In April Intel announced version 2.0 of its Integrated Performance Primitives (IPP) library of DSP functions. This library is unusual in that it supports a diverse set of processor architectures: Itanium (IA-64), Pentium 4 and Xeon (IA-32), XScale, and StrongARM. Intel claims IPP 2.0 is highly optimized for each architecture, allowing application software developers to gain the benefits of hand-optimized code without delving into architecture-specific features. IPP 2.0 uses the same function call syntax on all processors, easing the migration of IPP-based applications among these diverse processors. This capability is particularly relevant for applications like audio and video codecs, which often start out on the desktop and later migrate to embedded platforms.
According to Intel, IPP 2.0 includes over 3,000 functions for signal and image processing. (Intel says this number represents numerous variants of “a few hundred” distinct operations.) These functions include basic vector and matrix operations, primitives for common DSP algorithms like signal generation and filtering, and functions for speech and image recognition. IPP 2.0 also includes key building blocks for speech compression algorithms like GSM-AMR and audio and video codecs like MP3 and MPEG-4. Not all library components are supported on all targets; for example, the image recognition primitives are available only for the Itanium and the Pentium 4/Xeon.
For many embedded DSP applications, blazing processor performance is less important than the quality and availability of DSP-oriented development tools and software components; established DSPs are typically backed by sophisticated DSP development tools and vast libraries of DSP software. It will be interesting to see how Intel evolves products like IPP 2.0 to match these offerings. (In related news, Intel says future versions of its compilers and its VTune Performance Analyzer will support XScale and StrongARM as well as IA-32 and IA-64.)
IPP 2.0 is available now for the Itanium and the Pentium 4/Xeon with prices starting at $199. IPP 2.0 for XScale and StrongARM is expected to be available this quarter and will be free of charge. IPP 2.0 supports most Microsoft Windows operating systems, including 98/ME, NT/2000, XP, and CE .NET, as well as Microsoft PocketPC 2002 and Linux. For more information, visit http://www.intel.com/software/products/ipp/.
Add new comment