Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cunixf.cc.columbia.edu!cunixa.cc.columbia.edu!garton
From: garton@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Bradford Garton)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: Perceived Performance/DSP
Message-ID: <1990Jul17.014608.26574@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu>
Date: 17 Jul 90 01:46:08 GMT
References: <1990Jul15.202600.17995@portia.Stanford.EDU>
Sender: news@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (The Daily News)
Reply-To: brad@woof.columbia.edu (Brad Garton)
Organization: Columbia University Electronic Music Center
Lines: 16

In article <1990Jul15.202600.17995@portia.Stanford.EDU> declan@portia.Stanford.EDU (Declan McCullagh) writes:
>Ivo Welch (ivo@next.agsm.ucla.edu) writes:
>
>>What really startles me is how little general-purpose software uses the DSP.
>
>I'd say the problem is that at least in the current version of the operating
>system, the DSP can't be shared - it's a "single user" chip.

I think another big problem with the current OS is the lack of DMA.  Hardly
makes the overhead of using it worthwhile for tasks which cannot be run
entirely on the DSP.  Rumor has it that DSP DMA will be in place for 2.0,
however.

Brad Garton
Columbia University
brad@woof.columbia.edu