A fixed-point multimedia DSP chip for portable multimedia services

Existing multimedia processors having millions of transistors are not suitable for portable multimedia services and existing fixed-point DSP chips having fixed data formats are not appropriate for multimedia applications. This paper proposes a multimedia fixed-point DSP (MDSP) chip for portable multimedia services and its chip implementation. MDSP employs parallel processing techniques, such as SIMD, vector processing, and DSP techniques. MDSP can handle 8-, 16-, 32- or 40-bit data and can perform two MAC operations in parallel. In addition, MDSP can complete two vector operations with two data movements in a cycle. With these features, MDSP can handle both 2D video processing and 1D signal processing. The prototype MDSP chip has 68,831 gates, has been fabricated, and is running at 30 MHz.