Texas Instruments multi-core digital signal processor (DSP) block diagram.
Here is what TI says about its OpenMP API: Getting developers one step closer to tapping the full potential of multicore digital signal processors (DSPs), Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NASDAQ: TXN) announced the industry’s first commercially available support for OpenMPTM Application Program Interface (API) on multicore DSPs. The OpenMP API is a portable, scalable model that provides developers utilizing TI’s KeyStone-based TMS320C66x multicore DSPs a simple and flexible interface for developing parallel applications in markets such as mission critical, industrial automation, embedded vision, medical imaging, video surveillance, audio and video infrastructure and high performance computing. With this optimized software offering, developers can benefit from faster development on TI’s C66x DSPs and can take full advantage of their multicore designs. For more information, please visit TI’s multicore page.
“With the industry’s first production release of OpenMP API support on their multicore DSPs, TI is truly making multicore programming easier for developers,” said Michael Wong, CEO of OpenMP. “TI’s support of the OpenMP API on its KeyStone-based C66x multicore DSPs allows developers to easily migrate their applications to take advantage of power and performance. This is an important milestone for all developers in the embedded processing space.”
Over time, software for embedded systems has become more complex for multicore developers. This complexity makes the production of software the critical path in the development of multicore embedded systems. With the OpenMP API, developers designing with TI’s C66x DSPs can easily increase programmer productivity, while reducing design, development costs and time to market for embedded systems. TI currently offers OpenMP API support for its TMS320C6670, TMS320C6671, TMS320C6672, TMS320C6674 and TMS320C6678 multicore DSPs.
“With the addition of OpenMP to their development tools, TI makes it simpler for customers to develop advanced software for TI’s high-performance multicore systems by increasing productivity and reducing development costs and time to market,” said Barbara Chapman, professor of computer science, University of Houston. “The combination of the tools and TI’s extremely powerful multicore processors will enable the creation of applications that were previously not possible.”
Availability
OpenMP API tools for TI’s C66x multicore DSPs are currently available for download as part of the C6x Compiler.
Further Reading
