Translating Signal Flowcharts into Microcode for Custom Digital Signal Processors

Abstract

The retargetable microcode compiler CBC suited for application specific DSP (ASDSP) system software development is presented. The compiler is capable of generating code for various single instruction architectures. During the retargeting of the compiler a formal description of the target machine is analyzed in order to extract the machine-specific information needed for code generation. The tasks of the compiler comprise control flow transformations, code selection, data-routing and scheduling, address assignment and code mapping. The problems are discussed, the structure of the microcode compiler is given and future research directions are briefly outlined.