Patent ID: 6957430

Claim:
A method of managing signal-processing resources of a multimedia platform that is designed for applying signal-processing operations to multimedia signals, comprising: defining multimedia functions each capable of monitoring the operation of a set of multimedia platform signal-processing resources, putting them in contact, and adapting the contents of said signal-processing resource set depending on the multimedia signal to be processed; and using said multimedia functions to apply said signal-processing operations to said multimedia signals, wherein said using comprises: the signal processing resources of a plurality of types declaring themselves to a resource management function; the resource management function registering values of description parameters of the declared resources that represent functions of the declared resources, and connectivity of the declared resources including addresses of the declared resources; configuring the multimedia functions to use certain types of the signal processing resources; an application issuing a high-level instruction to apply a multimedia function of the multimedia functions to the multimedia signals; the multimedia function that corresponds to the high-level instruction executing the high-level instruction by issuing a plurality of elementary control instructions that define operations enabling control of the signal processing resources, including dynamically allocating available ones of the signal processing resources of the configured types that are needed to effect the high-level instruction, adapting the multimedia function to the high-level instruction, and setting up data exchanges among the allocated resources.