Evaluation of Static and Dynamic Scheduling for Media Processors

This paper presents the results of an architecture style evaluation that compares the performance of static scheduling and dynamic scheduling for media processors. Existing programmable media processors have predominantly used staticallyscheduled architectures. As future media processors progress to higher frequencies and higher degrees of parallelism, the dynamic aspects of processing become more pronounced and dynamic hardware support may be needed to achieve high performance. This paper explores many of the dynamic aspects of media processing by evaluating various fundamental architecture styles and the frequency effects on those architecture models. The results indicate that dynamic out-of-order scheduling methods enable significantly higher degrees of parallelism and are less susceptible to high frequency effects. Consequently, dynamic scheduling support may be necessary for maximizing performance in future media processors.