"HIGH PERFORMANCE SIGNAL PROCESSING"

THE DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING (DSP) INDUSTRY SUPPLIES ESSENTIAL TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGY TO A HOST OF DEFENSE AND CIVILIAN END-USERS. DSP PRODUCTS ARE FOUND IN MANY FIELDS INCLUDING COMMUNICATIONS, AUDIO, VIDEO, AUTOMATION, GEOPHYSICAL, MEDICAL, AND RADAR/SONAR APPLICATIONS. HOWEVER, MANY CRITICALLY IMPORTANT PROBLEMS CANNOT BE SERVEDBY THIS INDUSTRY DUE TO CURRENT COMPUTATIONAL LIMITATIONS OFDSP HARDWARE. THE INTERNATIONAL MARKETPLACE POTENTIAL FOR VERY FAST, REAL-TIME, COMPACT, INEXPENSIVE DSP EQUIPMENT IS TRULY MAJOR. SINCE COMPLEX MULTIPLICATION IS A BASIC DSP OPERATION, IT FOLLOWS THAT THE KEY TO IMPLEMENTING AN ADVANCED DSP MACHINEIS TO REDUCE TO A MINIMUM THE HARDWARE AND TIME REQUIRED FORTHIS OPERATION. THE ATHENA GROUP PROPOSES TO COMBINE THEIR EXPERIENCE AND HISTORY OF INNOVATION IN THE AREA OF COMPLEX RESIDUE ARITHMETIC TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL. BY ASSIMILATING THIS NEW THEORY INTO A DIGITAL HARDWARE, THEY PREDICT A SIGNIFICANT BREAK-THROUGH WILL BE MADE IN COMPLEX ARITHMETICDSP SYSTEM DESIGN. THEY PRESENT A RESEARCH PROGRAM WHICH WILL LEAD TO A SINGLE CHIP (108 CIPS) COMPLEX ALU HAVING THROUGHPUT CAPABILITIES FAR IN EXCESS OF CURRENT STATE-OF-THE-ART. TO DEVELOP THIS CONCEPT AND ADDRESS A PARTICULAR DSP NEED, THEY WILL APPLY THIS NEW THEORY TO THE DESIGN OF A FAST FOURIER TRANSFORM (FFT) MACHINE. THEY PREDICT THAT WHEN THEY REDUCE THIS NEW CONCEPT TO PRACTICE, A NEW LEVEL OF FAST, COMPACT, AND AFFORDABLE SPECTRAL ANALYSIS WILL BE ACHIEVED.