The Howdy Glossary

SA-C (Streaming Architecture C) is a programming language crafted for digital signal processing on reconfigurable computing devices, offering advanced features for hardware/software co-design. It enables developers to define algorithms as operations on data streams with versatile parameters, facilitating multiple implementations from a single source. This design allows efficient adaptation to various forms of parallelism in hardware, including pipeline and task parallelism.

SA-C was developed by researchers and engineers focused on digital signal processing and reconfigurable computing devices. The creators likely include both academic and industry professionals collaborating to advance languages and tools tailored for these specific fields. SA-C serves the purpose of providing a high-level approach to programming that enhances performance through efficient mapping of algorithms onto diverse hardware parallelism types, streamlining the development process for signal processing applications.

SA-C stands out due to its unique high-level constructs allowing flexible algorithm expression as computations on data streams and parameterization capabilities that support various implementations from one source. Its focus on optimizing performance through different parallelism forms like pipeline and task parallelism sets it apart from traditional languages like Verilog or VHDL as well as other high-level synthesis tools such as HLS C, OpenCL, or Vivado HLS. Consequently, SA-C provides a specialized solution for digital signal processing tasks on reconfigurable computing devices, catering specifically to developers seeking enhanced productivity and efficient hardware/software co-design.