Retargetable Code Generation : Key Issues for Successful Introduction

Abstract

This chapter considers a number of major issues that a telecom system house like Alcatel faces as a result of the trend towards DSP systems-on-chip using DSP-cores : the choice of the DSP-core architecture, the decision to use an off-the-shelf core or to develop an in-house core, the selection of the formalism in which the DSP software is developed, and the required tool support. In this analysis, an important focus of attention is whether the selected architecture and design-entry formalism allow efficient code generation in the near future, because these issues determine the success or failure of the introduction of a high-level language based methodology of DSP systems-on-chip. In addition, we present our view on the code generation problem itself.