Code selection for media processors with SIMD instructions

Media processors show special instruction sets for fast execution of signal processing algorithms on different media data types. They provide SIMD instructions, capable of executing one operation on multiple data in parallel within a single instruction cycle. Unfortunately, their use in compilers is so far very restricted and requires either assembly libraries or compiler intrinsics. This paper presents a novel code selection technique capable of exploiting SIMD instructions also when compiling plain C source code. It permits one to take advantage of SIMD instructions for multimedia applications, while still using portable source code