How to implement a high-definition video design framework for FPGAs
By Suhel Dhanani and Girish Malipeddi, Altera
April 06, 2008 -- pldesignline.com
Almost all new design starts for video/imaging systems – be it in broadcast, studio, medical, or military applications – is processing high-definition (HD) video signals. A frame of HD video has between 5 to 12 times the numbers of pixels as the frame of SD video as illustrated in Table 1.
Table 1. Frame sizes in pixels for different HD resolutions compared to standard definition (SD).
This increase in the number of pixels per frame directly translates into increased video processing throughput requirements that drive most of HD video system designs to FPGAs.
With inherently parallel DSP blocks, an abundance of embedded memory blocks, a large number of registers, and high speed memory interfaces, FPGAs are ideal for HD video system design. However, HD video signal processing on FPGAs also has significant challenges, such as implementing efficient external frame buffer interface, interfacing different video function blocks, integrating the signal processing to the on-chip processor, as well as rapid debug and prototyping.
This article explores a video design framework that can alleviate some of these challenges and allow for a faster design cycle. The components of the video design framework described can be used collectively or designers can pick and choose to suit an in-house design flow and methodology.
April 06, 2008 -- pldesignline.com
Almost all new design starts for video/imaging systems – be it in broadcast, studio, medical, or military applications – is processing high-definition (HD) video signals. A frame of HD video has between 5 to 12 times the numbers of pixels as the frame of SD video as illustrated in Table 1.
Table 1. Frame sizes in pixels for different HD resolutions compared to standard definition (SD).
This increase in the number of pixels per frame directly translates into increased video processing throughput requirements that drive most of HD video system designs to FPGAs.
With inherently parallel DSP blocks, an abundance of embedded memory blocks, a large number of registers, and high speed memory interfaces, FPGAs are ideal for HD video system design. However, HD video signal processing on FPGAs also has significant challenges, such as implementing efficient external frame buffer interface, interfacing different video function blocks, integrating the signal processing to the on-chip processor, as well as rapid debug and prototyping.
This article explores a video design framework that can alleviate some of these challenges and allow for a faster design cycle. The components of the video design framework described can be used collectively or designers can pick and choose to suit an in-house design flow and methodology.
To read the full article, click here
Related Semiconductor IP
- eUSB2V2.0 Controller + PHY IP
- I/O Library with LVDS in SkyWater 90nm
- 50G PON LDPC Encoder/Decoder
- UALink Controller
- RISC-V Debug & Trace IP
Related Articles
- Processor Architecture for High Performance Video Decode
- High Definition, Low Bandwidth -- Implementing a high-definition H.264 codec solution with a single Xilinx FPGA
- Polyphase Video Scaling in FPGAs
- Video encoding with low-cost FPGAs for multi-channel H.264 surveillance
Latest Articles
- ChipBench: A Next-Step Benchmark for Evaluating LLM Performance in AI-Aided Chip Design
- COVERT: Trojan Detection in COTS Hardware via Statistical Activation of Microarchitectural Events
- A Reconfigurable Framework for AI-FPGA Agent Integration and Acceleration
- Veri-Sure: A Contract-Aware Multi-Agent Framework with Temporal Tracing and Formal Verification for Correct RTL Code Generation
- FlexLLM: Composable HLS Library for Flexible Hybrid LLM Accelerator Design