Why we need all these MIPS in future wireless communication systems-and how to design algorithms and architecture for these systems

Summary form only given. Advanced communication systems obey a generalized Moore's law. Not only does hardware complexity double every 18 months, but also the other performance indicators such as program size or memory content-increase by a factor of two in a period of one and a half and three years, to mention two examples. The drawing force behind this growth is the algorithmic complexity which is needed to design communication systems operating close to the information theoretic limits: near optimum system performance is bound to exponentially increasing algorithmic complexity. Stated differently, the usefulness for the user only grows logarithmically with complexity. Basically, this logarithmic complexity provides the rational for the continued growth of the semiconductor industry. Advanced communication systems will be implemented as reconfigurable, heterogeneous multiprocessor platforms. This hypothesis is based on the fundamental trade-off between computational efficiency (MOPS/mW) and flexibility. While programmable devices (processors or DSPs) have the highest degree of flexibility, they have at least a two to three orders of magnitude smaller computational efficiency than the intrinsic computational efficiency (ICE) of fixed architectures. Hence, since power is the limiting factor, the SOCs of the future will carefully match algorithm with architecture to achieve an optimum. ("just as much flexibility as needed"). These SOC's will, therefore, become application specific platforms.