount of data that may be stored on-chip. Conversion 
between the 32-bit floating-point and 16-bit floating-point for-
mats is performed in a single instruction. While each memory 
block can store combinations of code and data, accesses are 
most efficient when one block stores data using the DM bus for 
transfers, and the other block stores instructions and data using 
the PM bus for transfers.
Using the DM bus and PM buses, with one dedicated to each 
memory block, assures single-cycle execution with two data 
transfers. In this case, the instruction must be available in 
the cache.
DMA Controller
The ADSP-21261’s on-chip DMA controller allows zero-over-
head data transfers without processor intervention. The DMA 
controller operates independently and invisibly to the processor 
core, allowing DMA operations to occur while the core is simul-
taneously executing its program instructions. DMA transfers 
can occur between the ADSP-21261’s internal memory and its 
serial ports, the SPI-compatible (serial peripheral interface) 
port, the IDP (input data port), parallel data acquisition port 
(PDAP), or the parallel port. Eighteen channels of DMA are 
available on the ADSP-21261—one for the SPI, eight via the 
serial ports, eight via the input data port, and one via the proces-
sor’s parallel port. Programs can be downloaded to the ADSP-
21261 using DMA transfers. Other DMA features include inter-
rupt generation upon completion of DMA transfers, and DMA 
chaining for automatic linked DMA transfers. 
Digital Applications Interface (DAI)
The digital applications interface provides the ability to connect 
various peripherals to any of the SHARC’s DAI pins 
(DAI_P20–1). 
Connections are made using the signal routing unit (SRU, 
shown in the block diagram 
on Page 1
).
The SRU is a matrix routing unit (or group of multiplexers) that 
enables the peripherals provided by the DAI to be intercon-
nected under software control. This allows easy use of the DAI 
associated peripherals for a much wider variety of applications 
by using a larger set of algorithms than is possible with noncon-
figurable signal paths.
The DAI also includes four serial ports, two precision clock gen-
erators (PCGs), an input data port (IDP), six flag outputs and 
six flag inputs, and three timers. The IDP provides an additional 
input path to the ADSP-21261 core, configurable as either eight 
channels of I
2
S or serial data, or as seven channels plus a single 
20-bit wide synchronous parallel data acquisition port. Each 
data channel has its own DMA channel that is independent 
from the ADSP-21261’s serial ports.
For complete information on using the DAI, see the 
ADSP-2126x SHARC DSP Peripherals Manual
.
Serial Ports
The ADSP-21261 features four full-duplex synchronous serial 
ports that provide an inexpensive interface to a wide variety of 
digital and mixed-signal peripheral devices such as the Analog 
Devices AD183x family of audio codecs, ADCs, and DACs. The 
serial ports are made up of two data lines, a clock, and frame 
sync. The data lines can be programmed to either transmit or 
receive and each data line has its own dedicated DMA channel.
Serial ports are enabled via eight programmable and simulta-
neous receive or transmit pins that support up to 18 transmit 
or 18 receive channels of serial data when all six SPORTs 
are enabled, or four full-duplex TDM streams of 128 channels 
per frame.
The serial ports operate at up to one-quarter of the DSP core 
clock rate, providing each with a maximum data rate of 
37.5M bit/s for a 150 MHz core. Serial port data can be auto-
matically transferred to and from on-chip memory via a 
dedicated DMA. Each of the serial ports can work in conjunc-
tion with another serial port to provide TDM support. One 
SPORT provides two transmit signals while the other SPORT 
provides the two receive signals. The frame sync and clock are 
shared.
Serial ports operate in four modes: 
 Standard DSP serial mode
 Multichannel (TDM) mode
 I
2
S mode
 Left-justified sample pair mode