A digital signal processor (DSP) is a specialised microprocessor architecture optimised for the high-throughput numerical operations of digital signal processing, such as multiply-accumulate, filtering and fast transforms. DSPs feature hardware support for fixed and floating-point arithmetic, parallel datapaths and efficient memory access to process audio, sensor and communication signals in real time at low power. They are a core building block of audio systems, embedded devices and spatial computing hardware.
Overview
- A digital signal processor is a processor whose instruction set and datapath are tailored to the repetitive arithmetic of digital signal processing. Hallmark features include single-cycle multiply-accumulate units, hardware loop control, circular buffering for filters, and parallel memory buses that keep operands flowing. These traits let a DSP run finite and infinite impulse response filters, fast Fourier transforms and convolution at high sample rates with low latency and modest power draw. In audio systems a DSP applies equalisation, echo cancellation and spatialisation; in microphone arrays it performs beamforming and noise suppression; and across embedded systems it shares duties with general-purpose microcontrollers.
Key aspects
- Hardware multiply-accumulate and SIMD datapaths for filtering and transforms.
- Fixed and floating-point arithmetic with deterministic real-time latency.
- Circular buffers and zero-overhead loops for streaming signal blocks.
- Low power profile suited to embedded and always-on audio devices.
- Often paired with a microcontroller in a heterogeneous embedded system.
Applications
- Real-time audio effects, equalisation and echo cancellation.
- Microphone-array beamforming and noise suppression.
- Spatial-audio rendering using head-related transfer functions.
- Wireless baseband and sensor signal conditioning.