Trace-path analysis and performance estimation for multimedia application in embedded system

High-level performance estimation can help assess the performance in the early development stage of embedded systems with real-time constraints efficiently; however, the estimation accuracy has long been an issue. In this paper, a performance estimation method called trace-path analysis based on high-level execution path tracing analysis, which takes the effect of multiple execution paths into consideration, is proposed. Multiple execution path resolutions and a linear model for non-deterministic node cost are incorporated to yield better estimation accuracy. The estimation of error is also covered in this context so that the degree of estimation accuracy can be known. Experiments taking MPEG-4 shape coding as an example show that the proposed approach can achieve an average of 1.88% estimation error per QCIF frame, which is better than the 12.38% of the bitstream analysis approach.