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- 1073.3.21663.2 Motorola press release of Atari Falcon030
- 9/23/92 18:46 162/7347 jww@uhunix.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Jack W. Wine)
- Lines 1 to 14 of 162 (8%)
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- 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.
-
- # # #
-
-
-
- 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.
-
- # # #
-
- 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
-
-