Impulse - Optimal Applications

What types of applications are most suitable for Impulse C?

Impulse C is designed to simplify the development of highly parallel, processing-intensive applications, including applications that require a mix of hardware and software processing resources, or applications in which specific processes must be interfaced to other hardware and/or software components to form a complete system. (see the Applications Notes in the Download Area for some sample applications and interfaces.)

In support of these applications, Impulse C provides a streams-oriented approach to data movement, processing and synchronization as well as advanced compiler technologies allowing process-level parallelism to be automatically identified and utilized. By using these automated compiler features in conjunction with the streams-oriented programming features of Impulse C (which allow parallelism at the system level to be easily expressed) it's possible to create high performance applications without the need to write low-level hardware descriptions.

Applications consisting of multiple hardware and software processes can be easily mapped to FPGA platforms with or without embedded processors.

Efficient application characteristics

• Data rates are high to and from data sources and between processing elements.
• Data sizes are fixed (typically one byte to one word), with a relatively small stream payload to prevent processes from becoming blocked.
• Multiple related but independent computations are required to be performed on the same data stream.
• The data consist of low or fixed precision data values, typically fixed width integers or fixed point fractional values.
• There are references to local or shared memories, which may be used for storage of data arrays, coefficients and other constants, and to deposit results of computations.
• There are multiple independent processes communicating primarily through the data being passed, with occasional synchronization being requested via messages.

Suitable application types

• Image processing
• Software defined radio
• Speech encoders and decoders
• Data compression and encryption
• Data communications
• Digital signal processing
• and many others

Does Impulse C require an embedded microprocessor?
Although Impulse C is designed with embedded processors in mind (it can, for example, automatically generate the necessary processor to FPGA interfaces), it is not actually necessary to use an embedded processor in order to make use of Impulse C. Instead, you may choose to use Impulse C for describing and compiling specific processes that will be interfaced (using traditional hardware design tools and methods) with other IP components within one or more FPGAs. In this usage, Impulse C and the CoDeveloper compiler may be thought of as a module generator.

Does Impulse C replace existing hardware description languages?
Impulse C is not intended to replace HDLs for general purpose logic design. Instead, Impulse C is most useful for quickly moving algorithms expressed in C language to an FPGA for algorithm acceleration. Impulse C applications (which may consist of just one hardware process, or many processes connected to form a parallel system) therefore have well-defined communication interfaces (including streams, signals and simple registers) allowing them to communicate with external hardware and software components.

Indeed, for the highest possible application performance you should plan to use Impulse C and the CoDeveloper tools to get more quickly to an application prototype, then apply your existing HDL expertise to further accelerate and optimize key algorithms and processes. The benefit of using Impulse C is that it gives you more opportunities to experiment with alternative algorithmic approaches, a faster path to a working prototype and greater opportunities to improve system-level performance through iterative design methods.

view products | Impulse home page

Abatron | Adeneo Embedded | ADI Engineering | Blackhawk | Corelis | Domain Technologies | e-con Systems
EMA TimingDesigner | Embedded Planet | Entrek | EPI/Mentor | FlatOak | Intel Software | IntervalZero
Microcross | Microsoft Embedded | Segger | Signum | Sophia | SwiftModule | Tasking | TRITON Modules
Products by Processor | Products by Supplier | Boards & Modules