Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing has announced an enhanced, updated version of its comprehensive DSP function library, Continuum Vector, that is optimized for use with Intel’s new 2nd Generation Core i7 processors. The new version enables developers of military signal processing applications to easily access the power of the Intel’s 256-bit floating point AVX instructions one of the major enhancement introduced with Intel’s 2nd Generation Core i7 processor. With its wider 256-bit registers, AVX instructions support twice as many floating point elements as previous SSE implementation, effectively doubling performance. Many DSP algorithms can take advantage of these wider instructions. For example, commonly employed FFT functions show up to 1.8x improvement in performance when performed with AVX.
Continuum Vector features over 140 commonly used DSP functions, and supports native operation on Intel-based desktop computers (running Linux). It enables developers to generate algorithms on a desktop PC environment before target hardware becomes available, to significantly reduce development time and speed time to market. The new Intel AVX-optimized version of Continuum Vector uniquely retains the same API as earlier AltiVec-based versions, but enables compiling on an Intel-based platform. The library supports the industry standard VSIPL interface, as well as an industry standard API. The Continuum Vector library enables algorithm developers to work with high-level signal-processing functions instead of complicated low-level programming. Continuum Vector is supported on all of Curtiss-Wright Controls’ Intel processor-based single board computers and signal processing engines, including the CHAMP-AV8, VPX6-1956 and VPX3-1256. The Continuum Vector Library provides APIs that are compatible with other popular board vendor function library APIs. It also supports the industry standard Vector Signal Image Processing interface API’s as well as the Continuum Vector API.
