In this paper, we implemented a vocabulary-independent speech recognizer using the TMS320VC33 DSP. For this implementation, we had developed very small-sized recognition engine based on diphone sub-word unit, which is especially suited for embedded applications where the system resources are severely limited. The recognition accuracy of the developed recognizer with 1 mixture per state and 4 states per diphone is 94.5% when tested on frequently-used 2000 words set. The design of the hardware was focused on minimal use of parts, which results in reduced material cost. The finally developed hardware only includes a DSP, 512 Kword flash ROM and a voice codec. In porting the recognition engine to the DSP, we introduced several methods of using data and program memory efficiently and developed the versatile software protocol for host interface. Finally, we also made an evaluation board for testing the developed hardware recognition module.