METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SATURATED MULTIPLICATION AND ACCUMULATION IN AN APPLICATION SPECIFIC SIGNAL PROCESSOR

Abstract: An application specific signal processor (ASSP) performs vectorized and nonvectorized operations. Nonvectorized operation may be performed using a saturated multiplication and accumulation operation. The ASSP includes a serial interface (206), a buffer memory (210), a core processor (200A-D) for performing digital signal processing which includes a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) processor and four signal processing units. The four signal processing units execute the digital signal processing algorithms in parallel including the execution of the saturated multiplication and accumulation operation. The ASSP is utilized in telecommunication interface devices such as a gateway. The ASSP is well suited to handling voice and data compression/decompression in telecommunication systems where network is used to transceive packetized data and voice.

Description: METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SATURATED MULTIPLICATION AND ACCUMULATION IN AN APPLICATION SPECIFIC SIGNAL PROCESSOR FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to digital signal processing devices. More particularly, the invention relates to multiply and accumulators (MACs) . BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Single chip digital signal processing devices (DSP) are relatively well known. DSPs generally are distinguished from general purpose microprocessors m that DSPs typically support accelerated arithmetic operations by including a dedicated multiplier and accumulator (MAC) for performing multiplication of digital numbers. The instruction set for a typical DSP device usually includes a MAC instruction for performing multiplication of new operands and addition with a prior accumulated value stored within an accumulator register. A MAC instruction is typically the only instruction provided m prior art digital signal processors where two DSP operations, multiply followed by add, are performed by the execution of one instruction. DSPs are often programmed m a loop to continuously perform a MAC instruction using different operands . An area where DSPs may be utilized is m telecommunication systems. One use of DSPs m telecommunication systems is digital filtering. In this case a DSP is typically programmed with instructions to implement some filter function m the digital or time domain. The mathematical algorithm for a typical finite impulse response (FIR) filter may look like the equation Y r = h 0 X 0 + hxXx + hX 2 + - ■ • + hX N where h n are fixed filter coefficients numbering from 1 to N and X r are the data samples. The equation Yn may be evaluated by using a software program. However m some applications, it is necessary that the equation be evaluated as fast as possible. One way to do this is to perform the computations using hardware components such as a DSP device programmed to compute the equation Yn . In order to further speed the process, it is desirable to vectorize the equation and distribute the computation amongst multiple DSPs such that the final result s obtained more quickly. The multiple DSPs operate m parallel to speed the computation process. In this case, the multiplication of terms is spread across the multipliers of the DSPs equally for simultaneous computations of terms. The adding of terms is similarly spread equally across the adders of the DSPs for simultaneous computations. In vectorized processing, the order of processing terms is unimportant since the combination is associative. If the processing order of the terms is altered, it has no effect on the final result expected m a vectorized processing of a function. However, not all computations of equations can be vectorized. This is the case with some of the standardized compression/decompression algorithms used m telecommunication systems. In this case, the computation processes typically can not be performed m parallel by standard DSPs. A non-vectorizable equation usually must be processed in a specific manner due to some constraints. Exemplary of this is the voice compression and voice decompression ITU standards used m coder/decoders (CODECs) . Specifically, this includes the ITU standards G.723.1, G.728, and G.729. In equations for these functional operations, sixteen bit fixed point arithmetic is utilized. In order to be compliant with the standards, operations found within the specification must be carried out exactly m order to maintain signal quality. Additionally, the bits must be exact and the saturation must be carried out appropriately. Four terms of a typical nonvectorizable equation where nonvectonzed processing is required, are YOUTn = ( ( ( (AC + L a 0 X 0 ) + a^) + L a 2 X 2 ) + ^ a 3 X 3 ) where " + ' refers to a limiting of the addition to a range of values between a positive saturation value and a negative saturation value and AC is an accumulated value for a prior processing cycle. A typical DSP device needs to process each term separately from inner brackets to outer brackets. One disadvantage to processing m this fashion is that the extra processing steps require additional cycles. The additional cycles decrease the channel handling capability of a DSP device thereby requiring that additional DSP devices be used to increase the channel handling capability Additionally, m a multiple DSP system, a number of DSPs may be sitting idle awaiting completion of the term presently being computed by the active DSP. This is an inefficient use of computing resources. Additionally, the quality of service over a telephone system often relates to the processing speed of signals. That is particularly the case when a DSP is to provide voice processing, such as voice compression, voice decompression, and echo cancellation for multiple channels. More recently, processing speed has become even more important because of the desire to transmit voice aggregated with data m a packetized form for communication over packetized networks. Delays m processing the packetized voice signal tend to result m the degradation of signal quality on receiving ends. It is desirable to provide improved processing of voice and data signals to enhance the quality of voice and data communication over packetized networks. It is desirable to improve the efficiency of using computing resources when performing signal processing functions. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly, the present invention includes a method, apparatus and system as described m the claims . An application specific signal processor (ASSP) performs vectorized and nonvectonzed operations Nonvectonzed operations may be performed using a saturated multiplication and accumulation operation. The ASSP includes a serial interface, a buffer memory, a core processor for performing digital signal processing which includes a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) processor and four signal processing units. The four signal processing units execute the digital signal processing algorithms m parallel including the execution of the saturated multiplication and accumulation operation. The ASSP is utilized m telecommunication interface devices such as a gateway. The ASSP is well suited to handling voice and data compression/decompression m telecommunication systems where a packetized network is used to transceive packetized data and voice. BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1A is a block diagram of a system utilizing the present invention. Figure IB is a block diagram of a printed circuit board utilizing the present invention within the gateways of the system m Figure 1A. Figure 2 is a block diagram of the Application Specific Signal Processor (ASSP) of the present invention. Figure 3 is a block diagram of an instance of the core processors within the ASSP of the present invention. Figure 4 is a block diagram of the RISC processing unit within the core processors of Figure 3. Figure 5 is a block diagram of an instance of the signal processing units within the core processors of Figure 3. Figure 6 is a chart illustrating the discussion tree of the possible partial products for the saturated multiplication and accumulation (SATMAC) operation of the ASSP of Figure 2. Figure 7 is a block diagram of an instance of the adders within the signal processing unit of Figure 5. Figures 8 through 16 are block diagrams illustrating the configuration and operation of the ASSP of the present invention when performing a SATMAC operation. Like reference numbers and designations m the drawings indicate like elements providing similar functionality. A letter after a reference designator number represents an instance of an element having the reference designator number . DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the following detailed description of the present invention, numerous specific details are set forth m order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be obvious to one skilled m the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details In other instances well known methods, procedures, components, and circuits have not been described m detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the present invention. The present invention includes a method, apparatus and system for voice and data communication processing. Briefly, multiple application specific signal processors (AΞSPs) are provided within gateways m communication systems to provide improved voice and data communication over a packetized network. A gateway is a device for connecting multiple networks and devices that use different protocols. Each ASSP includes four core processors m order to simultaneously process four channels of voice or data. Each core processor preferably includes four signal processing units (SPs) to simultaneously process four samples or terms of digital voice signals originally packetized for communication over IP, ATM, Frame Relay, SONET or other packetized network. Each of the SPs can perform vectorized operations normally associated with prior art DSP devices as well as nonvectonzed operations including saturated multiplication and accumulation for voice compression standards Each SP includes multiple adders for simultaneous processing of multiple voice and data communication signal samples. Each ASSP is flexible and can be programmed to perform many network functions or data/voice processing functions, including voice compression for CODECS, simply by altering the software program controlling the commands executed by the ASSP. Referring now to Figure 1A, a voice and data communication system 100 is illustrated. The system 100 includes a network 101 which is a packetized or packet- switched network, such as IP, ATM, frame relay, or SONET/SDL. The network 101 allows the communication of voice/speech and data between endpomts m the system 100, using packets. Data may be of any type including audio, video, email, and other generic forms of data. At each end of the system 100, the voice or data requires packetization when transceived across the network 101. The system 100 includes gateways 104A, 104B, and 104C m order to packetize the information received for transmission across the network 101. Voice and data information may be provided to a gateway 104 from a number of different sources m a variety of digital formats. In system 100, analog voice signals are transceived by a telephone 108 In system 100, digital voice signals are transceived at public branch exchanges (PBX) 112A and 112B which are coupled to multiple telephones, fax machines, or data modems. Digital voice signals are transceived between PBX 112A and PBX 112B with gateways 104A and 104C, respectively. Digital data signals may also be transceived directly between a digital modem 114 and a gateway 104A. Digital modem 114 may be a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) modem or a cable modem Data signals may also be coupled into system 100 by a wireless communication system by means of a mobile unit 118 transceivmg digital signals or analog signals wirelessly to a base station 116. Base station 116 converts analog signals into digital signals or directly passes the digital signals to gateway 104B. Data may be transceived by means of modem signals over the plain old telephone system (POTS) 107B using a modem 110. Modem signals communicated over POTS 107B are traditionally analog m nature and are coupled into a switch 106B of the public switch telephone network (PSTN) . At the switch 106B, analog signals from the POTS 107B are digitized and transceived to the gateway 104B by time division multiplexing (TDM) with each time slot representing a channel and one DSO input to gateway 104B. At each of the gateways 104A, 104B and 104C, incoming signals are packetized for transmission across the network 101. Signals received by the gateways 104A, 104B and 104C from the network 101 are depacketized for distribution to the appropriate destination. Referring now to Figure IB, a network interface card (NIC) 130 of a gateway 104 is illustrated. The NIC 130 includes one or more application-specific signal processors (ASSPs) 150A-150N. The number of ASSPs within a gateway is expandable to handle additional channels. Network interface devices 131 of NIC 130 provide interfaces to various devices connected to the gateway, including the network 101. In interfacing to the network 101, the network interface devices packetize data for transmission out on the network 101 and depacketize data which is to be received by the ASSP devices. Network interface devices 131 process information received by the gateway on the receive bus 134 and provides it to the ASSP devices. Information from the ASSP devices 150 is communicated on the transmit bus 132 for transmission out of the gateway. A traditional network interface device is a multi -channel serial interface or a UTOPIA device. The NIC 130 couples to a gateway chassis bus 136 within the gateway 104. Bridge logic 138 transceives information between bus 136 and NIC 130 Bridge logic 138 transceives signals between the NIC 130 and the chassis bus 136 onto the control bus 139 for communication to either one or more of the ASSP devices 150A-150N, a host processor 140, or a host memory 142. Coupled to each of the one or more ASSP devices 150A through 150N (generally referred to as ASSP 150) are local memory 145A through 145N (generally referred to as local memory 145) , respectively. Digital data on the receive bus 134 and transmit bus 132 is preferably communicated m 8-byte wide fashion. Local memory 145 is used as a scratchpad memory by each of the ASSPs 150. Each of the ASSPs 150 provide signal processing capability for the gateway. The type of signal processing provided is flexible because each ASSP may executed differing signal processing programs. Typical signal processing applications for an ASSP include (a) echo cancellation; (b) video, audio, and voice/speech compression/decompression (voice/speech coding and decoding); (d) delay handling (packets, frames, SONETs/SDLs) ; (e) loss handling; (f ) connectivity (LAN and WAN) ; (g) security (encryption/decryption) ; (h) telephone connectivity; (I) protocol processing (reservation and transport protocols, RSVP, TCP/IP, RTP, UDP) ; (η) filtering; (k) suppression; (1) length handling (frames, packets, SONETs) ; and other digital signal processing functions associated with the communication of voice and data over a communication system Each ASSP 150 can perform other functions m order to transmit voice and data to the various endpomts of the system 100 within a packet data stream over a packetized network. Referring now to Figure 2, a block diagram of the ASSP 150 is illustrated At the heart of the ASSP 150 are four core processors 200A-200D. Each of the core processors 200A-200D is respectively coupled to a data memory 202A- 202D and a program memory 204A-204D. Each of the core processors 200A-200D communicates with outside channels through the multi-channel serial interface 206, the multichannel memory movement engine 208, buffer memory 210, and data memory 202A-202D. The ASSP 150 further includes an external memory interface 212 to couple to external memory. The ASSP 150 includes an external host interface 214 for interfacing to the external host processor 140 of Figure IB. The external host interface 214 may be replaced with an internal host processor 140 within the ASSP 150. Further included within the ASSP 150 are timers 216, clock generators and a phase-lock loop 218, miscellaneous control logic 220, and a Joint Test Action Group (JTAG) test access port 222 for boundary scan testing. Multi-channel serial interface unit may be replaced with a UTOPIA parallel interface for some applications such as ATM. The ASSP 150 further includes an interrupt controller 224 to assist m the control of the ASSP 150. Referring now to Figure 3 , a block diagram of the core processor 200 is illustrated coupled to its respective data memory 202 and program memory 204. Core processor 200 is the block diagram for each of the core processors 200A-200D. Data memory 202 and program memory 204 refers to a respective instance of data memory 202A-202D and program memory 204A-204D. The core processor 200 includes four signal processing units SPO 300A, SP1 300B, SP2 300C and SP3 300D. The core processor 200 further includes a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) unit 302 and a pipeline control unit 304 The signal processing units 300A-300D perform the signal processing tasks on data while the RISC control unit 302 and the pipeline control unit 304 perform control tasks related to the signal processing function performed by the SPs 300A-300D. Referring now to Figure 4, a block diagram of the RISC control unit 302 is illustrated. RISC control unit 302 includes a data aligner and formatter 402, a memory address generator 404, three adders 406A-406C, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) 408, a multiplier 410, a barrel shifter 412, and a register file 413. The register file 413 points to a starting memory location from which memory address generator 404 can generate addresses into data memory 202. Referring now to Figure 5, a block diagram of a signal processing unit 300 is illustrated which represents an instance of the SPs 300A-300D. Each of the signal processing units 300 includes a data typer and aligner 502, a first multiplier Ml 504A, a compressor 506, a first adder Al 510A, a second adder A2 510B, an accumulator register 512, a third adder A3 510C, and a second multiplier M2 504B. Adders 510A-510C are similar m structure and are generally referred to as adder 510. Multipliers 504A and 504B are similar m structure and generally referred to as multiplier 504. Each of the multipliers 504A and 504B have a multiplexer 514A and 514B respectively at its input stage to multiplex different inputs from different busses into the multipliers. Each of the adders 510A, 510B, 510C also have a multiplexer 520A, 520B, and 520C respectively at its input stage to multiplex different inputs from different busses into the adders. These multiplexers and other control logic allow the adders, multipliers and other components within the signal processing units 300A-300C to be flexibly interconnected by proper selection of multiplexers. In the preferred embodiment, multiplier Ml 504A, compressor 506, adder Al 510A, adder A2 510B and accumulator 512 can receive inputs directly from external data buses through the data typer and aligner 502. In the preferred embodiment, adder 510C and multiplier M2 504B receive inputs from the accumulator 512 or the outputs from the execution units multiplier Ml 504A, compressor 506, adder Al 510A, and adder A2 510B. The multiplexers used to configure the processing units 300A-300B are not shown m the following figures so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the present invention. Referring now to Figure 6, a decision tree is illustrated for the saturation, multiplication and accumulation (SATMAC) operation of the ASSP 150. The decision tree m Figure 6 illustrates additions and multiplication of terms necessary for a nonvectonzed computation of four terms of addition and four terms of multiplication. The nonvectonzed equation is YOUTn = ( ( ( (AC + L a 0 X 0 ) + aιXχ) + L a 2 X 2 ) + a 3 X 3 ) where "+ L " refers to a limiting of the addition to a range of values between a positive saturation value and a negative saturation value. The decision tree of Figure 6 minimizes the number of hardware adders necessary for carrying out the evaluation of the SATMAC equations. The decision tree m Figure 6 provides for the computation of the four terms m the YOUTn equation within one clock cycle. This is equivalent to performing four multiplications and four additions m one step. In this manner, the processing speed of the signal processor is improved. If an additional set of four terms is desired to be computed for the equation YOUTn, additional clock cycles are utilized with the prior value becoming AC. If additional terms are desired to be computed m one clock cycle, a similar decision tree to that of Figure 6 may be provided m order to minimize the number of adders and multiplication steps necessary for its computation. In accordance with ITU standards for compression/decompression, the highest possible value obtained by these equations is the positive saturation value (PSAT) of 7FFF hex. In accordance with ITU standards, the smallest possible value as a result of each step of these equations is the negative saturation value (NSAT) of 8000 hex. The limiting addition m of each addition step assures this is the case which results m this being a nonvectonzed equation. Referring to Figure 6, m the first level of the decision tree when adding a 0 Xo to AC there are three possible resultant values because of the limiting addition. The three possible resultant values, PSAT, NSAT, and (AC + a 0 X 0 ) , are illustrated by the decision paths 601-603. In case that the value of (AC + a 0 Xo) is greater than or equal to PSAT (7FFF h ) as indicated by path 601, the result is limited to the PSAT value of 7FFF h . In the case that (AC + a 0 Xo) is less than or equal to NSAT (8000 h ) as indicated by path 602, the result is limited to the NSAT value of 8000 h . In the case that the value of (AC + a 0 Xo) does not meet or exceed either PSAT or NSAT, the resultant value of (AC + a 0 Xo) may be computed as indicated by path 603. In the next level of the decision tree, a determination is made on the outcomes of how a 3 X 1 is added to the three prior resultant values of (AC + a 0 Xo) • In the case that the prior resultant value is PSAT, if a K.χ is a positive value, this would try to generate a value greater than PSAT, m which case the result is limited to PSAT along path 611 as provided for by the ITU specifications. If a x Xι is a negative value which is added to PSAT, then the resultant output reduces PSAT by the value of a x Xι as indicated by the path 612. Thus, when adding a negative value to PSAT, the negative value being one term which itself has been limited to the range of saturation values, such as when a x Xι is a negative value, the result will not exceed the NSAT value of 8000 hex. Next, looking at the prior result being NSAT m the computation of (AC + a 0 X 0 ) , if aχX ± is a negative value and added to NSAT, the resultant is limited to the NSAT value 8000 hex as indicated by the path 613. However, if ajXx is a positive value, when added to NSAT the resultant becomes (NSAT + as indicated by path 614. Thus, the resultant addition of aiXi to NSAT does not exceed the positive saturation value PSAT. Next, when adding a 1 X 1 to the resultant value (AC + a 0 Xo) , three results are possible. In one case, the result may be greater than or equal to PSAT and limited thereto as indicated by the path 615. Alternatively, the resultant may be less than or equal to NSAT and limited thereto as indicated by path 616. If the prior result is (AC + a 0 Xo) which neither meets or exceeds the PSAT or NSAT values, aιX x is added to (AC + a 0 X 0 ) resulting m the equation (AC + a 0 Xo + x Xι) as indicated by the path 617. In the next level of the decision tree, the term a 2 X 2 is evaluated when added to the prior possible outcomes from the addition of the term a ± X x . In adding a 2 X 2 to PSAT, there are two possible outcomes as indicated by path 621 and path 622. In the case of that a 2 X 2 is a positive number being added to PSAT, the result is greater than PSAT and limited thereto as indicated by the path 621. In the case that a 2 X 2 is a negative number, when added to PSAT the resultant becomes (PSAT + a 2 X 2 ) as indicated by the path 622. When adding a 2 X 2 to the prior result of (PSAT + aiXx) , there are two possible resultants. In the case that aX 2 is a positive value having a magnitude greater than the magnitude of a negative value of aiX , then when a 2 X 2 is added to (PSAT + aχXι) the resultant is PSAT as indicated by the path 623. In the case that a 2 X 2 is a negative value or a 2 X 2 is a positive value having a magnitude less than the magnitude of a negative value of aιX l7 then the result becomes (PSAT + a^ + a 2 X 2 ) as indicated by the path 624. There is no value of a 2 X 2 that would result m (PSAT + a x Xι) reaching or exceeding NSAT, such that this result is not possible. When adding a 2 X 2 to the prior result of NSAT, there are two possible results along path 625 and 626. If a 2 X 2 is a negative number, when added to NSAT it becomes more negative than NSAT and thus requires limiting to NSAT as indicated by the path 625 In the case that a 2 X 2 is a positive number, when added to NSAT the resultant value becomes (NSAT + a 2 X 2 ) as indicated by the path 626. Because the value of NSAT is of such negative magnitude, there is no value of a 2 X 2 that when added thereto would result m an outcome of PSAT, when added to NSAT. When adding a 2 X 2 to the prior result (NSAT + a x Xι) there are two possible results If a 2 X 2 is a negative value having a magnitude larger than the magnitude of a positive value for aiXi, then when added to (NSAT + aiXi) the result is NSAT as indicated by the path 627 In the case that a 2 X 2 is a positive value or a negative value having a magnitude less than the magnitude of a positive value of aχXι, then when added to (NSAT + a x Xι) the resultant is (NSAT + a^ + a 2 X 2 ) as indicated by the path 628. Because of the limiting of terms and equation values, the value of (NSAT + aχXι) is a value nearer to zero such that there is no value of a 2 X 2 that when added to (NSAT + a x Xι) would cause the result to reach or exceed PSAT. Only when there are three terms m the prior result is it possible for the result to reach or exceed either PSAT or NSAT. When adding a 2 X 2 to the prior result (AC + a 0 X 0 + a^) , there are three possible results indicated by the paths 629-631 In the case that a 2 X 2 has a large positive value, when added to this prior result the resultant may be PSAT as illustrated by path 629. In the case that a 2 X 2 is a very large negative number, when added to this prior result, the resultant may be NSAT as indicated by the path 630. Alternatively, the resultant of the addition may be within the range of PSAT and NSAT such that when adding a 2 X 2 to the prior value result of (AC + a 0 X 0 + a X λ ) , the resultant is (AC + a 0 X 0 + a λ X λ + a 2 X 2 ) as indicated by the path 631. In the next level of the decision tree, the addition of the term a 3 X 3 is evaluated when added to the prior possible results. There is a possibility of nine possible results after the term a 3 X 3 is added. These nine possible results are PSAT, (PSAT + a 3 X 3 ) , (PSAT + a 2 X 2 + a 3 X 3 ) , (PSAT + + a 2 X 2 + a 3 X 3 ) , NSAT, (NSAT + a 3 X 3 ) , (NSAT + a 2 X 2 + a 3 X 3 ) , (NSAT + a 1 X 1 + a 2 X 2 + a 3 X 3 ) and (AC + a 0 X ^ + aiXi + a 2 X 2 + a 3 X 3 ) . When adding a 3 X 3 to the prior resultant value PSAT, there are two possible results indicated by paths 641 and 642. If a 3 X 3 is a positive value then the resultant is greater than PSAT and limited thereto as indicated by the path 641. There is no negative value for a 3 X 3 that would result m NSAT when it is added to the prior result PSAT. In the case that a 3 X 3 is a negative value, the resultant output is (PSAT + a 3 X 3 ) as indicated by the path 642. When adding a 3 X 3 to the prior result of (PSAT + a 2 X 2 ) , there are two possible results. In the case that a 3 X 3 is a large positive value, when added to (PSAT + a 2 X 2 ) the resultant is greater than or equal to PSAT and limited thereto as indicated by the path 643. Otherwise, when a 3 X 3 is added to (PSAT + a 2 X 2 ) , the resultant is (PSAT + a 2 X 2 + a 3 X 3 ) as indicated by the path 644. There is no value of a 3 X 3 that when added to (PSAT + a 2 X 2 ) results m the value of NSAT. When adding a 3 X 3 to the prior result of (PSAT + aιX x + a 2 X 2 ) , there are three possible results indicated by paths 645-647. In the case that a 3 X 3 is a large positive value, when added to (PSAT + a x Xι + a 2 X 2 ) it results m a value of greater than or equal to PSAT which is limited thereto as indicated by the path 645. In the case that a 3 X 3 is a large negative value, when added to (PSAT + a x Xι + a 2 X 2 ) it results m a value of less than or equal to NSAT which is limited to NSAT as indicated by the path 647. Otherwise, for a result that is within the range of PSAT and NSAT, when a 3 X 3 is added to (PSAT + aXι + a 2 X 2 ) , the result is (PSAT + aχX x + a 2 X 2 + a 3 X 3 ) as indicated by the path 646 When adding a 3 Xτ to the prior result of NSAT, there are two possible resultants as indicated by paths 648-649. In the case that a 3 X 3 is a negative value, the result of it being added to results m a value less than or equal to NSAT which is limited to NSAT as indicated by the path 648 In the case that a 3 X 3 is a positive value, the result of it being added to NSAT is (NSAT + a 3 X 3 ) as indicated by the path 649 When adding a 3 X 3 to the prior result of (NSAT + a 2 X 2 ) , there are two possible results indicated by the paths 650-651. In the case that aXτ is a large negative value, the result of it being added to (NSAT + a 2 X 2 ) is a value less than or equal to NSAT which is limited thereto as indicated by the path 650. There is no value of a 3 X 3 that when added to (NSAT + a 2 X 2 ) would result m PSAT. If the result is within the range of PSAT and NSAT, alternative result when a 3 X 3 is added to (NSAT + a 2 X 2 ) is (NSAT + a 2 X 2 + a 3 X 3 ) as indicated by the path 651. When a 3 X 3 is added to the prior result of (NSAT + a X x + a 2 X 2 ) , there are three possible resultants indicated by the paths 652-655 In the case that a 3 X 3 is a very large negative number, when a 3 X 3 is added to (NSAT + a x X + a 2 X 2 ) the result is less than or equal to NSAT and limited thereto as indicated by the path 653. In the case that a 3 X 3 is a very large positive number, when a 3 X 3 is added to (NSAT + a x Xi + a 2 X 2 ) a result may be a value greater than or equal to PSAT which would be limited to PSAT as indicated by the path 652 Otherwise, if the resultant value is between the range of PSAT and NSAT, when a 3 X 3 is added to (NSAT + af ^ + a 2 X 2 ) the result is (NSAT + afX + a 2 X 2 + a 3 X 3 ) as indicated by the path 654 When a 3 X 3 is added to the prior result (AC + a 0 X 0 + aiXi + a 2 X 2 ) , there are three possible resultant values indicated by paths 655-657 In the case that a 3 X 3 is a very large positive value, when added to the prior result (AC + a 0 Xo + a λ X λ + a 2 X 2 ) , the result may be a value greater than or equal to PSAT which is limited thereto as indicated by the path 655. In the case that a 3 X 3 is a very large negative number, when added to the prior result (AC + a 0 Xo + aτX x + a 2 X 2 ) , the result may be a value less than or equal to NSAT which is limited thereto as indicated by the path 656. If the resultant value is between the range of PSAT and NSAT, the resultant of adding a 3 X 3 to the prior result (AC + a 0 X 0 + aχXι + a 2 X is (AC + a 0 X 0 + a x Xι + a 2 X 2 + a 3 X 3 ) as indicated by the path 657. After the addition of a 3 X 3 is evaluated, one of the nine final results after the addition of a 3 X 3 is selected as the value of YOUTn. The selected term is a function of the saved carryout bits from the equations that are evaluated. Not all additions m the decision tree need be performed or saved. In many instances only the sign bit of the result (the MSB of the sum output) needs to be saved to determine the next path along the decision tree which needs to be evaluated. Additionally, because NSAT and PSAT differ by only the value of 1, only one set of the final resultant equations having either PSAT or NSAT needs to be evaluated and its result saved for selection as YOUTn. In the case that the PSAT equations are utilized, the value of 1 need only to be added m order to obtain the NSAT equations. In the case that the NSAT equations are evaluated, the value of 1 need only be subtracted therefrom m order to obtain the PSAT equations. In the description of Figures 8 through 11 that follow, the PSAT equations are evaluated. In order to convert them into the NSAT equations, the value of 1 is provided as an input into the carry input path of the adders 510 m order to provide the NSAT equations. Therefore, when evaluating four terms of a nonvectonzed equation m one clock cycle, only seven of the adders 510 are required. The seven adders add (PSAT + a 3 X 3 ) , (PSAT + a 2 X 2 + a 3 X 3 ) , (PSAT + aχXι + a 2 X 2 + a 3 X 3 ) , (AC + a 0 X 0 + aιX x ) , (AC + a 0 X 0 + aχXι + a 2 X 2 ) and (AC + a 0 X 0 + aχXι + a 2 X 2 + a 3 X 3 ) . As previously discussed, the three PSAT equations are easily converted into NSAT equations by simply adding one into the carry m path of the full adders 510 In order to represent that either PSAT or NSAT can be evaluated, the equations with PSAT are referred to as (NSAT/PSAT + a 3 X 3 ) , (NSAT/PSAT + a 2 X 2 + a 3 X 3 ) , and (NSAT/PSAT + a x X + a 2 X 2 + a 3 X 3 ) it being understood that when NSAT is to be evaluated a logical one is asserted as the Carry In bit Referring now to Figure 7, adder 510 is illustrated which is representative of each of the adders 510A-510C m the signal processing unit 300 Adder 510 includes a 3- to-2 compressor 702, a carry select out full adder 704, and a multiplexer 706 Multiplexer 706 selects between the A 4- B output from the full adder 704 on bus 710 and A + B + 1 output from the full adder 704 on bus 711 as its output, the selected sum 712, based on the carry input Cm 714. If Cm is a value of one, the A + B + 1 output 711 is selected as the selected sum 712. If Cm is a value of zero, the A + B output 710 is selected as the selected sum 712. The 3-to-2 compressor 702 compresses the three inputs IN X 721, IN 2 722, and IN 3 723 into two outputs A 730 and B 731. Outputs A 730 and B 731 are provided as inputs into the carry select out full adder 704 Carry select out full adder 704 receives A 730 and B 731 from the 3-to- 2 compressor 702 to generate (A + B) 701, (A + B + 1) 711 and the carryout Cout 716 accordance with the values of A and B The (A + B) 710 is an evaluation of the equation containing the PSAT term while the (A + B + 1) value is an evaluation of the equation containing the NSAT term Referring now to Figure 8, a first configuration of block diagram elements within a core processor 200 for performing the saturated multiplication and accumulation is illustrated While there are a number of ways to perform multiplication to evaluate terms of a n X P the present invention preferably performs it as follows. In Figure 8, a multiplier 504n and a compressor 506n are configured to evaluate one term of a n X n where a n is multiplied together with X n . Multiplier 504n represents an instance of four multipliers 504 one each from the SPs 300A-300D and compressor 506n represents an instance of four compressors 506 one each from the SPs 300A-300D. The term a n X n is preferably performed across the four SPs 300A- 300D simultaneously such that four terms of a n X n are formed with n in the initial loop varying from 0 through 3. Multiplier 504n is configured to have one of its booth decoders 800A be coupled to the selection input of one of its booth multiplexers 800B. Booth decoder 800A receives as an input the sixteen bit word of a n . Booth multiplexer 80 OB receives as an input the sixteen bit word of X n - The booth decoder causes the booth multiplexer to generate eight partial product outputs. Of the eight partial product outputs, four are coupled into the 4-to-2 compressor 800C and the other four are coupled into the 4- to-2 compressor 800D of compressor 506n. The two outputs from the 4-to-2 compressor 800C and the two outputs from the 4-to-2 compressor 800D are each coupled into the 4-to- 2 compressor 800E. The two outputs from the 4-to-2 compressor 800E are the partial products PPS n and PPC n of a n X n . In this manner, SPO 300A performs the multiplication of a 0 Xo to form a partial product output PPS 0 and PPC 0 . Signal processing unit 1 SP1 300B performs the multiplication of ai times Xx to form the partial products PPSx and PPCi . Signal processing unit 2 SP2 300C performs the multiplication of a 2 times X 2 to form the partial product output PPS 2 and PPC 2 . The signal processing unit 3 SP3 300D performs the multiplication of a-j times X 3 to form the partial product outputs PPS 3 and PPC 3 . Each of the four signal processing units 300A-300D has a multiplier 504 and a compressor 506 configured to compute the a n X n term. Each simultaneously performs the multiplication to obtain four a n X n terms . Referring now to Figure 9, the first of three saturation equations, YSATx is determined. YSATx is evaluated using one of the adders 510 within one of the signal processing units 300A-300D. In Figure 9, the equation YSAT_ = NSAT/PSAT + a 3 X 3 is evaluated The term NSAT/PSAT represents alternative terms and not the mathematical operation of division. Input into adder 510 is PSAT, the partial products PPS 3 and PPC 3 of a 2 X J , and an NSAT/PSAT selection signal. The NSAT/PSAT selection signal selects whether NSAT or PSAT is to be evaluated The NSAT/PSAT selection signal is input into the adder 510 as the carry- Cm bit. Full adder 704 receives the NSAT/PSAT selection signal m order to perform the appropriate operation. The three input values of PSAT, PPS 3 , and PPC 3 are input into the 3 -to-2 compressor 702, generating the intermediate values 730 and 731, which are then input into the full adder 704 to generate the selected sum output of YSAT X . In the case that NSAT is selected where the NSAT/PSAT selection signal is 1, Cm is 1 and the multiplexer 706 selects the (A + B + 1) output from the full adder such that the equation YSATx = NSAT + a 3 X 3 . In the case that NSAT/PSAT selection signal is zero, Cm is zero and the multiplexer 706 selects the (A + B) output from the full adder 704 as the selected sum output such that the equation YSATx = PSAT + a 3 X 3 is evaluated. Referring now to Figure 10, the evaluation of the equation YSAT 2 is illustrated. One of the SPs 300A-300D is configured as shown m Figure 10 to evaluate the equation of YSAT 2 = NSAT/PSAT + a 2 X 2 + a 3 X 3 . A 4-to-2 compressor 800A within compressor 506 is configured to accept the partial products , PPS 2 and PPC 2 of a 2 X 2 and PPS 3 and PPC 3 of a 3 X 3 . The partial product PPS 3 and PPC 23 output from the 4- to-2 compressor 800A are input into the 3-to-2 compressor 702 of the adder 510. The third term input into the 3-to- 2 compressor 702 is PSAT. The partial product output from the 3-to-2 compressor 702 are added by the full adder 704. The output of from the full adder 704 is selected by multiplexer 706 on its output, selected sum 712. The multiplexer selects the output from the full adder 704 response to the NSAT/PSAT selection signal. In the case that NSAT/PSAT selection signal is one on the carry- Cm bit, representing the selection of NSAT equations, then the YSAT 2 equation evaluated is YSAT 2 = NSAT + a 3 X 3 + a 2 X 2 . In the case that NSAT/PSAT selection signal is zero on the carry-in Cin bit, representing the selection of the PSAT equation, the multiplexer 706 selects the (A + B) output from the full adder 504 such that the equation YSAT 2 = PSAT + a 3 X 3 + a 2 X 2 is evaluated. Referring now to Figure 11, the evaluation of the third saturation equation YSAT 3 is illustrated. One of the SPs 300A-300D is configured as illustrated in Figure 11 to evaluate the equation of YSAT 3 = NSAT/PSAT + aχXι + a 2 X 2 + a 3 X 3 . The 4-to-2 compressors 800A and 800C within the compressor 506 and the adder 510 within the same signal processing unit are configured as shown in Figure 11. Input into the signal processing unit are aχXι, a 2 X 2 a 3 X 3 , PSAT and the NSAT/PSAT selection signal. The NSAT/PSAT selection signal is coupled to the carry in Cin of adder 704 and the selection control signal of the two-to-one multiplexer 704. The 4-to-2 compressor 800A evaluates the partial products PPSx and PPC of aχX x and the partial products PPS 2 and PPC 2 of a 2 X 2 . The 4-to-2 compressor 800C evaluates the partial products PPS 3 and PPC 3 of a 3 X 3 and the resultant partial product outputs from the evaluation made by the 4-to-2 compressor 800A. The outputs from the 4-to- 2 compressor 800C are coupled into the inputs of the 3-to- 2 compressor 702 within the adder 510. Outputs from the 3-to-2 compressor 702 are input into the full adder 704 and summed together to generate the (A + B) and the (A + B + 1) outputs of the full adder 704. Multiplexer 706 selects between these two outputs m response to the value of the NSAT/PSAT selection signal. In the case that NSAT/PSAT selection signal is one on the carry- Cm bit, representing the selection of NSAT equations, then the YSAT 2 equation evaluated is YSAT 3 = NSAT + aχXι + a 2 X 2 + a 3 X 3 . In the case that NSAT/PSAT selection signal is zero on the carry-in Cm bit, representing the selection of the PSAT equation, the multiplexer 706 selects the (A + B) output from the full adder 504 such that the equation YSAT 3 = PSAT + aX + a 2 X 2 + a 3 X 3 is evaluated. Referring now to Figure 12, the first of four accumulation equations Y 0 -Yj is illustrated as being evaluated. One of the signal processing units 300A-300D has one of its adders 510 configured as illustrated m Figure 12 to evaluate the equation Y 0 = AC + a 0 Xo • As illustrated m Figure 12, the 3 -to-2 compressor 702 of the adder 510 receives as inputs the term AC and the partial products PPSQ and PPC 0 of a 0 Xo • The partial product outputs from the 3 -to-2 compressor are fed into the A and B inputs of the full adder 704. Carry- m Cm to the full adder 704 is set to zero. The (A + B) output 710 from the full adder 704 is selected by the multiplexer 706 through its control signal being set to zero m order to generate equation Y 0 on the selected sum output 712 of adder 510. Referring now to Figure 13, a second accumulation equation Yl is illustrated as being evaluated. One of the signal processing units 300A-300D has its component blocks configured as illustrated m Figure 13 to evaluate equation Y λ = AC + a 0 X 0 + aχXι . As illustrated m Figure 13, the 4-to-2 compressor 800A of the compressor block 506 receives as input the partial products PPS 0 and PPC 0 of a 0 Xo and the partial products PPS and PPC of aX x . The two resultant partial product outputs from the compressor 800A are input into two inputs of the 3 -to-2 compressor 702 of adder 510. The third input term input into the 3-to-2 compressor 702 is AC. The partial products output from the 3-to-2 compressor 702 are fed into the A and B inputs of the full adder 704. Carry- m Cm to the full adder 704 and control input into the multiplexer 704 are both set to zero The (A + B) output 710 from the full adder 704 is selected by the multiplexer 706 through its control signal being set to zero m order to generate equation Y-, equals AC + a 0 X 0 + aX x on the selected sum output 712 of adder 510. Referring now to Figure 14, a third accumulation equation Y 2 is illustrated as being evaluated. One of the signal processing units 300A-300D has its component blocks configured as illustrated m Figure 14 to evaluate the equation Y 2 = AC + a 0 X 0 + a λ X λ + a 2 X 2 . The signal processor 300 accepts as input partial products of a 0 X 0 , aX x , a 2 X 2 and a 3 X 3 , and the accumulation value of AC. The 4 -to-2 compressor 800A receives as inputs the partial products PPS 0 and PPC 0 of a 0 X 0 the partial products PPSx and PPCx of aiX The 4-to-2 compressor 800C receives as inputs the partial products PPS 2 and PPC 2 of aX 2 The two additional inputs into the 4 -to-2 compressor 800C are the resultant partial product outputs from the 4-to-2 compressor 800A. The partial product outputs from the 4-to-2 compressor 800C are coupled into two inputs of the 3 -to-2 compressor 702 of the adder 510. The third input into the 3-to-2 compressor 702 is the term AC. The partial products output from the 3-to-2 compressor 702 are fed into the A and B inputs of the full adder 704. Carry-m Cm to the full adder 704 and control input into the multiplexer 704 are both set to zero. The (A + B) output 710 from the full adder 704 is selected by the multiplexer 706 through its control signal being set to zero m order to generate the equation Y 2 = AC + a 0 Xo + a x X- + a 2 X ^ on the selected sum output 712 of adder 510. Referring now to Figure 15, a fourth accumulation equation Y 3 is illustrated as being evaluated. One of the signal processing units 300A-300D has its component blocks configured as illustrated m Figure 15 to evaluate the equation Y 3 = AC + a 0 X 0 + a x Xχ + a 2 X 2 + a 3 X 3 . The 4-to-2 compressors 800A, 800B and 800C of the compressor 506 are configured as shown m Figure 15. The 4-to-2 compressor 800A receives as inputs the partial products PPS 0 and PPC 0 of a 0 X 0 and the partial products PPSx and PPC X of a x X . The 4-to-2 compressor 800B receives as inputs the partial products PPS 2 and PPC 2 of a 2 X 2 and the partial products PPS 3 and PPC 3 of a 3 X 3 . The outputs from the 4-to-2 compressor 800A and the 4-to-2 compressor 800B are coupled into the inputs of the 4-to-2 compressor 800C. The resultant partial product outputs from the 4-to-2 compressor 800C are coupled into two of the inputs of the 3 -to-2 compressor 702 of the adder 510. The third input into the 3-to-2 compressor 702 is the accumulation value AC. The partial products output from the 3 -to-2 compressor 702 are fed into the A and B inputs of the full adder 704. Carry- in Cm to the full adder 704 and control input into the multiplexer 704 are both set to zero. The (A + B) output 710 from the full adder 704 is selected by the multiplexer 706 through its control signal being set to zero m order to generate equation Y 3 = AC + a 0 Xo + a λ X x + a 2 X 2 + a 3 X 3 on the selected sum output 712 of adder 510. Note that the formation of these possible resultant outputs for YOUTn requires at least seven full adders. The four signal processing units 300A-300D have a total of twelve full adders such that performing these additions to obtain the possible resultants increases the efficiency of the available components. Referring now to Figure 16, the multiplexer blocks 508 of the four signal processing units SPs 300-300D are configured and controlled as illustrated and shown m Figure 16. Multiplexer blocks 508 withm each of the SPs 300A-300D are used to form the 9-to-l multiplexer 1600 and to perform the nine to one multiplexing function to generate YOUTn. The 9-to-l multiplexer 1600 receives at its nine inputs PSAT, YSAT 3 , YSAT 2 , YSATx, Y 3 , Y 2 , Y λ , Y 0 and NSAT. Multiplexer control logic 1602 within the core processor 200 generates the multiplexer control signals 1604 to control the selection of the output of the 9-to-l multiplexer 1600. The multiplexer control logic 1602 receives the sign bits from equations illustrated m Figure 6 and other control signals m order to properly select one of the nine terms input into the 9-to-l multiplexer 1600 as the multiplexer output. Some of the equations m Figure 6 that do not need to be completely evaluated because they are not input into the 9-to-l multiplexer 1600. Only the sign bit of the result, typically the MSB of the result, needs to be determined m these cases. In which case, simple combinatorial logic only need be used to determine the sign of the result. For example, m multiplying two terms together, only the sign bits of the terms need be evaluated to determine the sign of the result. If both terms are negative or both positive, the result is positive. If only one of the terms is negative, then the result is a negative number. Similar logic is used in evaluating the addition of terms and knowing the saturation values of PSAT and NSAT and what values can be added or subtracted therefrom to change the sign bit. In these cases it is easy to predict underflow or overflow of the result. The manner m which four terms of the saturated multiplication and accumulation equation YOUTn = ( ( ( (AC + a 0 X 0 ) + χX x ) + L a 2 X 2 ) + L a 3 X 3 ) are evaluated has been described. If additional terms are to be evaluated, YOUTn is saved as the new accumulation value AC and input with the evaluation of the next four terms on the next clock cycle. This can continue on indefinitely but is typically limited to a number of terms m order to receive a desired accuracy. As those of ordinary skill will recognize, the present invention has many advantages . One advantage of the present invention is that for nonvectonzed processing, multiple samples are simultaneously computed thereby reducing the delay. Another advantage of the present invention is that the number of full additions is minimized m the saturated multiplication and accumulation such that the present invention is more efficient and uses fewer adders to perform the addition. Another advantage of the present invention is that it reduces the number of cycles to process the saturated multiplication and accumulation such that the channel handling capability increases to aggregate more communication channels to one device . The preferred embodiments of the present invention are thus described. While the present invention has been described m particular embodiments, it may be implemented m hardware, software, firmware or a combination thereof and utilized m systems, subsystems, components or subcomponents thereof. When implemented in software, the elements of the present invention are essentially the code segments to perform the necessary tasks. The program or code segments can be stored m a processor readable medium or transmitted by a computer data signal embodied m a carrier wave over a transmission medium or communication link. The "processor readable medium" may include any medium that can store or transfer information. Examples of the processor readable medium include an electronic circuit, a semiconductor memory device, a ROM, a flash memory, an erasable ROM (EROM) , a floppy diskette, a CD- ROM, an optical disk, a hard disk, a fiber optic medium, a radio frequency (RF) link, etc. The computer data signal may include any signal that can propagate over a transmission medium such as electronic network channels, optical fibers, air, electromagnetic, RF links, etc. The code segments may be downloaded via computer networks such as the Internet, Intranet, etc. In any case, the present invention should not be construed as limited by such

Claims: embodiments, but rather construed according to the claims that follow below. CLAIMS What is claimed is: 1. An application specific signal processor for performing saturated multiplication and accumulation, the application specific signal processor comprising: a serial interface for receiving data samples of a digital signal and transmitting a digital signal processed output ; a buffer memory to couple to the serial interface, the buffer memory to buffer the received data samples of the digital signal prior to digital signal processing and to buffer the digital signal processed output prior to transmission; at least one core processor to digital signal process the digital signal, the at least one core processor to generate the digital signal processed output in response to the data samples of the digital signal and a digital signal processing algorithm and to couple to the buffer memory to buffer the digital signal processed output prior to transmission, the at least one core processor including, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) processor to provide control of the generation of the digital signal processed output, and a plurality of signal processing units executing the digital signal processing algorithm and processing the digital samples m parallel, the plurality of signal processing units generating the digital signal processed output m response to the data samples of the digital signal and the digital signal processing algorithm. 2. The application specific signal processor of claim 1 for performing saturated multiplication and accumulation, wherein the at least one core processor further includes, a data memory coupled to the RISC processor and the plurality of signal processing units; and a program memory coupled to the RISC processor and the plurality of signal processing units 3. The application specific signal processor of claim 1 for performing saturated multiplication and accumulation, wherein, the signal processing algorithm is a non-vectorized equation with computations of a plurality of terms simultaneously performed by the plurality of signal processing units. 4. The application specific signal processor of claim 3 for performing saturated multiplication and accumulation, wherein, the plurality of signal processing units comprises four and the non-vectoπzed equation is YOUTn = ( ( ( (AC + ^ a 0 Xo) + X x ) + a 2 X 2 ) + L a 3 X 3 ) where "+_/' refers to a limiting of the addition to a range of values between a positive saturation value and a negative saturation value and AC is an accumulated value of a prior processing cycle . 5. The application specific signal processor of claim 1 for performing saturated multiplication and accumulation, wherein, each of the plurality of signal processing units includes three adders to add terms together, a compressor to compress more than two terms into a pair of terms, an accumulation register to save a prior state for the next addition cycle, and two multipliers to multiply terms together. 6 The application specific signal processor of claim 5 for performing saturated multiplication and accumulation, wherein, the RISC processor includes three adders, a memory address generator, a multiplier, and a barrel shifter to control the plurality of signal processing units. 7. The application specific signal processor of claim 6 for performing saturated multiplication and accumulation, wherein the at least one core processor further includes, a data memory coupled to the RISC processor and the plurality of signal processing units, and a program memory coupled to the RISC processor and the plurality of signal processing units. 8. The application specific signal processor of claim 1 for performing saturated multiplication and accumulation, wherein the application specific signal processor further comprises • a host interface to interface to an external host computer, an external memory interface to read and write data to an external memory, clock and phase-locked loop to control the timing of operations of the application specific signal processor, and a memory movement engine coupled to the buffer memory to transceive data thereto and therefrom. 9. A method of performing saturated multiplication and accumulation on a non-vectonzed equation, the method comprising : multiplying a plurality of digital samples with a plurality of coefficients to generate a plurality of terms ; adding a first term formed by the multiplying to an accumulated value to determine if the positive saturation value or the negative saturation value are met or exceeded as indicated by the carry output from the addition m order to limit the addition thereto or select the added value as a first add output; adding a second term formed by the multiplying to the first add output to determine if the positive saturation value or the negative saturation value are met or exceeded as indicated by the carry output from the addition order to limit the addition thereto or select a plurality of added results as a second add output; adding a third term formed by the multiplying to the second add output to determine if the positive saturation value or the negative saturation value are met or exceeded as indicated by the carry output from the addition order to limit the addition thereto or select a plurality of added results as a third add output; adding a fourth term formed by the multiplying to the first add output to determine if the positive saturation value or the negative saturation value are met or exceeded as indicated by the carry output from the addition order to limit the addition thereto or provide a plurality of added results as a fourth add output; and selecting either the negative saturation value, the positive saturation value, or one of the plurality of added results of the fourth add output as the result of the non-vectonzed equation, whereby the terms of the nonvectonzed equation are formed m one clock cycle by simultaneous multiplication and addition. 10. The method of claim 9 of performing saturated multiplication and accumulation, wherein, the non-vectonzed equation is YOUTn = ( ( ( (AC + L a 0 Xo) + L a x X ) + a 2 X 2 ) + L a 3 X 3 ) where "+ L " refers to a limiting of the addition to a range of values between a positive saturation value and a negative saturation value and AC is the accumulated value for a prior processing cycle ; the multiplying of the plurality of digital samples with the plurality of coefficients generates the terms o^o ι a χXχ , a 2 X 2 and a 3 X 3 ; the adding a first term to an accumulated value performs (AC + a 0 X 0 ) as the first add output; the adding a second term to the first add output performs (AC + L a 0 Xo) + x Xχ) as the second add output; the adding a third term to the second add output performs ( ( ( (AC + L a 0 Xo) + L a x Xχ) + L a 2 X 2 ) as the third add output ; and the adding a fourth term to the third add output performs ((((AC + L a 0 X 0 ) + L aχXι) + L a 2 X 2 ) + L a 3 X 3 ) as the fourth add output for selection. 11. The method of claim 9 of performing saturated multiplication and accumulation, the method further comprising: providing an application specific signal processor, the application specific signal processor including a serial interface to receive data samples of a digital signal and transmitting a digital signal processed output , a buffer memory to couple to the serial interface, the buffer memory to buffering the received data samples of the digital signal prior to digital signal processing and to buffer the digital signal processed output prior to transmission, at least one core processor to digital signal process the digital signal, the at least one core processor to generate the terms and perform the addition of terms and to couple to the buffer memory to buffer the digital signal processed output prior to transmission, the at least one core processor including, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) processor to provide control of the generation of the digital signal processed output, and a plurality of signal processing units executing the digital signal processing algorithm and processing the digital samples m parallel, the plurality of signal processing units generating the digital signal processed output m response to the data samples of the digital signal and the digital signal processing algorithm. 12. The method of claim 11 of performing saturated multiplication and accumulation, wherein, the application specific signal processor performs multiplication of the plurality of digital samples with the plurality of coefficients to generate the plurality of terms; performs addition of terms order to determine the fourth add output; and multiplexes the selected one of the fourth add output as the result of the non-vectonzed equation, and wherein the multiplication, the addition of terms, and the multiplexing to select tne result simultaneously performed by the application specific signal processor m one step. 13. A gateway interface of a gateway for connecting multiple networks and devices that may use different communication protocols, the gateway interface for packetizing information from the multiple devices for communication over a packetized network, the gateway interface including: network interface devices coupled to a receive bus and a transmit bus, the network interface devices to couple to the multiple networks and devices that may use different communication protocols to receive information and couple it to the receive bus and to couple to the transmit bus to receive information on the transmit bus and couple to the packetized network to transmit information in a packetized form, at least one application specific signal processing unit coupled to a local memory, the receive bus, and the transmit bus, the at least one application specific signal processing unit to perform saturated multiplication and accumulation of the information received, the at least one application specific signal processing unit including a serial interface to receive data samples of a digital signal and transmitting a digital signal processed output; a buffer memory to couple to the serial interface, the buffer memory to buffer the received data samples of the digital signal prior to digital signal processing and to buffer the digital signal processed output prior to transmission; at least one core processor to digital signal process the digital signal, the at least one core processor to generate the digital signal processed output in response to the data samples of the digital signal and a digital signal processing algorithm and to couple to the buffer memory to buffer the digital signal processed output prior to transmission, the at least one core processor including, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) processor to provide control of the generation of the digital signal processed output, and a plurality of signal processing units executing the digital signal processing algorithm and processing the digital samples in parallel, the plurality of signal processing units generating the digital signal processed output in response to the data samples of the digital signal and the digital signal processing algorithm. 14. The gateway interface of claim 13 for packetizing information from the multiple devices for communication over a packetized network, the gateway interface further including : a control bus coupled to the at least one application specific signal processing unit to transmit commands and program information to the at least one application specific signal processing unit and to receive status information from the at least one application specific signal processing unit, and a host processor and a host memory coupled to the control bus, the host processor and host memory to generate commands and program information for transmission to the at least one application specific signal processing unit to control the operation thereof. 15. The gateway interface of claim 14 for packetizing information from the multiple devices for communication over a packetized network, the gateway interface further including : a chassis bus forming the back-plane of a gateway, the chassis bus to communicate commands, control and status within the gateway, and bridge logic coupled to the chassis bus to transceive commands, control, and status between the control bus of the gateway interface and the chassis bus of the gateway. 16. A gateway interface for performing saturated multiplication and accumulation, the gateway interface having a processor, the gateway interface comprising: a processor readable storage medium; and code recorded in the processor readable storage medium to multiply a plurality of digital samples with a plurality of coefficients to generate a plurality of terms; to add a first term formed by the multiplication to an accumulated value to determine if a positive saturation value or a negative saturation value are met or exceeded as indicated by the carry output of the addition in order to limit the addition thereto or select the added value as a first add output; to add a second term formed by the multiplication to the first add output to determine if the positive saturation value or the negative saturation value are met or exceeded as indicated by the carry output of the addition in order to limit the addition thereto or select a plurality of added results as a second add output; to add a third term formed by the multiplication to the second add output to determine if the positive saturation value or the negative saturation value are met or exceeded as indicated by the carry output from the addition in order to limit the addition thereto or select a plurality of added results as a third add output; to add a fourth term formed by the multiplication to the first add output to determine if the positive saturation value or the negative saturation value are met or exceeded as indicated by the carry output from the addition m order to limit the addition thereto or provide a plurality of added results as a fourth add output and to select either the negative saturation value, the positive saturation value, or one of the plurality of added results of the fourth add output as the result of the non-vectonzed equation, whereby the terms of the nonvectonzed equation are evaluated by performing multiplication and addition m one step. 17. The gateway interface of claim 16, wherein, the processor readable storage medium is one or more of the set of magnetic storage medium, optical storage medium, or semiconductor storage medium.

Inventors: GANAPATHY KUMAR, KANAPATHIPIILLAI RUBAN, GANAPATHY, KUMAR, KANAPATHIPIILLAI, RUBAN
Applicants: VXTEL INC, VXTEL, INC.
Application year: 2000
Main classification: G06F15
IPC codes: G06F7, G06F9, G06F17