Texas Instruments’ announcement of the world’s first digital signal processor (DSP) running at one gigahertz (GHz) is an important milestone in the long history of computer processing technology. In the 20 years since TI introduced its first single-chip DSP,processor clock speeds have multiplied more than a hundred times, bringing about a revolution in high-speed computers, communications, imaging, navigation and guidance,automobile engine and vehicle control, robotics and industrial control, and many other areas. Today, with clock speeds reaching one billion cycles per second, DSPs are enabling entirely new types of applications in these fields and others.