NB: the following does not relate directly to accessing Photoshop/Quickdraw Nubus cards, though it may provide clues for this and related projects. Again, these are edited highlights. The original document as available at the ftp link below.
Audio capabilities of AT&T 3210- and PowerPC-based Macintosh products
ftp://ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de/pub/mac/report/av-pmac-audio.rtf
(same author as thesis above)
Audio capabilities of AT&T 3210- and PowerPC-based Macintosh products
ftp://ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de/pub/mac/report/av-pmac-audio.rtf
(same author as thesis above)
Spectral Innovations’ AT&T 3210-based, ARTA-compliant NuBus cardSpectral Innovations’ DSP3210/ARTA Developer Toolkit
This board provides audio capabilities almost identical to those of the 040 AV Macs. In addition, it has digital I/O in the format of optical SP/DIF. I suspect that DSP applications running on it would be somewhat slower than on an 040 AV because it has to access main memory via NuBus rather than directly.
ARTA Macs
ARTA (Apple Real Time Architecture) is a real-time operating system derived in part from AT&T’s VCOS (Visible Caching Operating System). ARTA also includes hardware implementation guidelines. ARTA Macs contain an AT&T DSP3210. The assembler has a C-like syntax.
It theoretically supports multiple DSPs, so two or more 3210s (appearing on SI boards or on a 040 AV motherboard) could be used simultaneously.
The following is a description of the steps needed to write real-time DSP programs for ARTA Macs.
First you will need a 3210 assembler and a few header files. See the section of James Wang’s FAQ entitled “Developing software for the DSP” for more information on how to get these. I think your best bet is to get the SI tools.
Apple had a C compiler for the 3210, but Spectral does not distribute it because of its low quality. AT&T does have a good C compiler for the 3210 for DOS and Sun, but it has not been ported to the Macintosh.
Your assembler will allow you to compile source files into files with ‘dspf’ resources. These ‘dspf’ resources contain DSP modules, which are bits of 3210 machine code. In order to work, DSP modules must be loaded onto the chip and the resultant process must be connected to the system’s sound input and output buffers. / My program framework3210 is freeware and available via ftp
ftp://ftp.cs.jhu.edu/pub/dsp/framework3210.sit.hqx
ftp://ftp.csua.berkeley.edu/pub/jwang/develop/framework3210.hqx.
[sample code]
It appears that ARTA is not part of the Power Mac system software. Nonetheless, Christopher Weare has been able to do real-time DSP on these machines, using calls to Standard Sound.
Review of the SI Tools
You need MPW to use many of the SI tools. The tools include the assembler, simulator, BugLite graphical DSP module loader, Macsbug D Commands, and Snoopy runtime debugger.
Documentation
The documentation comes in two parts. The first is a big stack of 3-hole punched loose-leaf paper, containing about 10 different sections.
The second part is a spiral bound, bad photocopy of the AT&T DSP3210 manual. AT&T is willing to send out the real thing for free.
A large portion of the documentation is almost identical to that found in Apple Developer Note #5, which you probably own anyway if you get the toolkit.
Extending the tools
George Warner writes that the AT&T Application Library includes many (about 100?) useful DSP algorithms (FFTs, FIR and IIR filters) with complete source code. It should sell for about $100. I think you would have to call AT&T to find a distributor for this.