CISC, RISC and DSP processors in real-time signal processing and control

Abstract

This paper presents an investigation into the performance evaluation of advanced complex instruction set computer (CISC) processors, reduced instruction set computer (RISC) processors and digital signal processing (DSP) devices in the real-time implementation of signal processing and control algorithms. The algorithms considered are of varying degree of regularity relative to one another. These include a fast Fourier transform algorithm, a second-order correlation algorithm, two adaptive filtering algorithms, a simulation algorithm of a flexible manipulator system and simulation, identification and active vibration control algorithms of a flexible beam system. The algorithms are implemented on an 80486DX2 CISC processor, an 80386DX CISC processor, a SPARC TMS390S10 RISC processor, a T805 RISC processor, an 80i860 RISC processor and a TMS320C40 DSP device. The hardware and software resources and capabilities of the processors and the characteristics of the algorithms are discussed to provide a matching between the algorithms and the architectures. Finally, a comparison of the results of the implementations, on the basis of real-time computation performance, is made and discussed.