Texas Instruments LPC voice chips

The Texas Instruments LPC speech chips are a set of integrated circuits digital signal processors , specializing in speech synthesis , developed in 1978 by Texas Instruments (TI). They were developed and marketed over many years, although the voice applications department was reorganized several times within TI until it was finally dissolved in late 2001. The rights to the last remaining in 2001 series of TI voice products and language-specific mixed signal processor series were sold to Sensory Inc. in October 2001.

theory

The stored speech data is generated by pitch-excited linear predictive coding (PE-LPC) using a lattice filter . Here be glottal pulse waveforms in selective excitation of a read-only memory read or a linear feedback shift register (LFSR) as a noise generator used for generating linear predictive coding, which achieves a significant reduction of the data volume, the more understandable for generating language is required.

history

A Speak & Spell in US English from 1986.

The TMC0280 / TMS5100 was the first LPC speech synthesizer chip ever built . It is designed for Texas Instruments designed by Larry Brantingham, Paul S. Breedlove, Richard H. Wiggins, and Gene A. Frantz, his The Larry Brantingham had gelayouted . The chip was designed for the “ Spelling Bee” project at TI, which later became the Speak & Spell educational toy . A speechless spelling "Spelling B " was released at the same time as the Speak & Spell .

All TI-LPC voice chips up to the TSP50cxx series used PMOS technology and the LPC-10 was encrypted in a special TI-specific format. Chips in the TI-LPC language series were labeled as TMCxxxx or CDxxxx or when sold to third-party suppliers as TMS5xxx (later TSP5xxx) from the derivation for home user technology from TI.

TI LPC voice chip family

1978

TMS5100 (TMC0281, internal TI name "0280", the chip is therefore sometimes referred to as TMC0280): First LPC voice chip. Uses a custom 4-bit interface with the TMS6100 or TMS6125 Mask ROM ICs; is used in all non-upscale versions of Speak & Spell with the exception of the British-English version from 1980 in which the following TMC0280 / CD2801 was used Released as the TMS5100 and was also used in the Byron Petite electronic-speaking toy typewriter . 1979 replaced by TMS5100A and TMS5110. The TMC0281 was in the 2017 Chip Hall of Fame added

1980

TMC0280 alias CD2801: Is used in Speak & Math , Speak & Read as well as the translators TI Language Translator and TI Language Tutor . It has the same connection ( same pin ), but is not functionally compatible with the TMS5100 / TMC0280, which has a slightly changed table for sibilants and in version F of which an interpolation error has been corrected.

TMS5100A: The downsizing of the TMS5100 / TMC0281. Very small functional differences, the Die in version F uses to correct the error in the interpolator. Used in the Century Video System arcade game platform .

TMS5110: Has newer LPC tables (more like the 5220). Same connection (same pin), but not functionally compatible with the TMS5100. Replaced by TMS5110A. Was used in Hasbro's Monkgomery toy doll . An SDIP package version of this chip was partially sold as the TMS5111. It contains the “final” sibilance table.

TMS5200 (alias CD2501E, internal TI name '0285', hence sometimes referred to as TMC0285): Parallel 8-bit FIFO interface added; designed for use by the TI Home Products division for the TI 99 / 4A voice module ; is also in the 4th generation of the Bally / Midway - pinball machines used and the squawk-and-Talk Tablets (part number AS-2518-61) on which version of the environment Cabinet of the arcade game Discs of TRON Bally / Midway in (older ) Echo-2 cards before Apple II and in the Zaccaria Arcade games Jack Rabbit and Money Money , as well as the Zaccaria pinball machines Flipper-Champ and Soccer Kings . Was replaced by the TMS5220 at the end of 1980/1981 and sold as a cheap remainder from 1982–1983. Uses the “final” chirp table.

CD2802: A version of the TMS5100 / 5110 with different LPC and sibilant tables that are not identical to that of the TMS5100 (A) or TMS5110 (A). Only used for “touch and tell” and never sold outside the company. Uses its own unique chirp table.

TMS5110A (after 1985: TSP5110A): The shrinkage of TMS5110, connection and function compatible. Used on at least two home computer products. Used in the arcade game Bagman by Valadon Automation , by Omnicron Electronics in the TCC-14 Talking Clock / Calendar and in the arcade game AD 2083 by Midcoin. Used in the Chrysler Electronic Voice Alert (EVA) and contains the “final” sibilant table.

TMS5220 (alias CD2805E?): Improved version of the TMS5200, same connection but not functionally compatible (has new LPC tables); used in later produce Echo-2 cards for Apple II, is said to be in the most recently produced TI-99 / 4A voice modules, in the BBC Micro , in the arcade game machine NFL football from Bally / Midway and in many arcade Games from Atari including Star Wars , Firefox, Return of the Jedi, Roadrunner, The Empire Strikes Back . In recent Atari arcade games the TMS5220C. The TMS5220 was also used in the Zaccaria pinball machines Farfalla , Devil Riders , Time Machine , Magic Castle , Robot , Clown , Pool Champion , Blackbelt , Mexico '86 , Zankor, and Spooky . The TMS5220 was also used in Venture Line's Looping and Sky Bumper , Olympia's Portraits , and Victory and Victor Banana slot machines by Exidy . Replaced by TMS5220C in 1983/1984, contains the "final" sibilant table. In the HP 82967A Speech Synthesis Module, which allowed the 80 series computers to have a 1500 word vocabulary.

1983

TMS5220C (after 1985: TSP5220C): Has the parallel FIFO interface revised the two NOP commands to control the speech rate, an external full reset has been added. Slight change in the way that energy values affect unvoiced frames. Otherwise identical, connection compatible and a fully compatible replacement for the TMS5220. Used in the Atari arcade games Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom , 720 ° , Gauntlet , Gauntlet II , APB , Paperboy , RoadBlasters , Vindicators II , and Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters . Was also in the IBM - PS / 2 used -Sprachadapter as well as RS-232 -Sprachadapter of Pacific Educational Systems . Manufactured until the early 1990s.

1985

TSP50C50: The chip manufactured in CMOS technology uses LPC-12 instead of LPC-10, TMS60C20 with 256 kB / 32 kB serial ROM TMS6100. Uses the "D6" LPC and sibilant tables that were common throughout the TSP50Cxx series. Has an analog low pass filter . Manufactured in until the early 1990s.

1986

TSP50C40 (later MSP50C40): TSP50C50 with simple 8-bit microcontroller and mask ROM in the chip. Used in a number of products from TI's home technology division, it was named CM54129 / CM54169 for use in speak & music .

1987 and later

Some other products with the TSP50Cxx contain a larger ROM / RAM and did not have a serial interface .
The TSP53C30 for microcontrollers emulates the TMS5220 PE-LPC, supports the D6 LPC and pulse width modulated sound generation (PCM).
After about 1997, the TSP non-microcontroller line was discontinued in favor of language-specific members of the MSP chip family that had microcontrollers. In October 2001, the rights to the language-specific subset of the MSP family of chips (MSP50C6XX family of chips) were sold by TI to Sensory, Inc. Sensory has renamed the chips as the Sensory SC-6x series.
In October 2007, Sensory announced that submissions for additional masks for the SC-6x series would not be accepted. Orders for chips with existing masks were still accepted for at least the following year.

The accompanying devices of all versions of the voice chips were the user-defined 128-bit interfaces (16 kB). TMS6100NL (alias TMC0350) and 32 kbit (4 KB) TMS6125NL (alias TMC0355 alias TMS7125) read-only memories that contain preprogrammed masks of words that are required for a specific product and are supported by all versions of the LPC chips up to the TSP50Cxx series . All versions of the TMS6100 appear to only have 128 kbit / 16 kB content, regardless of rumors to the contrary.