summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/contrib/ffmpeg/doc/optimization.txt
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'contrib/ffmpeg/doc/optimization.txt')
-rw-r--r--contrib/ffmpeg/doc/optimization.txt233
1 files changed, 233 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/contrib/ffmpeg/doc/optimization.txt b/contrib/ffmpeg/doc/optimization.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4c0934b4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/ffmpeg/doc/optimization.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,233 @@
+optimization Tips (for libavcodec):
+===================================
+
+What to optimize:
+-----------------
+If you plan to do non-x86 architecture specific optimizations (SIMD normally),
+then take a look in the i386/ directory, as most important functions are
+already optimized for MMX.
+
+If you want to do x86 optimizations then you can either try to finetune the
+stuff in the i386 directory or find some other functions in the C source to
+optimize, but there aren't many left.
+
+
+Understanding these overoptimized functions:
+--------------------------------------------
+As many functions tend to be a bit difficult to understand because
+of optimizations, it can be hard to optimize them further, or write
+architecture-specific versions. It is recommended to look at older
+revisions of the interesting files (for a web frontend try ViewVC at
+http://svn.mplayerhq.hu/ffmpeg/trunk/).
+Alternatively, look into the other architecture-specific versions in
+the i386/, ppc/, alpha/ subdirectories. Even if you don't exactly
+comprehend the instructions, it could help understanding the functions
+and how they can be optimized.
+
+NOTE: If you still don't understand some function, ask at our mailing list!!!
+(http://lists.mplayerhq.hu/mailman/listinfo/ffmpeg-devel)
+
+
+When is an optimization justified?
+----------------------------------
+Normally, clean and simple optimizations for widely used codecs are
+justified even if they only achieve an overall speedup of 0.1%. These
+speedups accumulate and can make a big difference after awhile. Also, if
+none of the following factors get worse due to an optimization -- speed,
+binary code size, source size, source readability -- and at least one
+factor improves, then an optimization is always a good idea even if the
+overall gain is less than 0.1%. For obscure codecs that are not often
+used, the goal is more toward keeping the code clean, small, and
+readable instead of making it 1% faster.
+
+
+WTF is that function good for ....:
+-----------------------------------
+The primary purpose of this list is to avoid wasting time optimizing functions
+which are rarely used.
+
+put(_no_rnd)_pixels{,_x2,_y2,_xy2}
+ Used in motion compensation (en/decoding).
+
+avg_pixels{,_x2,_y2,_xy2}
+ Used in motion compensation of B-frames.
+ These are less important than the put*pixels functions.
+
+avg_no_rnd_pixels*
+ unused
+
+pix_abs16x16{,_x2,_y2,_xy2}
+ Used in motion estimation (encoding) with SAD.
+
+pix_abs8x8{,_x2,_y2,_xy2}
+ Used in motion estimation (encoding) with SAD of MPEG-4 4MV only.
+ These are less important than the pix_abs16x16* functions.
+
+put_mspel8_mc* / wmv2_mspel8*
+ Used only in WMV2.
+ it is not recommended that you waste your time with these, as WMV2
+ is an ugly and relatively useless codec.
+
+mpeg4_qpel* / *qpel_mc*
+ Used in MPEG-4 qpel motion compensation (encoding & decoding).
+ The qpel8 functions are used only for 4mv,
+ the avg_* functions are used only for B-frames.
+ Optimizing them should have a significant impact on qpel
+ encoding & decoding.
+
+qpel{8,16}_mc??_old_c / *pixels{8,16}_l4
+ Just used to work around a bug in an old libavcodec encoder version.
+ Don't optimize them.
+
+tpel_mc_func {put,avg}_tpel_pixels_tab
+ Used only for SVQ3, so only optimize them if you need fast SVQ3 decoding.
+
+add_bytes/diff_bytes
+ For huffyuv only, optimize if you want a faster ffhuffyuv codec.
+
+get_pixels / diff_pixels
+ Used for encoding, easy.
+
+clear_blocks
+ easiest to optimize
+
+gmc
+ Used for MPEG-4 gmc.
+ Optimizing this should have a significant effect on the gmc decoding
+ speed.
+
+gmc1
+ Used for chroma blocks in MPEG-4 gmc with 1 warp point
+ (there are 4 luma & 2 chroma blocks per macroblock, so
+ only 1/3 of the gmc blocks use this, the other 2/3
+ use the normal put_pixel* code, but only if there is
+ just 1 warp point).
+ Note: DivX5 gmc always uses just 1 warp point.
+
+pix_sum
+ Used for encoding.
+
+hadamard8_diff / sse / sad == pix_norm1 / dct_sad / quant_psnr / rd / bit
+ Specific compare functions used in encoding, it depends upon the
+ command line switches which of these are used.
+ Don't waste your time with dct_sad & quant_psnr, they aren't
+ really useful.
+
+put_pixels_clamped / add_pixels_clamped
+ Used for en/decoding in the IDCT, easy.
+ Note, some optimized IDCTs have the add/put clamped code included and
+ then put_pixels_clamped / add_pixels_clamped will be unused.
+
+idct/fdct
+ idct (encoding & decoding)
+ fdct (encoding)
+ difficult to optimize
+
+dct_quantize_trellis
+ Used for encoding with trellis quantization.
+ difficult to optimize
+
+dct_quantize
+ Used for encoding.
+
+dct_unquantize_mpeg1
+ Used in MPEG-1 en/decoding.
+
+dct_unquantize_mpeg2
+ Used in MPEG-2 en/decoding.
+
+dct_unquantize_h263
+ Used in MPEG-4/H.263 en/decoding.
+
+FIXME remaining functions?
+BTW, most of these functions are in dsputil.c/.h, some are in mpegvideo.c/.h.
+
+
+
+Alignment:
+Some instructions on some architectures have strict alignment restrictions,
+for example most SSE/SSE2 instructions on x86.
+The minimum guaranteed alignment is written in the .h files, for example:
+ void (*put_pixels_clamped)(const DCTELEM *block/*align 16*/, UINT8 *pixels/*align 8*/, int line_size);
+
+
+General Tips:
+-------------
+Use asm loops like:
+asm(
+ "1: ....
+ ...
+ "jump_instruciton ....
+Do not use C loops:
+do{
+ asm(
+ ...
+}while()
+
+Use asm() instead of intrinsics. The latter requires a good optimizing compiler
+which gcc is not.
+
+
+Links:
+======
+http://www.aggregate.org/MAGIC/
+
+x86-specific:
+-------------
+http://developer.intel.com/design/pentium4/manuals/248966.htm
+
+The IA-32 Intel Architecture Software Developer's Manual, Volume 2:
+Instruction Set Reference
+http://developer.intel.com/design/pentium4/manuals/245471.htm
+
+http://www.agner.org/assem/
+
+AMD Athlon Processor x86 Code Optimization Guide:
+http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/22007.pdf
+
+
+ARM-specific:
+-------------
+ARM Architecture Reference Manual (up to ARMv5TE):
+http://www.arm.com/community/university/eulaarmarm.html
+
+Procedure Call Standard for the ARM Architecture:
+http://www.arm.com/pdfs/aapcs.pdf
+
+Optimization guide for ARM9E (used in Nokia 770 Internet Tablet):
+http://infocenter.arm.com/help/topic/com.arm.doc.ddi0240b/DDI0240A.pdf
+Optimization guide for ARM11 (used in Nokia N800 Internet Tablet):
+http://infocenter.arm.com/help/topic/com.arm.doc.ddi0211j/DDI0211J_arm1136_r1p5_trm.pdf
+Optimization guide for Intel XScale (used in Sharp Zaurus PDA):
+http://download.intel.com/design/intelxscale/27347302.pdf
+
+PowerPC-specific:
+-----------------
+PowerPC32/AltiVec PIM:
+www.freescale.com/files/32bit/doc/ref_manual/ALTIVECPEM.pdf
+
+PowerPC32/AltiVec PEM:
+www.freescale.com/files/32bit/doc/ref_manual/ALTIVECPIM.pdf
+
+CELL/SPU:
+http://www-01.ibm.com/chips/techlib/techlib.nsf/techdocs/30B3520C93F437AB87257060006FFE5E/$file/Language_Extensions_for_CBEA_2.4.pdf
+http://www-01.ibm.com/chips/techlib/techlib.nsf/techdocs/9F820A5FFA3ECE8C8725716A0062585F/$file/CBE_Handbook_v1.1_24APR2007_pub.pdf
+
+SPARC-specific:
+---------------
+SPARC Joint Programming Specification (JPS1): Commonality
+http://www.fujitsu.com/downloads/PRMPWR/JPS1-R1.0.4-Common-pub.pdf
+
+UltraSPARC III Processor User's Manual (contains instruction timings)
+http://www.sun.com/processors/manuals/USIIIv2.pdf
+
+VIS Whitepaper (contains optimization guidelines)
+http://www.sun.com/processors/vis/download/vis/vis_whitepaper.pdf
+
+GCC asm links:
+--------------
+official doc but quite ugly
+http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Extended-Asm.html
+
+a bit old (note "+" is valid for input-output, even though the next disagrees)
+http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~clc5q/gcc-inline-asm.pdf