Designs can be ported across software tools, libraries, and embedded processing platforms.

The dataflow interchange format (DIF) is a conceptual framework for helping designers of digital signal-processing (DSP) systems to integrate diverse dataflow models, dataflow techniques, DSP-design software tools, DSP software libraries, and embedded processing platforms. Somewhat more specifically, the DIF is intended to afford a unique combination of capabilities for (1) developing dataflow models and techniques for exploring the complex design spaces for embedded DSP systems; (2) porting DSP designs across various software tools, libraries, and embedded processing platforms; and (3) synthesizing software implementations from high-level, dataflow-based program specifications.

The DIF includes the concepts of a DIF hierarchy and a DIF language. In conventional practice, a sophisticated DSP is usually modeled by means of a hierarchical graph in which the computations associated with certain actors, denoted hierarchical actors, can be specified as nested dataflow graphs. However, the conventional formal dataflow graph definition does not describe such hierarchical nesting. The DIF hierarchy is a means of specifying hierarchical dataflow graphs. In DIF semantics, an actor can represent either an indivisible computation or a hierarchically nested subgraph (denoted a supernode in DIF).