ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a general design process for high performance, application-specific embedded processors and presents an overview of digital signal processing technologies. The principal functions of front-end processors are signal and image processing algorithms, such as digital filtering, fast Fourier transforms, matrix operations, beamforming, detections, and tracking. The algorithm is developed into a processor in the physical design phase, which is further divided into chip-level design and system-level design. The chips can be implemented with a number of different technologies, each of which has its own benefits and limitations. The layout of a module or even a complete integrated circuit can be manually created by specifying individual transistor dimensions, locations, and interconnections. This approach is commonly referred to as the full-custom design. The system takes a modular approach for implementation. The 16 channels are divided into four boards, each of which processes four channels. This modular design creates a significant data communication challenge.
