Optimization of Audio Processing algorithms (Reverb) on ARMv6 family of processors
Audio processing algorithms are increasingly used in cell phones and today’s customers are placing more demands on cell phones. Feature phones, once the advent of mobile phone technology, nowadays do more than just providing the user with MP3 play back or advanced audio effects. These features have become an integral part of medium as well as low-end phones. On the other hand, there is also an endeavor to include as improved quality as possible into products to compete in market and satisfy users’ needs. Tackling the above requirements has been partly satisfied by the advance in hardware design and manufacturing technology. However, as new hardware emerges into market the need for competence to write efficient software and exploit the new features thoroughly and effectively arises. Even though compilers are also keeping up with the new tide space for hand optimized code still exist. Wrapped in the above goal, an effort was made in this thesis to partly cover the competence requirement at Multimedia Section (part of Ericsson Mobile Platforms) to develope optimized code for new processors. Forging persistently ahead with new products, EMP has always incorporated the latest technology into its products among which ARMv6 family of processors has the main central processing role in a number of upcoming products. To fully exploit latest features provided by ARMv6, it was required to probe its new instruction set among which new media processing instructions are of outmost importance. In order to execute DSP-intensive algorithms (e.g. Audio Processing algorithms) efficiently, the implementation should be done in low-level code applying available instruction set. Meanwhile, ARMv6 comes with a number of new features in comparison with its predecessors. SIMD (Single Instruction Multiple Data) and VFP (Vector Floating Point) are the most prominent media processing improvements in ARMv6. Aligned with thesis goals and guidelines, Reverb algorithm which is among one of the most complicated audio features on a hand-held devices was probed. Consequently, its kernel parts were identified and implementation was done both in fixed-point and floating-point using the available resources on hardware. Besides execution time and amount of code memory for each part were measured and provided in tables and charts for comparison purposes. Conclusions were finally drawn based on developed code’s efficiency over ARM compiler’s as well as existing code already developed and tailored to ARMv5 processors. The main criteria for optimization was the execution time. Moreover, quantization effect due to limited precision fixed-point arithmetic was formulated and its effect on quality was elaborated. The outcomes, clearly indicate that hand optimization of kernel parts are superior to Compiler optimized alternative both from the point of code memory as well as execution time. The results also confirmed the presumption that hand optimized code using new instruction set can improve efficiency by an average 25%-50% depending on the algorithm structure and its interaction with other parts of audio effect. Despite its many draw backs, fixed-point implementation remains yet to be the dominant implementation for majority of DSP algorithms on low-power devices.
Automatic Parallel Memory Address Generation for Parallel DSP Computing
The concept of Parallel Vector (scratch pad) Memories (PVM) was introduced as one solution for Parallel Computing in DSP, which can provides parallel memory addressing efficiently with minimum latency. The parallel programming more efficient by using the parallel addressing generator for parallel vector memory (PVM) proposed in this thesis. However, without hiding complexities by cache, the cost of programming is high. To minimize the programming cost, automatic parallel memory address generation is needed to hide the complexities of memory access. This thesis investigates methods for implementing conflict-free vector addressing algorithms on a parallel hardware structure. In particular, match vector addressing requirements extracted from the behaviour model to a prepared parallel memory addressing template, in order to supply data in parallel from the main memory to the on-chip vector memory. According to the template and usage of the main and on-chip parallel vector memory, models for data pre-allocation and permutation in scratch pad memories of ASIP can be decided and configured. By exposing the parallel memory access of source code, the memory access flow graph (MFG) will be generated. Then MFG will be used combined with hardware information to match templates in the template library. When it is matched with one template, suited permutation equation will be gained, and the permutation table that include target addresses for data pre-allocation and permutation is created. Thus it is possible to automatically generate memory address for parallel memory accesses. A tool for achieving the goal mentioned above is created, Permutator, which is implemented in C++ combined with XML. Memory access coding template is selected, as a result that permutation formulas are specified. And then PVM address table could be generated to make the data pre-allocation, so that efficient parallel memory access is possible. The result shows that the memory access complexities is hiden by using Permutator, so that the programming cost is reduced.It works well in the context that each algorithm with its related hardware information is corresponding to a template case, so that extra memory cost is eliminated.
Voice Codec for Floating Point Processor
As part of an ongoing project at the department of electrical engineering, ISY, at Linköping University, a voice decoder using floating point formats has been the focus of this master thesis. Previous work has been done developing an mp3-decoder using the floating point formats. All is expected to be implemented on a single DSP.The ever present desire to make things smaller, more efficient and less power consuming are the main reasons for this master thesis regarding the use of a floating point format instead of the traditional integer format in a GSM codec. The idea with the low precision floating point format is to be able to reduce the size of the memory. This in turn reduces the size of the total chip area needed and also decreases the power consumption.One main question is if this can be done with the floating point format without losing too much sound quality of the speech. When using the integer format, one can represent every value in the range depending on how many bits are being used. When using a floating point format you can represent larger values using fewer bits compared to the integer format but you lose representation of some values and have to round the values off.From the tests that have been made with the decoder during this thesis, it has been found that the audible difference between the two formats is very small and can hardly be heard, if at all. The rounding seems to have very little effect on the quality of the sound and the implementation of the codec has succeeded in reproducing similar sound quality to the GSM standard decoder.
Evaluation of Image Warping Algorithms for Implementation in FPGA
The target of this master thesis is to evaluate the Image Warping technique and propose a possible design for an implementation in FPGA. The Image Warping is widely used in the image processing for image correction and rectification. A DSP is a usual choice for implantation of the image processing algorithms, but to decrease a cost of the target system it was proposed to use an FPGA for implementation. In this work a different Image Warping methods was evaluated in terms of performance, produced image quality, complexity and design size. Also, considering that it is not only Image Warping algorithm which will be implemented on the target system, it was important to estimate a possible memory bandwidth used by the proposed design. The evaluation was done by implemented a C-model of the proposed design with a finite datapath to simulate hardware implementation as close as possible.
Implementation of Algorithms on FPGAs
This thesis describes how an algorithm is transferred from a digital signal processor to an embedded microprocessor in an FPGA using C to hardware program from Altera. Saab Avitronics develops the secondary high lift control system for the Boeing 787 aircraft. The high lift system consists of electric motors controlling the trailing edge wing flaps and the leading edge wing slats. The high lift motors manage to control the Boeing 787 aircraft with full power even if half of each motor’s stators are damaged. The motor is a PMDC brushless motor which is controlled by an advanced algorithm. The algorithm needs to be calculated by a fast special digital signal processor. In this thesis I have tested if the algorithm can be transferred to an FPGA and still manage the time and safety demands. This was done by transferring an already working algorithm from the digital signal processor to an FPGA. The idea was to put the algorithm in an embedded NIOS II microprocessor and speed up the bottlenecks with Altera’s C to hardware program. The study shows that the C-code needs to be optimized for C to hardware to manage the up speeding part, as the tests showed that the calculation time for the algorithm actually became longer with C to hardware. This thesis also shows that it is highly probable to use an FPGA equipped with Altera’s NIOS II safety critical microprocessor instead of a digital signal processor to control the electrical high lift motors in the Boeing 787 aircraft.
DSP Platform Benchmarking
Benchmarking of DSP kernel algorithms was conducted in the thesis on a DSP processor for teaching in the course TESA26 in the department of Electrical Engineering. It includes benchmarking on cycle count and memory usage. The goal of the thesis is to evaluate the quality of a single MAC DSP instruction set and provide suggestions for further improvement in instruction set architecture accordingly. The scope of the thesis is limited to benchmark the processor only based on assembly coding. The quality check of compiler is not included. The method of the benchmarking was proposed by BDTI, Berkeley Design Technology Incorporations, which is the general methodology used in world wide DSP industry. Proposals on assembly instruction set improvements include the enhancement of FFT and DCT. The cycle cost of the new FFT benchmark based on the proposal was XX% lower, showing that the proposal was right and qualified. Results also show that the proposal promotes the cycle cost score for matrix computing, especially matrix multiplication. The benchmark results were compared with general scores of single MAC DSP processors offered by BDTI.
Efficient arithmetic for high speed DSP implementation on FPGAs
The author was sponsored by EnTegra Ltd, a company who develop hardware and software products and services for the real time implementation of DSP and RF systems. The field programmable gate array (FPGA) is being used increasingly in the field of DSP. This is due to the fact that the parallel computing power of such devices is ideal for today’s truly demanding DSP algorithms. Algorithms such as the QR-RLS update are computationally intensive and must be carried out at extremely high speeds (MHz). This means that the DSP processor is simply not an option. ASICs can be used but the expense of developing custom logic is prohibitive. The increased use of the FPGA in DSP means that there is a significant requirement for efficient arithmetic cores that utilises the resources on such devices. This thesis presents the research and development effort that was carried out to produce fixed point division and square root cores for use in a new Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tool for EnTegra, which is targeted at FPGA implementation of DSP systems. Further to this, a new technique for predicting the accuracy of CORDIC systems computing vector magnitudes and cosines/sines is presented. This work allows the most efficient CORDIC design for a specified level of accuracy to be found quickly and easily without the need to run lengthy simulations, as was the case before. The CORDIC algorithm is a technique using mainly shifts and additions to compute many arithmetic functions and is thus ideal for FPGA implementation.
Algorithm Adaptation and Optimization of a Novel DSP Vector Co-processor
The Division of Computer Engineering at Linköping's university is currently researching the possibility to create a highly parallel DSP platform, that can keep up with the computational needs of upcoming standards for various applications, at low cost and low power consumption. The architecture is called ePUMA and it combines a general RISC DSP master processor with eight SIMD co-processors on a single chip. The master processor will act as the main processor for general tasks and execution control, while the co-processors will accelerate computing intensive and parallel DSP kernels.This thesis investigates the performance potential of the co-processors by implementing matrix algebra kernels for QR decomposition, LU decomposition, matrix determinant and matrix inverse, that run on a single co-processor. The kernels will then be evaluated to find possible problems with the co-processors' microarchitecture and suggest solutions to the problems that might exist. The evaluation shows that the performance potential is very good, but a few problems have been identified, that causes significant overhead in the kernels. Pipeline mismatches, that occurs due to different pipeline lengths for different instructions, causes pipeline hazards and the current solution to this, doesn't allow effective use of the pipeline. In some cases, the single port memories will cause bottlenecks, but the thesis suggests that the situation could be greatly improved by using buffered memory write-back. Also, the lack of register forwarding makes kernels with many data dependencies run unnecessarily slow.
Implementation of Elementary Functions for a Fixed Point SIMD DSP Coprocessor
This thesis is about implementing the functions for reciprocal, square root, inverse square root and logarithms on a DSP platform. A multi-core DSP platform that consists of one master processor core and several SIMD coprocessor cores is currently being designed by a team at the Computer Engineering Department of Linköping University. The SIMD coprocessors’ arithmetic logic unit (ALU) has 16 multipliers to support vector multiplication instructions. By efficiently using the 16 multipliers, it is possible to evaluate polynomials very fast. The ALU does not have (hardware) support for floating point arithmetic, so the challenge is to get good precision by using fixed point arithmetic. Precise and fast solutions to implement the mathematical functions are found by converting the fixed point input to a soft floating point format before polynomial approximation, choosing a polynomial based on an error analysis of the polynomial approximation, and using Newton-Raphson or Goldschmidt iterations to improve the precision of the polynomial approximations. Finally, suggestions are made of changes and additions to the instruction set architecture, in order to make the implementations faster, by efficiently using the currently existing hardware.
Benchmarking a DSP processor
This Master thesis describes the benchmarking of a DSP processor. Benchmarking means measuring the performance in some way. In this report, we have focused on the number of instruction cycles needed to execute certain algorithms. The algorithms we have used in the benchmark are all very common in signal processing today. The results we have reached in this thesis have been compared to benchmarks for other processors, performed by Berkeley Design Technology, Inc. The algorithms were programmed in assembly code and then executed on the instruction set simulator. After that, we proposed changes to the instruction set, with the aim to reduce the execution time for the algorithms. The results from the benchmark show that our processor is at the same level as the ones tested by BDTI. Probably would a more experienced programmer be able to reduce the cycle count even more, especially for some of the more complex benchmarks.
A New Contender in the Digital Differentiator Race
This blog proposes a novel differentiator worth your consideration. Although simple, the differentiator provides a fairly wide 'frequency range of linear operation' and can be implemented, if need be, without performing numerical multiplications.
Complex Down-Conversion Amplitude Loss
This article illustrates the signal amplitude loss inherent in a traditional complex down-conversion system. (In the literature of signal processing, complex down-conversion is also called "quadrature demodulation.")
Specifying the Maximum Amplifier Noise When Driving an ADC
I recently learned an interesting rule of thumb regarding the use of an amplifier to drive the input of an analog to digital converter (ADC). The rule of thumb describes how to specify the maximum allowable noise power of the amplifier.
STUDY OF DIGITAL MODULATION TECHNIQUES
Modulation is the process of facilitating the transfer of information over a medium. Typically the objective of a digital communication system is to transport digital data between two or more nodes. In radio communications this is usually achieved by adjusting a physical characteristic of a sinusoidal carrier, either the frequency, phase, amplitude or a combination thereof . This is performed in real systems with a modulator at the transmitting end to impose the physical change to the carrier and a demodulator at the receiving end to detect the resultant modulation on reception. Hence, modulation can be objectively defined as the process of converting information so that it can be successfully sent through a medium. This thesis deals with the current digital modulation techniques used in industry. Also, the thesis examines the qualitative and quantitative criteria used in selection of one modulation technique over the other. All the experiments, and realted data collected were obtained using MATLAB and SIMULINK
LOW-RESOURCE DELAYLESS SUBBAND ADAPTIVE FILTER USING WEIGHTED OVERLAP-ADD
A delayless structure targeted for low-resource implementation is proposed to eliminate filterbank processing delays in subband adaptive filters (SAFs). Rather than using direct IFFT or polyphase filterbanks to transform the SAFs back into the time-domain, the proposed method utilizes a weighted overlap-add (WOLA) synthesis. Low-resource real-time implementations are targeted and as such do not involve long (as long as the echo plant) FFT or IFFT operations. Also, the proposed approach facilitates time distribution of the adaptive filter reconstruction calculations crucial for efficient real-time and hardware implementation. The method is implemented on an oversampled WOLA filterbank employed as part of an echo cancellation application. Evaluation results demonstrate that the proposed implementation outperforms conventional SAF systems since the signals used in actual adaptive filtering are not distorted by filterbank aliasing. The method is a good match for partial update adaptive algorithms since segments of the time-domain adaptive filter are sequentially reconstructed and updated.
A NEW PARALLEL IMPLEMENTATION FOR PARTICLE FILTERS AND ITS APPLICATION TO ADAPTIVE WAVEFORM DESIGN
Sequential Monte Carlo particle filters (PFs) are useful for estimating nonlinear non-Gaussian dynamic system parameters. As these algorithms are recursive, their real-time implementation can be computationally complex. In this paper, we analyze the bottlenecks in existing parallel PF algorithms, and we propose a new approach that integrates parallel PFs with independent Metropolis-Hastings (PPF-IMH) algorithms to improve root mean-squared estimation error performance. We implement the new PPF-IMH algorithm on a Xilinx Virtex-5 field programmable gate array (FPGA) platform. For a onedimensional problem and using 1,000 particles, the PPF-IMH architecture with four processing elements utilizes less than 5% Virtex-5 FPGA resources and takes 5.85 μs for one iteration. The algorithm performance is also demonstrated when designing the waveform for an agile sensing application.
Adaptive distributed noise reduction for speech enhancement in wireless acoustic sensor networks
An adaptive distributed noise reduction algorithm for speech enhancement is considered, which operates in a wireless acoustic sensor network where each node collects multiple microphone signals. In previous work, it was shown theoretically that for a stationary scenario, the algorithm provides the same signal estimators as the centralized multi-channel Wiener filter, while significantly compressing the data that is transmitted between the nodes. Here, we present simulation results of a fully adaptive implementation of the algorithm, in a non-stationary acoustic scenario with a moving speaker and two babble noise sources. The algorithm is implemented using a weighted overlap-add technique to reduce the overall input-output delay. It is demonstrated that good results can be obtained by estimating the required signal statistics with a long-term forgetting factor without downdating, even though the signal statistics change along with the iterative filter updates. It is also demonstrated that simultaneous node updating provides a significantly smoother and faster tracking performance compared to sequential node updating.
Biosignal processing challenges in emotion recognition for adaptive learning
User-centered computer based learning is an emerging field of interdisciplinary research. Research in diverse areas such as psychology, computer science, neuroscience and signal processing is making contributions to take this field to the next level. Learning systems built using contributions from these fields could be used in actual training and education instead of just laboratory proof-of-concept. One of the important advances in this research is the detection and assessment of the cognitive and emotional state of the learner using such systems. This capability moves development beyond the use of traditional user performance metrics to include system intelligence measures that are based on current theories in neuroscience. These advances are of paramount importance in the success and wide spread use of learning systems that are automated and intelligent. Emotion is considered an important aspect of how learning occurs, and yet estimating it and making adaptive adjustments are not part of most learning systems. In this research we focus on one specific aspect of constructing an adaptive and intelligent learning system, that is, estimation of the emotion of the learner as he/she is using the automated training system. The challenge starts with the definition of the emotion and the utility of it in human life. The next challenge is to measure the co-varying factors of the emotions in a non-invasive way, and find consistent features from these measures that are valid across wide population. In this research we use four physiological sensors that are non-invasive, and establish a methodology of utilizing the data from these sensors using different signal processing tools. A validated set of visual stimuli used worldwide in the research of emotion and attention, called International Affective Picture System (IAPS), is used. A dataset is collected from the sensors in an experiment designed to elicit emotions from these validated visual stimuli. We describe a novel wavelet method to calculate hemispheric asymmetry metric using electroencephalography data. This method is tested against typically used power spectral density method. We show overall improvement in accuracy in classifying specific emotions using the novel method. We also show distinctions between different discrete emotions from the autonomic nervous system activity using electrocardiography, electrodermal activity and pupil diameter changes. Findings from different features from these sensors are used to give guidelines to use each of the individual sensors in the adaptive learning environment.
Fully Programmable LDPC Decoder Hardware Architectures
In recent years, the amount of digital data which is stored and transmitted for private and public usage has increased considerably. To allow a save transmission and storage of data despite of error-prone transmission media, error correcting codes are used. A large variety of codes has been developed, and in the past decade low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes which have an excellent error correction performance became more and more popular. Today, low-density parity-check codes have been adopted for several standards, and efficient decoder hardware architectures are known for the chosen structured codes. However, the existing decoder designs lack flexibility as only few structured codes can be decoded with one decoder chip. In consequence, different codes require a redesign of the decoder, and few solutions exist for decoding of codes which are not quasi-cyclic or which are unstructured. In this thesis, three different approaches are presented for the implementation of fully programmable LDPC decoders which can decode arbitrary LDPC codes. As a design study, the first programmable decoder which uses a heuristic mapping algorithm is realized on an field-programmable gate array (FPGA), and error correction curves are measured to verify the correct functionality. The main contribution of this thesis lies in the development of the second and the third architecture and an appropriate mapping algorithm. The proposed fully programmable decoder architectures use one-phase message passing and layered decoding and can decode arbitrary LDPC codes using an optimum mapping and scheduling algorithm. The presented programmable architectures are in fact generalized decoder architectures from which the known decoders architectures for structured LDPC codes can be derived.
Active Noise Control of a Forest Machine Cabin
Today, a high noise level is considered a problem in many working environments. The main reason is that it contributes to stress and fatigue. Traditional methods using passive noise control is only practicable for high frequencies. As a complement to passive noise control, active noise control (ANC) can be used to reduce low frequency noise. The main idea of ANC is to use destructive interference of waves to cancel disturbing noises. The purpose of this thesis is to design and implement an ANC system in the driver's cabin of a Valmet 890 forest machine. The engine boom is one of the most disturbing noises and therefore the main subjective for the ANC system to suppress. The ANC system is implemented on a Texas Instrument DSP development starter kit. Different FxLMS algorithms are evaluated with feedback and feedforward configurations. The results indicate that an ANC system significantly reduces the sound pressure level (SPL) in the cabin. Best performance of the evaluated systems is achieved for the feedforward FxLMS system. For a commonly used engine speed of 1500 rpm, the SPL is reduced with 17 dB. The results show fast enough convergence and global suppression of low frequency noise.
