XVF3610-QF60* vs. XU316-1024-QF60*

[ab-tools]

Hello,

still very new to the "XMOS universe", so please excuse me in case this might be a "stupid question".

But would somebody be so kind and explain me the difference between the "XVF3610-QF60*" and "XU316-1024-QF60*" line of ICs when we're talking about an audio/voice application?

That's for me a bit confusing right now, even more so as the "XK-VOICE-L71" evaluation kit is listed as an evaluation kit option for the "XVF3610" IC here:
https://www.xmos.com/develop/xvf3610-xvf3615/
And even DigiKey mentions the "XVF3610" as "Utilized IC / Part" here:
https://www.digikey.co.uk/en/products/d ... 1/15761172

But when I look at the documentation of this development kit here
https://www.xmos.com/download/XK-VOICE- ... ual(2).pdf
it mentions the "XU316-1024-QF60A-C24" as the main used IC.

At first glance in the data sheets the "XU316-1024-QF60*" seems to be a more "generic" IC and the "XVF3610-QF60*" one more purpose build for audio/voice applications, but likely also "older" (and actually more expensive on DigiKey, too).

So, my main/concrete questions are:

• For a new audio/voice application, which IC is recommended for new designs, the "XVF3610-QF60*" or "XU316-1024-QF60*" line of ICs?
• If it is correct that the "XK-VOICE-L71" evaluation kit features a "XU316-1024-QF60A-C24" (and the mentioned IC at DigiKey is simply wrong), is there also an evaluation kit for the "XVF3610" available?

Best regards and thanks in advance for some insights on this matter
Andreas

[Joe]

Hi Andreas,

Not a stupid question at all.

The XVF3610 device is essentially a product bundling the chip and the software that runs on it together. So if you would like to run the XVF3610 product software then you should buy the XVF3610 device. This device is essentially a fixed function (but configurable) device for that one application of 2-mic voice processor.

The XU316 device is a completely general purpose device which can be used for many different applications but is not bundled with any software.

The development board does have an XU316 device on it but it the device has been modified by XMOS to be able to run the XVF3610 software for evaluation purposes.

Cheers,
Joe

[cwk]

Hi Joe!

Thanks for the explanation.
However, could you please elaborate a bit further what "the device has been modified by XMOS to be able to run the XVF3610 software for evaluation purposes" exactly means?

From the device marking (on my XKVOICE-L71 board) I can read: V16A0
So it just seems to be a "normal" XU-316 chip as it is missing the "VF1" at the end like e.g. "V16A0VF1".

After reading the datasheet, I wonder if XMOS uses the OTP part of the XU-316 to have a special bootloader which is able to also boot those binary only XVF3610-XXX firmware images.
Are they encrypted and signed?

Best regards,
Christian