Exploiting SIMD parallelism in DSP and multimedia algorithms using the AltiVec technology
Huy Nguyen, Lizy K. John · 1999
AltiVec technology is Motorola's high-performance vector parallel processing extension to the PowerPC tm RISC microprocessor. It is designed to improve the performance of algorithms and applications that can exploit data parallelism such as those in digital signal processing (DSP) and multimedia. In this paper, we investigate the behavior of the AltiVec technology on a set of common DSP and multimedia algorithms. These algorithms include digital filters, fast Fourier transforms, inverse discrete cosine transforms, and vector arithmetic. Each algorithm has one non-AltiVec version, and one version implemented with the AltiVec instruction set by using the AltiVec programming model. The AltiVec version of the algorithms is evaluated using an AltiVec emulator. Traces for both versions are obtained by using an AltiVec-enabled trace generator, and trace-driven simulation is performed by using a cycle-accurate performance simulator. The observed speedup for the AltiVec version of DSP and mul...