REAL-TIME, CONCURRENT, MULTIFUNCTION DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR SUBSYSTEM FOR PERSONAL COMPUTERS

A personal computer system includes a digital signal processor (DSP) subsystem that is connectable to a plurality of application specific hardware devices. A single DSP is operable under a DSP real-time operating system (RTOS) to concurrently handle a plurality of different signal processing functions on a real-time basis. A DSP data store is connected to the DSP and to the personal computer and includes addressable locations that emulate addressable I/O registers associated with the application specific hardware devices to enable the personal computer to run a plurality of application programs controlling operation of the hardware devices. Performance is enhanced for I/O read and write operations by delaying halting of the DSP allowing such operations to complete in a cycle during which the DSP is not accessing the data store.