[comp.sys.transputer] [mcsun!ukc!strath-cs!str-va!cnbs30@uunet.uu.net: DSP Processors and

cs_s424@ux.kingston.ac.uk (Netherwood P J) (03/18/91)

> A number of companies are currently putting together TRAMS for
> digital signal processing chips, such as the DSP 56000, and the
> newer Motorola 96000, Zoran chips and so on ....
> 
> Why?
> 
> What can the transputer offer DSP?   DSP is fast mulitply
> accumulate.  So are DSP algorithms.   Other than downlaod
> the code through a serial link I don't see where the transputers
> can offer their services to the DSP chips.   The parallelism that
> the transputer can offer a DSP chip is really not the type
> of parallelism that is inherent in DSP algorithms.  

I dont think its a case of "what transputers can offer DSP" or vice
versa, its a case of what DSP's and transputers can offer to applications
together. You're right, the parallelism is completely different, this is
where it's useful. In my field of machine vision, you can leave the
operations like FFT, convolution and matrix multiplication to DSP's,
which are good at that sort of thing, and leave complicated algorithms
like model matching to transputer networks.

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