Configurable pre-processing array
AssigneeAnalog Devices, Inc.
InventorIsaac Chase NOVET
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A scaled and configurable pre-processor array can allow minimal digital activity while maintaining hard real time performance. The pre-processor array is specially designed to process real-time sensor data. The interconnected processing units of the array can drastically reduce context swaps, memory accesses, main processor input/output accesses, and real time event management overhead.
Claims30
A configurable pre-processing array for performing pre-processing of real time sensor data streams and reducing power consumption of an overall system, the configurable pre-processing array comprising:
- a plurality of first processing units in a first processing layer for processing real time sensor data streams, the first processing units each configured to execute one or more first processing layer instructions from a main processor;
- and
- a plurality of second processing units in a second processing layer for processing output data generated by the first processing layer, the second processing units each configured to execute one or more second processing layer instructions from the main processor;
- wherein a first one of the second processing units comprises circuitry providing conditional data routing to one or more of the following:
- memory, a peer second processing unit, and a processing unit at a third processing layer, and the conditional data routing is based on output data of the first one of the second processing units.
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A method for pre-processing real time sensor data streams and reducing context switching of a main processor, the method comprising:
- monitoring, by a plurality of first processing units in a first processing layer of a configurable pre-processing array, real time sensor data streams from a plurality of sensors in parallel according to one or more first processing layer instructions from the main processor;
- and
- in response to detecting activity of interest in the real time sensor data streams by a first one of the first processing units, interrupting a second processing unit in a second processing layer and providing output data from the first one of the first processing units to the second processing unit in the second processing layer.
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A method for pre-processing real time sensor data streams from networked sensors, the method comprising:
- receiving, at a configurable pre-processing array assisting a main processor, frames or packets comprising real time sensor data streams originating from a plurality of sensors;
- performing network layer processing on the frames or the packets, by a plurality of first processing units in a first processing layer of the configurable pre-processing array;
- providing the real time sensor data streams from the first processing units to a plurality of second processing units in a second processing layer of the configurable pre-processing array;
- processing the real time sensor data streams by the second processing units, each one of the second processing units executing one or more second processing layer instructions from a main processor;
- and
- in response to detecting activity of interest in the real time sensor data, interrupting at least one of the third processing units in a third processing layer and providing output data of the second processing layer to the at least one of the third processing units.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.