But those companies aren't sitting on their laurels. They have application-specific DSP products based on their own technology. TI has digital camera, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cable modem, digital subscriber line and ASIC chips for the cellular crowd. Most of Agere's DSP sales are really ASICs for cell and other high-volume sockets, while Motorola discovered the merchant DSP market in addition to its own cell phone sockets. ADI is a force in ADSL chips and ASIC modem chips besides its programmable DSP chip line.

With that as a preamble, let it be known that DSP is not just a chip; it's a technology. And it's so pervasive that almost every MPU and MCU on the planet has added at least a multiplier-accumulator circuit so they can say that "we also do DSP."

Then there are the finite-state-machine hardware implementations of the DSP algorithms, like in Broadcom's cable modem chips or as part of Nvidia's GeForce graphics chips. "Embedded" DSP implementations like those are never sold with the DSP nomenclature; rather they are labeled by the end application. So, when you notice an MP3 decoder or MPEG-4 codec, know that it is based on DSP technology.

Besides the four well-known DSP chip vendors, DSP technology is peddled through another 100 or so, mostly fabless, chip companies . . . many of whom are saying "DSP is dead," albeit their vaunted chips are based on the technology.

Don't be misled. DSP continues to be the technology driver for the semiconductor industry, since only through DSP can you access the Internet, enjoy multimedia and have digital wireless. So wake up and notice that DSP is the heart of Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 3G cellular, graphics, DVDs, digital cameras, digital hearing aids, set-top boxes, streaming video, voice-over-Internet Protocol, videoconferencing, digital audio broadcast and-if it ever happens-even HDTV. Long live DSP.

Will Strauss is President of Forward Concepts (Tempe, Ariz.) and is considered an authority on markets driven by DSP technology (wis@fwdconcepts.com).