A Platform-Independent Methodology for Performance Estimation of Multimedia Signal Processing Applications

摘要

A methodological framework for performance estimation of multimedia signal processing applications on different implementation platforms is presented. The methodology derives a complexity profile which is characteristic for an application, but completely platform-independent. By correlating the complexity profile with platform-specific data, performance estimation results for different platforms are obtained. The methodology is based on a reference software implementation of the targeted application, but is, in constrast to instruction-level profiling-based approaches, fully independent of its optimization degree. The proposed methodology is demonstrated by example of an MPEG-4 Advanced Simple Profile (ASP) video decoder. Performance estimation results are presented for two different platforms, a specialized VLIW media processor and an embedded general-purpose RISC processor, showing a high accuracy of the methodology. The approach can be employed to assist in design decisions in the specification phase of new architectures, in the selection process of a suitable target platform for a multimedia application, or in the optimization stage of a software implementation on a specific platform.