Reference manuals
Development tools
The Hexagon tools provide the means to compile, simulate, debug, and analyze code.
For complete documentation on each of these tools, see one of the following manuals:
| Manual | Description |
|---|---|
| Hexagon Programming Software Development Tools | Hexagon software development tools overview |
| Hexagon LLVM C/C++ Compiler User Guide | Hexagon compilers clang and clang++ |
| Hexagon Simulator User Guide | Hexagon simulator hexagon-sim |
| Hexagon LLDB Debugger User Guide | Hexagon debugger hexagon-lldb |
| Hexagon gprof Profiler User Guide | Hexagon function profiler hexagon-gprof |
| Hexagon Profiler User Guide | Hexagon system profiler hexagon-profiler |
| Hexagon Code Coverage Profiler User Guide | Hexagon code coverage profiler hexagon-coverage |
| Hexagon Resource Analyzer User Guide | Memory resource analyzer hexagon-analyzer-backend |
| Hexagon C TRACE32 User Guide | Hexagon TRACE32 |
| Hexagon Utilities User Guide | Hexagon utilities |
The Hexagon utilities include the following tools:
- Assembler
hexagon-llvm-mc: Translate assembly source files into object files - Linker
hexagon-link: Combine object files into executable - Archiver
hexagon-ar: Create, modify, and extract files from archives - Object file symbol lister
hexagon-nm: List symbols from object files - Object file copier
hexagon-elfcopy: Copy and translate object files - Object file viewer
hexagon-llvm-objdump: Display contents of object files - Archive indexer
hexagon-ranlib: Generate index to archive contents - Object file section size lister
hexagon-size: List section sizes and total size - Object file string lister
hexagon-strings: List strings from object files - Object file stripper
hexagon-strip: Remove symbols from object file - C++ filter
hexagon-c++filt: Filter used to demangle encoded C++ symbols - Address converter
hexagon-addr2line: Convert addresses to file and line - ELF file viewer
hexagon-readelf: Display contents of ELF format files
Programming languages
Assembly and intrinsics
For the best performance, write time-critical functions using direct DSP instructions. Do this by either writing assembly code or using intrinsics within C/C++ code.
The DSP optimization guidelines page provides tips on how to write efficient code with intrinsics or assembly language.
For complete documentation on assembly instructions and intrinsics, see one of the programming reference manuals:
- Hexagon V65 Programmer's Reference Manual User Guide
- Hexagon V65 HVX Programmer's Reference Manual User Guide
- Hexagon V66 Programmer's Reference Manual User Guide
- Hexagon V66 HVX Programmer's Reference Manual User Guide
- Hexagon V68 Programmer's Reference Manual User Guide
- Hexagon V68 HVX Programmer's Reference Manual User Guide
- Hexagon V69 Programmer's Reference Manual User Guide
- Hexagon V69 HVX Programmer's Reference Manual User Guide
- Hexagon V73 Programmer's Reference Manual User Guide
- Hexagon V73 HVX Programmer's Reference Manual User Guide
C/C++
The DSP code is usually written in C or C++. Such code does not require any change to run on the DSP: Qualcomm’s compiler relies on LLVM and currently supports the following versions of the C and C++ standards:
- C language: K&R C, ANSI C89, ISO C90, ISO C94 (C89+AMD1), ISO C99 (+TC1, TC2, TC3), ISO C11
- C++ language: C++98, and with some minor limitations, C++11, C++14, and C++17
For complete documentation on C/C++ support, see the Hexagon LLVM C/C++ Compiler.
The C/C++ compiler is HVX-aware when using the -fvectorize option. For more vectorization options, consider using Halide, writing code with Intrinsics, or using assembly.
Halide
Halide is a dialect of C++ that allows you to exploit the Hexagon Vector eXtensions (HVX) of the Qualcomm DSP from C.
For more information on Halide, see the Halide for HVX user guide.
IDL
The Interface Description Language (IDL) defines the interface that the CPU and DSP use to communicate in C/C++ using RPC.
For complete documentation on IDL, see the IDL reference documentation.
DSP software libraries
Several DSP software libraries provide optimized implementations of a number of DSP routines.
For complete information on these libraries, see the following documents:
| Manual | Description |
|---|---|
| Qualcomm Hexagon Libraries (QHL) | Math, BLAS, and DSP libraries optimized for Hexagon (scalar and HVX) |
| Hexagon C Library User Guide | Common C libraries |
| Hexagon C++ Library Supplement | A guide for comparing and selecting libstdc++ and libc++ libraries |
| Hexagon QPRINTF Library | A library extending printf support to HVX registers and assembly |
Others
Following are other reference contents available within the Hexagon SDK:
| Manual | Description |
|---|---|
| System Software APIs | APIs for system-level libraries managing DSP resources |
| Qurt User Guide | Qualcomm real-time operating system |
| Hexagon Application Binary Interface (ABI) User Guide | Application Binary Interface (ABI) |