Bandwidth optimization of the EMCI for a high performance 32-bit DSP

Abstract

Memory bandwidth and interface flexibility are often bottlenecks of embedded processors. The research about memory bandwidth optimization has become a hot topic. This paper introduces four new bandwidth optimization methods for External Memory Control Interface (EMCI) integrated in high performance digit signal processors (DSP), and aims at realization of the maximum throughput of data transmission and architecture flexibility, i.e. programmable and decoupled structure, pipelined transmission of burst mode, programmable priority for arbitration, and preferential reading based on cache-line offset. The experiment results show that the performance improvement is remarkable, but different for synchronous and asynchronous memories, and depends on the application behavior. The decoupled structure proves to be of great benefit to the architectural exploration and optimization for DSPs. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2006.