Sustaining the Exponential Growth of Embedded Digital Signal Processing Capability

摘要

This proposed paper is less of a technical exposition than a retrospective and exhortation regarding the importance of sustained efforts in algorithm and software research and development. The paper compares and contrasts the contributions of hardware and algorithm improvements to the rate of improvement in high performance computing and signal processing. We conjecture that as IC shrinkage and attendant performance improvements begin to slow, the exponential rate of improvement we have become accustomed to for embedded applications will be sustainable only through a faster pace of improvement in algorithms and software.