Designing SOCs with Configured Cores

11.1. 300 Instructions Boost Audio Performance

Tensilica added more than 300 new instructions and two new register files to the base Xtensa ISA to create the Diamond 330HiFi audio DSP. The new instructions work directly with 24-bit audio data types and allow the processor to more efficiently process audio data streams, which in turn allows the Diamond 330HiFi DSP to perform the same work at a lower clock rate and to therefore dissipate less power while executing the audio codecs. The two new register files are respectively an 8-entry file named “P” with 48 bits/entry (each entry can hold two 24-bit values) and a 4-entry file named “Q” with 56-bit entries. The 56-bit values are generated from a set of instructions that control a dual multiplier/accumulator ...