DSP的过去并不能照亮其未来

      真的已经度过25年了吗？TI的DSP技术真的成熟到高枕无忧了？DSP于1982年开始登上半导体历史舞台。接下来的25年中矛盾争执不断。随着DSP的发展，它变得越来越智能、迅捷、灵敏，而我反应越来越慢，更愿意在电视机前度过周末的晚上。真是光阴似箭。

      当然了，我只是开个玩笑。但这项技术的影响可不能小瞧。这一行业已经生产了95亿个DSP处理器。它们被应用于广泛的产品中，极大地改变了我们的生活，甚至连我们这些开创DSP时代的人都无法想象。但是如果你认为过去的25年已经很了不得，那等着看接下来的25年会发生什么吧。DSP在半导体行业将会继续开拓新的领域，充分证明它已经成为改变我们生活的创新的催化剂。

      构成这一局面的主要原因是：制造商已经告别了由芯片决定产品的时代。我们的模式是产品第一，芯片第二，这促进了更广泛的创新。DSP处理器和加速器、ARMs等其它技术的结合，导致了基于SoC的创新，在我们之前想都不敢想的领域获得了巨大突破。现在，那些领域主要集中在视频和音频娱乐部分。但这些应用只是冰山一角，让我们看看再过几年生活会变成什么样。

      设想我们现在处于2020年。我将自己定位于此，因为这意味着我们的视野更加清晰。我现在开车，正赶着去机场。当然了，我不是真正在开车，因为那是2010年的事。2020年时，汽车视野已经发展到车辆可以自主驾驶。交通阻塞不复存在，因为交通的流动秩序井然。如果不能马上进入我的视频音频图书馆，我会觉得很闷。我指示车载电脑下载2018年的滚石告别演唱会。你会想，Mick Jagger（米克贾格尔：摇滚歌手，滚石主唱）这么大年纪还在舞台上跳来跳去，会不会突发心脏病。当然了，如果他突发心脏病，传感器会立即告知他心脏有问题，同时早先植入体内的药物也会开始释放。大家还记得病症突发时候的紧张吗？

      这事突然提醒了我：今天还有一个医疗体检。我把身体的一些重要信息下载到e-mail里，之后用手机发给我的医生。昨晚我在家做了一个核磁共振，这个信息也一并发出去了。方进医生—我的孙子--立即回复，给我开了一个药方。我很难想象我的孙子没有成为一名工程师，他无需离开得克萨斯，就在牛津大学完成学业，并在班里排名第一。因为2020年的远程教育，通过实时、逼真的视频会议系统，和今天比已经完全是另一个概念了。

      与此同时，我还有个会议要参加。那是和南太平洋的塔希提岛（Tahiti）、阿拉斯加州的朱诺（Juneau）和巴西里约热内卢（Rio de Janeiro）的短会。谢天谢地，我们无需大多数的商业往来中需要的旅行，还有倒时差的痛苦。但电话会议也有时差问题，在UAE(阿拉伯联合酋长国)是凌晨两点，但我们正在着手解决这个问题。我说了个命令，马上就连上了。视频如此逼真，感觉就像我们坐在一间会议室里而非相距千山万水。我说的英语马上就翻译成流利的法语和葡萄牙语。15分钟后我就下线了，因为我还有飞机要赶。

      现在不用因公出差了，坐飞机的唯一原因就是去度假。我的妻子突然关上她的数独游戏，问我：“我忘关火炉了吗？”江山易改，本性难移。我进入家庭监控系统，发现她确实忘关了。我关了火，并检查了安全系统，发现一切运行良好。监控摄像机系统知道什么时候应将异常情况及时通知我，它还具有编程功能，可以识别我的朋友和家人。这个功能很好，因为我的女儿正在邮箱里拿出我的社保支票—这是我还能收到的唯一一份邮件。你看，我妻子让我再一次退休了。

      机场很拥挤，但像路上交通一样通过速度很快。我很快通过了安检，这只花了我一分钟，因为我植入体内的信息已经扫描过了。我和妻子在一家礼品商店走丢了，但是很快我找到了她的GPS定位。她正在买一本最新的e-book，付帐时只使用她的电子身份证。两小时后我们就会到罗马，刚好有时间放松一下紧张的数字生活。

      未来25年技术发展的影响是深远的，但也带来很多挑战。为给每一件电子设备提供便携性、连接性和智能，半导体公司需要使研发这些设备变得更加简单。完整的系统解决方案，包括软件，硬件和工具，将是至关重要的，因为它们是信号合作处理的基石。TI拥有经验、技术和业内的合作，已准备好迎接这些挑战，就像他之前努力克服了性能，价格，功耗等困难一样。

      我们正处在一个令人兴奋的时代，我们的生活也在改变。这一切都正在发生，让我们一起努力实现它吧。

      如果对未来你也有自己的看法，那就和我联系吧。试想置身于2020，想像DSP技术会把你带向何方。

附：方进专栏原文

DSP's Past Can't Hold A Candle to its Future

Has it really been 25 years? Can it be possible that TI’s digital signal processing technology is old enough to rent a car and appear in a light beer commercial? In 1982, the semiconductor market saw the first viable digital signal processor shipped. Over the ensuing 25 years a paradox has arisen. As they’ve aged, DSPs have grown smarter, faster and more agile while I have grown slower, and more apt to spend a Saturday night in front of the TV. Tempus fugit.

I kid, of course. But there is no overlooking the impact of the technology over that span of years. The industry has shipped 9.5 billion DSPs in a broad range of products that have improved our lives to a degree that was unimaginable even to those of us who helped usher in the DSP era. But if you think the last 25 years was something, just wait and see what will happen in the next 25 years. DSP is proliferating new areas in the semiconductor market, demonstrating that it has evolved into a catalyst for innovation that will change our very lives.

The main reason for this is that we have freed manufacturers from building products that are defined by the chip. We are on a product-first, chip-second paradigm that allows for broader innovation. The marriage of digital signal processors with other technologies like accelerators and ARMs has enabled SoC-based innovation that is leading to exponential breakthroughs in previously un-thought of application spaces. Currently, those spaces are video and audio entertainment for the most part. But these are just the tip of the iceberg. Let’s take a look at what life will be like just a few short years from now.

Here I am in the year 2020. It seems like a good place to position myself, as it implies clear vision. I’m in my car, racing to the airport. Of course, I’m not actually driving, that’s so 2010. No, automotive vision has reached a stage where cars drive themselves. Gridlock is a thing of the past as traffic moves in perfect syncopation. I’d be bored if I couldn’t instantly access my entire video and music library. I tell the inboard computer to load the Rolling Stones 2018 farewell concert. You’d think that Mick Jagger would have a heart attack the way he bounds across the stage – and at his age. Of course, if he did, sensors would instantly warn him of impending cardiac trouble and implanted medication would be dispensed. Do you remember when impending medical emergencies came as a surprise?

This reminds me, I have a medical checkup today. I download my vital signs into an e-mail and shoot it off to my doctor over my cell phone. I gave myself an MRI at home last night and include that information as well. Doctor Frantz – my grandson – instantly responds, giving me a clean bill of health. I can’t believe he didn’t become an engineer. Still, he did finish at the top of his class at Oxford, and never had to leave Texas. Distance learning has taken on a whole new meaning thanks to real-time, life-like video conferencing.

I have a conference, as well, and better check in. It’s a quick team meeting with Tahiti, Juneau and Rio de Janeiro. We’ve eliminated the need for most business travel and, thankfully, jet lag. Phone lag is still a problem, it’s 2 a.m. in UAE, but we’re working on that as well. I say a word and I am instantly connected. The video is so real, it’s like I’m sitting across the table rather than across the world. I speak in English and my words are translated into perfect French and Portuguese. After 15 minutes I beg off. I have a plane to catch.

No business travel here – strictly pleasure, the only reason to fly. My wife turns off her virtual Sudoku. Did I leave the stove on, she asks. Some things never change. I access my home monitor and confirm that she did, indeed, leave it on. I turn it off and check that my security systems are functioning properly. The cameras know when to alert me of anything strange and are also programmed to recognize my friends and family – which is good because my daughter is picking up my social security check ¬apparently the only piece of mail I still receive. You see, my wife made me retire again!

The airport is crowded but moves as quickly as the traffic. It takes one minute to get through security as my implanted information and my person are scanned. I lose my wife to one of the gift shops and quickly check her GPS position. She’s buying the latest e-book and with a scan of her ID chip, we’re on our way. In two hours we’ll be in Rome, just enough time for a short nap for this tired digital self.

This vision for the next twenty-five years is profound, but also raises challenges. To bring portability, connectivity and intelligence to every electronic device, semiconductor companies will need to hide the inherent complexity of creating such devices. Complete system solutions consisting of hardware, software and tools that spawn cooperative signal processing will be of paramount importance. With its expertise, technology and industry collaboration, TI is poised to address these challenges just as it has consistently conquered performance, price and power obstacles.

We are at a thrilling time in history, and life as we know it is about to change. It’s already happening – we will make it happen together.

If you have a vision of what the future will hold, send it to me. Put yourself in 2020 and imagine where DSP technology will take you.