A signal processing system control method and apparatus are described. Various embodiments include a signal processing system with multiple subsystems. A method for controlling the signal processing system includes storing channel records in a designated area of shared memory. Channel records include channel data that include one of multiple discrete signals to be processed by multiple subsystems in a time-multiplexed manner. The channel record includes information used by the multiple subsystems to process a channel, including information used to configure the multiple subsystems, information used to allocate the shared memory, and information used to communicate between multiple subsystems.