Embedded Media Processing (Embedded Technology) (Paperback)

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Key Phrases: embedded media processing, asynchronous memory, next descriptor, General Purpose, Convergent Processor, Active Video Blanking Field (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Both the experienced system designer and the student will find value in this comprehensive work. More practical than a theoretical text, it's what an expert engineer would tell a peer embarking on the journey of embedded media processing. Notably reader-friendly for a subject this complex, this book should give anyone access to multimedia design techniques including memory partitioning, data movement, and power considerations."
- Max Baron, Principal Analyst, In-Stat

"This readable, practical book addresses the needs of today's embedded systems that are designed specifically to meet the computational demands and power constraints of the latest embedded audio, video and communications applications. The book spans architectures, implementations, memory issues, data flows, and sharing of processing loads, while exploring the inevitable tradeoffs that engineers must weigh in their designs."
- Bill Schweber, Executive Editor, EDN Magazine

"Grounded in real-world application support experience, this book provides readers with an in-depth look at embedded multimedia design and the processors that are driving the emergence of a new class of applications - from video-enabled handheld devices to control-intensive industrial imaging systems."
- Sam Fuller, Vice President, R&D, Analog Devices, Inc.

"You cannot go wrong buying this book. The authors have done an excellent job blending practical information about embedded media processing with general information about signal processing. If you plan to develop embedded applications that will employ video or audio information, you will find this book more than earns its keep."
- Jon Titus, Senior Technical Editor, ECN

Book Description

THE one-stop shop for engineers who need to understand what EMP's can do, and how to implement them!

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Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Newnes (September 21, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0750679123
• ISBN-13: 978-0750679121
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #552,365 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very Basic Book, October 3, 2007

By	Ivan "icasella" - See all my reviews

I was looking for a good reference book for learning more about the Blackfin DSP family that covers hardware and software aspects (Assembler and C programming using Visual DSP++).

Analog Devices has recommended the book Embedded Media Processing. Unfortunately, this book is very basic, covering just few hardware aspects that you can easy find in Analog Devices site.

I really do not recommend this book for anyone.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Answers to many Questions, November 21, 2005

By	Johannes Horvath (Vienna, Austria) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is a genious compilation of the Processors characteristic in depth and it toughes the obviously not direct visible problems in EMP. Understanding of Memory Architectures and the highly efficient DMA are key in designs where you want to combine real-time datastreams of Audio and Video plus a GUI and the connection to the internet. It explains very well the problems of such a system design, and how the Blackfin Processor solves those. Code optimization is a "Black Magic", where this book spends 45 pages for. This book directs you the way, but not the final solution. Additional the CD-ROM is filled with the full Development Software for the Blackfin. Fully functional after registration on the Analog Devices web site for 90 days. Also manuals for all Processors, Compiler, Simulator, Evaluation Boards and much more is on the CD. Worth, to have this book in your standard library. 5 Stars.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique and useful book on embedded media system design, September 7, 2007

By	calvinnme "Texan refugee" (Fredericksburg, Va) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

Embedded media processing is a relatively new application area because it requires performance levels only recently attainable. This book assumes the reader has a working understanding of microcontroller and DSP fundamentals and also a comprehension of programming methodologies. Although the book does discuss media processing systems in general, it often grounds the discussion in concrete examples, and uses the Blackfin processor family as a basis for examples and architectural discussion. An overview of the book follows by chapter:

1. Embedded Media Processing - Introduces the concept of embedded media processing and describes how it presents new design challenges. There is an architectural discussion of the Blackfin processor that serves as a foundation for further discussions in the book.

2. Memory Systems - Provides a combination of information and examples to shed some light on the wide array of current and upcoming memory technologies. Specifically, the book talks about what types of memory to use and how to connect them in a system.

3. Direct Memory Access (DMA) - Describes DMA and relates why it is crucial in an embedded multimedia system. There are numerous examples of how the DMA controller can intelligently move data to save extra passes through the system.

4. System Resource Partitioning and Code Optimization - This chapter focuses on processor architectural features that are crucial to understand when developing a complex multimedia system. These features include event generation and handling, instruction pipelines, native addressing modes, and specialized instructions. There are many compiler tips and tricks to make the process of porting existing C/C++ code to an embedded processor as painless as possible.

5. Basics of Embedded Audio Processing - The starting point for any embedded system that requires audio processing. The basics of the human auditory system are presented along with sampling theory. Next the book describes how to connect your embedded processor to audio converters or other inputs and outputs. Discussions of audio building blocks, basic programming techniques, fundamental algorithms, and audio and speech compression standards are included.

6. Basics of Embedded Image and Video Processing - The "need to know" video basics are here without getting bogged down by format variations, geographic differences, legacy formats, etc. There is a discussion of video sources and displays that include the basic processing steps in an image pipeline. The chapter includes an example video application - analysis and design.

7. Media Processing Frameworks - Targets the problem of how to port media algorithms from larger processors where memory and bandwidth are "free" to embedded systems that don't have unlimited resources. Describes a variety of programming frameworks that allow you to optimize performance for a given application without needlessly increasing the complexity of the programming model. Benchmarking techniques are described that will help the reader adapt a framework to fit a target application.

8. Power Management for Embedded Systems - Acquaints the reader with the many facets of power management on high-performance processors. Included is a detailed discussion of Dynamic Power Management, which is a suite of processor functionality that allows flexible voltage and frequency tuning to meet performance goals while maximizing power savings. Next voltage regulation is covered, starting with an overview of linear regulators and proceeding to step-down switching regulators. Included are recommendations for component selection to aid in circuit design.

9. Application Examples - The final chapter picks a few key areas of media processing and delves into the details on the implementation of an algorithm, framework, or system. In doing so, the book leverages the knowledge base of the previous chapters with the intent of showing how the concepts tie together into coherent entities that you can apply to your own embedded media projects.

The book includes a CD-ROM which contains VisualDSP++ Test Drive from Analog Devices. This is a fully functional 90-day trial of the VisualDSP++ 4.0 integrated development and debug environment for Blackfin processors. The book also has a companion website that has lots of useful information on embedded media processing includng notes, code examples, white papers, and updates made for the book's second printing.

This book is well-illustrated, clear, and detailed in its coverage of this useful but not well understood topic. I highly recommend it to anyone anticipating building an embedded system in which the processing of audio, video, or image data shall occur.