The impact of language extensions on DSP programming

As digital signal processors (DSPs) become more powerful and less expensive, they are being used in increasing numbers in electronic devices. In applications such as communications, DSPs have become an essential component for the cost-effective processing of real world data. They are also used heavily in modems, sound cards, imaging systems, disk drive controllers, etc. This paper examines some of the unique characteristics of DSPs, discusses the inadequacies of the C programming language in describing signal processing algorithms and describes techniques which allow compilers to be used efficiently for DSP programming. Finally, performance measurement data is presented to show the results of our work.