Rapid prototyping of heterogeneous digital signal processors

A major difficulty in rapid prototyping of digital signal processing systems is the interconnection of processors with tailored networks. This difficulty is alleviated by utilizing a standardized processor-to-processor interface. This approach permits the configuration of application specific hardware. The hardware is mapped to the application as opposed to the traditional approach of mapping the application to the hardware. An inventory of heterogeneous processors specialized to perform a predefined set of functions, enables rapid prototyping of systems with arbitrary topologies. Standardization of the Interface Control Unit (ICU) greatly reduces the development cost and time by removing the need to design and develop custom interfaces.