Concurrent VLSI architectures for image and signal processing: Applications in image and signal processing

Abstract

From the introduction of the ENIAC computer in 1946 until the beginning of this decade, the electronic organization or “architecture” of the computer has consisted of four basic components: a processor, a control unit, memory storage, and input/output units (Fig. 1). The memory holds data and lists of instructions that the processor and control unit use to solve a problem. The input/output units could be conventional devices such as magnetic tapes or hard disks, or external devices such as antennas or a video camera. Continually improving integrated circuit technology, which now allows transistor densities as high as 500,000 devices per integrated circuit, has provided this basic single-processor or “uni-processor” computer architecture the computing horsepower needed to keep up with the increasing information processing demands experienced during the past three decades.