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optimization Tips (for libavcodec):
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===================================
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If you plan to do non-x86 architecture specific optimizations (SIMD normally),
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then take a look in the x86/ directory, as most important functions are
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already optimized for MMX.
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If you want to do x86 optimizations then you can either try to finetune the
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stuff in the x86 directory or find some other functions in the C source to
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optimize, but there aren't many left.
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Understanding these overoptimized functions:
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--------------------------------------------
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As many functions tend to be a bit difficult to understand because
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of optimizations, it can be hard to optimize them further, or write
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architecture-specific versions. It is recommended to look at older
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revisions of the interesting files (for a web frontend try ViewVC at
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http://svn.ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg/trunk/).
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Alternatively, look into the other architecture-specific versions in
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the x86/, ppc/, alpha/ subdirectories. Even if you don't exactly
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comprehend the instructions, it could help understanding the functions
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and how they can be optimized.
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NOTE: If you still don't understand some function, ask at our mailing list!!!
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(http://lists.mplayerhq.hu/mailman/listinfo/ffmpeg-devel)
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When is an optimization justified?
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----------------------------------
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Normally, clean and simple optimizations for widely used codecs are
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justified even if they only achieve an overall speedup of 0.1%. These
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speedups accumulate and can make a big difference after awhile. Also, if
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none of the following factors get worse due to an optimization -- speed,
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binary code size, source size, source readability -- and at least one
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factor improves, then an optimization is always a good idea even if the
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overall gain is less than 0.1%. For obscure codecs that are not often
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used, the goal is more toward keeping the code clean, small, and
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readable instead of making it 1% faster.
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WTF is that function good for ....:
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-----------------------------------
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The primary purpose of this list is to avoid wasting time optimizing functions
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which are rarely used.
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put(_no_rnd)_pixels{,_x2,_y2,_xy2}
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Used in motion compensation (en/decoding).
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avg_pixels{,_x2,_y2,_xy2}
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Used in motion compensation of B-frames.
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These are less important than the put*pixels functions.
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pix_abs16x16{,_x2,_y2,_xy2}
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Used in motion estimation (encoding) with SAD.
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pix_abs8x8{,_x2,_y2,_xy2}
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Used in motion estimation (encoding) with SAD of MPEG-4 4MV only.
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These are less important than the pix_abs16x16* functions.
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put_mspel8_mc* / wmv2_mspel8*
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it is not recommended that you waste your time with these, as WMV2
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is an ugly and relatively useless codec.
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mpeg4_qpel* / *qpel_mc*
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Used in MPEG-4 qpel motion compensation (encoding & decoding).
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The qpel8 functions are used only for 4mv,
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the avg_* functions are used only for B-frames.
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Optimizing them should have a significant impact on qpel
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qpel{8,16}_mc??_old_c / *pixels{8,16}_l4
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Just used to work around a bug in an old libavcodec encoder version.
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tpel_mc_func {put,avg}_tpel_pixels_tab
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Used only for SVQ3, so only optimize them if you need fast SVQ3 decoding.
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For huffyuv only, optimize if you want a faster ffhuffyuv codec.
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get_pixels / diff_pixels
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Used for encoding, easy.
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Optimizing this should have a significant effect on the gmc decoding
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Used for chroma blocks in MPEG-4 gmc with 1 warp point
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(there are 4 luma & 2 chroma blocks per macroblock, so
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only 1/3 of the gmc blocks use this, the other 2/3
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use the normal put_pixel* code, but only if there is
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Note: DivX5 gmc always uses just 1 warp point.
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hadamard8_diff / sse / sad == pix_norm1 / dct_sad / quant_psnr / rd / bit
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Specific compare functions used in encoding, it depends upon the
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command line switches which of these are used.
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Don't waste your time with dct_sad & quant_psnr, they aren't
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put_pixels_clamped / add_pixels_clamped
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Used for en/decoding in the IDCT, easy.
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Note, some optimized IDCTs have the add/put clamped code included and
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then put_pixels_clamped / add_pixels_clamped will be unused.
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idct (encoding & decoding)
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difficult to optimize
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Used for encoding with trellis quantization.
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difficult to optimize
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Used in MPEG-1 en/decoding.
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Used in MPEG-2 en/decoding.
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Used in MPEG-4/H.263 en/decoding.
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FIXME remaining functions?
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BTW, most of these functions are in dsputil.c/.h, some are in mpegvideo.c/.h.
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Some instructions on some architectures have strict alignment restrictions,
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for example most SSE/SSE2 instructions on x86.
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The minimum guaranteed alignment is written in the .h files, for example:
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void (*put_pixels_clamped)(const DCTELEM *block/*align 16*/, UINT8 *pixels/*align 8*/, int line_size);
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"jump_instruciton ....
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Use __asm__() instead of intrinsics. The latter requires a good optimizing compiler
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http://www.aggregate.org/MAGIC/
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http://developer.intel.com/design/pentium4/manuals/248966.htm
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The IA-32 Intel Architecture Software Developer's Manual, Volume 2:
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Instruction Set Reference
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http://developer.intel.com/design/pentium4/manuals/245471.htm
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http://www.agner.org/assem/
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AMD Athlon Processor x86 Code Optimization Guide:
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http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/22007.pdf
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ARM Architecture Reference Manual (up to ARMv5TE):
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http://www.arm.com/community/university/eulaarmarm.html
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Procedure Call Standard for the ARM Architecture:
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http://www.arm.com/pdfs/aapcs.pdf
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Optimization guide for ARM9E (used in Nokia 770 Internet Tablet):
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http://infocenter.arm.com/help/topic/com.arm.doc.ddi0240b/DDI0240A.pdf
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Optimization guide for ARM11 (used in Nokia N800 Internet Tablet):
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http://infocenter.arm.com/help/topic/com.arm.doc.ddi0211j/DDI0211J_arm1136_r1p5_trm.pdf
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Optimization guide for Intel XScale (used in Sharp Zaurus PDA):
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http://download.intel.com/design/intelxscale/27347302.pdf
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Intel Wireless MMX2 Coprocessor: Programmers Reference Manual
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http://download.intel.com/design/intelxscale/31451001.pdf
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PowerPC32/AltiVec PIM:
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www.freescale.com/files/32bit/doc/ref_manual/ALTIVECPEM.pdf
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PowerPC32/AltiVec PEM:
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www.freescale.com/files/32bit/doc/ref_manual/ALTIVECPIM.pdf
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http://www-01.ibm.com/chips/techlib/techlib.nsf/techdocs/30B3520C93F437AB87257060006FFE5E/$file/Language_Extensions_for_CBEA_2.4.pdf
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http://www-01.ibm.com/chips/techlib/techlib.nsf/techdocs/9F820A5FFA3ECE8C8725716A0062585F/$file/CBE_Handbook_v1.1_24APR2007_pub.pdf
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SPARC Joint Programming Specification (JPS1): Commonality
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http://www.fujitsu.com/downloads/PRMPWR/JPS1-R1.0.4-Common-pub.pdf
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UltraSPARC III Processor User's Manual (contains instruction timings)
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http://www.sun.com/processors/manuals/USIIIv2.pdf
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VIS Whitepaper (contains optimization guidelines)
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http://www.sun.com/processors/vis/download/vis/vis_whitepaper.pdf
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official doc but quite ugly
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http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Extended-Asm.html
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a bit old (note "+" is valid for input-output, even though the next disagrees)
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http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~clc5q/gcc-inline-asm.pdf
added
removed
doc/optimization.txt
