The AMS Operating System: a prototyping environment for real-time signal processing algorithm development

The major focus of the Acoustic Telemetry Group at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has been the development of underwater acoustic communication and remote sensing devices. These are typically deployed in buoys, underwater vehicles, or in ocean-bottom packages. The devices communicate acoustically with a surface station, conveying scientific results to observers, and accepting commands. A significant milestone in the evolution of such platforms has been the development of an operating system (called AMS) for embedded signal processing. This system allows rapid algorithm prototyping using a high-level, matrix-based language specialized to DSP targets and real-time data-flow processing. A key feature of AMS, distinguishing it from other high-level DSP specification software, is that the language is interpreted as well as executed by the target DSP. Performance is maintained by (i) coding time-critical algorithm steps in C or assembly language, and (ii) using multiple DSP devices in a loosely-coupled network. The motivation for, and development of, the AMS Operating System are reviewed. The potential for rapid algorithm prototyping using AMS is demonstrated by way of two applications in underwater acoustic signal processing