While nearly all signal processing applications require some degree of software optimization, some applications require a sophisticated, multi-tiered optimization approach in order to meet their performance goals.

I have two ways of looking at processors. If I’m in geeky-engineer mode, I’m thrilled to learn about the hard-core technical details—like how the branch prediction works, and why the DMA engine is breathtaking in its sophistication and complexity, and how the chip uses a revolutionary new method for implementing… whatever.

Nearly everyone who works with embedded processors relies on benchmark results in one way or another. Executives use them to help make critical business and technical decisions. Engineers and managers use them to evaluate in-house processors or to help choose a processor for a new product. Marketers use them for competitive analysis and to add credibility to their marketing programs.

System developers often rely on processor benchmarks to gauge system performance. However, the processor is just one of many components that determines overall performance. Fully understanding system performance requires careful analysis of many other elements, such as code-generation tools and third-party software libraries.

Say you’re looking for an H.264 video decoder solution to integrate into your system, and you’re trying to compare what's available.  You figure this should be a straightforward process–after all, H.264 is a standards-based codec, so it should be easy to find apples-to-apples performance data. 

You confidently search the Internet and are rewarded with a bunch of performance data. But (as is true with any multimedia solution) the format and type of data is all over the map.  For example:

On July 5th ASIC design house VeriSilicon Holdings Co. announced its acquisition of the ZSP digital signal processor core business from LSI Logic for $13 million in cash and stock (LSI originally acquired the ZSP unit in 1999 for $11.3 million) The acquisition includes cores, development tools, ASSPs, software, and associated patents. VeriSilicon will retain most of the ZSP R&D team and continue developing a roadmap for additional core products.

On June 26th Texas Instruments announced the TAS3108, a new 8-channel audio processor targeting high fidelity home and car audio. The TAS3108's predecessor was a fixed-function filter engine. Customers would specify the filter properties and receive a customized fixed-function chip. With the TAS3108, TI has made the chip programmable and allowed customers the ability to implement their own filtering algorithms.

Companies that focus on DSP algorithm development are often at the cutting edge, delivering the ideas that drive new technologies.  For example, innovative compression, communications, and recognition algorithms have enabled numerous new products in recent years.  Unfortunately, it takes more than a great algorithm to be successful.  An algorithm is only as good as its implementation.  Without a well optimized implementation, even the best algorithm risks extinction in the marketplace.