A general-purpose programmable video signal processor

A general-purpose digital video signal processor (VSP) and its associated programming support tools are described. Its architecture, tailored to real-time video signal processing, makes the VSP a unique component for flexible and design-cost-effective implementations of real-time video systems. At the lowest architectural level various parallel operating and pipelined processing elements communicate by means of a crossbar switch which provides full communication between the processors and the outside world. Processors and a crossbar switch, constituting a module, are controlled by cyclostatic programs running at 27 MHz. Modularity is exploited at the two higher levels: the number of modules per chip can be geared to the available IC technology, and at the system level the number of identical VSP chips can be geared to the complexity of the respective algorithm. A one-module VSP chip, operating at 27 MHz, offers a processing power of 270 MIPS (million instructions per second) or 1400 MOPS (million operations per second) and a communication bandwidth of 3.2 Gb/s. Sampling rates exceeding 27 MHz can be handled after demultiplexing. Versatile interactive support tools assist in mapping a video algorithm onto the VSP hardware. A description is given of the interactive mapping tools, comprising a signal-flow-graph editor, a hardware editor, a partitioner and a scheduler, all provided with a graphical interface.< >