Application Report
SPRAB87–December 2009
TMS320DM365 Preview of Codec Porting on Linux
Yashwant Dutt and Karimulla Shaik ..................................................................................... MM Codecs
ABSTRACT
TI codec software was traditionally run on a DSP, which had DSP/BIOS™ software kernel foundation as
an operating system. With the new range of upcoming SOCs, where the architecture is getting more
hardware accelerator centric, the use of digital signal processing (DSP) is reduced. The codec can
operate directly from the main processor, which also hosts the primary operating system. Therefore, the
interaction of codecs with operating system integrities becomes inevitable. DM365 is one such where the
Host ARM926 runs the operating system and application and also has a portion of codec software. This
application report discusses in detail the various steps to make the codec work in such an environment. It
considers Linux
®
as the operating system running on the Host ARM926. This application report is written
with respect to the DM365 codec and software architecture, but would also be helpful to users who want
to port their Code Composer Studio™ standalone/other OS-based codec/algorithm on Linux on DM365 or
related platforms.
Contents
1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1
2 DM365 Software Architecture ............................................................................................. 2
3 Memory Related Changes Inside and Outside the Codec ............................................................ 3
4 Compilation .................................................................................................................. 4
5 Interaction With Linux System ............................................................................................. 5
6 Debugging Tips .............................................................................................................. 6
7 References ................................................................................................................... 7
List of Figures
1 DM365 Software Architecture ............................................................................................. 2
2 DM365 Codec Architecture, Host ← → Co-Processor Communication ............................................. 3
List of Tables
1 Introduction
DM365 is a digital multimedia SOC that is primarily targeting video security, video conferencing, PMP and
other related applications. It has an ARM subsystem, two video co-processor sub-systems and scores of
peripherals. This application report is also helpful to users who want to port their Code Composer Studio
standalone/other OS-based codec/algorithm on Linux. For more details, see the TMS320DM365 Digital
Media System-on-Chip (DMSoC) Data Manual (SPRS457).
As part of the software offering in the DM365 digital video software development kit (DVSDK), the ARM
subsystem hosts a wide range of codec and integrated sample demo application running on Linux.
Codecs are important components in the overall software ecosystem. Many times the codec and
application run on Linux, which is an open-source operating system that comes with a reasonable
licensing agreement.
This application report discusses the various issues and points of porting a codec on Linux.
DSP/BIOS, Code Composer Studio are trademarks of Texas Instruments.
Linux is a registered trademark of Linux Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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SPRAB87–December 2009 TMS320DM365 Preview of Codec Porting on Linux
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