Application Architectures for FPGA-Based Image Processing

Ed Trexel & Brian Durwood from Impulse Accelerated Technologies discuss how computational-bound offloading, System-on-Chip integration and custom processes are driving software applications into FPGAs in this article from EE Times.

Video and imaging circuitry only changes one way. Higher resolution, higher frame rates, and lower power requirements (particularly for UAV applications) equates to higher capacity and complexity. This is driving some software developers to sample the technique of offloading processor functions to run in parallel in field programmable gate arrays (FPGA).

While not difficult, there can be resource, timing, and other issues that may frustrate a first-time user. New platforms and compilation techniques have made it easier (but not easy) to offload and reconfigure software code to run in hardware. This article is written by experienced professionals in the tools, IP, and platform side of FPGAs - it is aimed at software developers interested in sampling software-to-hardware compilation. It works to explain the architectural choices that need to be made and the HLL (high level language) tools approach to software-to-hardware compilation.

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About Impulse 
Founded in 2002, Impulse Accelerated Technologies is a Washington State based company specialising in high performance and high reliability solutions which accelerate compute bound software modules by offloading them to FPGA. With over a decade of experience Impulse offers sophisticated tools that work with Altera FPGA-based boards from BittWare, as well as Xilinx-based FPGA modules from Extreme Engineering and DAVE Embedded Systems.
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Impulse Accelerated Technologies is represented in the UK by Sarsen Technology Ltd. Please visit www.sarsen.net for full details of the tools and services on offer.

DAVE Embedded Systems Gets a Facelift

Author - Laura

The team over at DAVE Embedded Systems have just unveiled their shiny new website, and it’s pretty impressive. With new graphics and clean, simple lines the new site provides a more streamlined user experience, without losing any of the familiar DAVE branding. 

 

With an emphasis on technical support the site now links directly to the DAVEWiki;
a fantastic archive full of documentation, user guides and software tools that provides developers with everything they need to get started.


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Check out their efforts by going to the all-new DAVE Embedded Systems website – www.dave.eu

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DAVE Embedded Systems is a well-established and constantly growing Italian company, focused on designing, manufacturing and selling of miniaturised embedded systems solutions. Since its foundation, back in 1998, DAVE Embedded Systems has developed its business and now provides CPU modules solutions or System-On-Module (SoM) based on the latest technologies including Multi-Core ARM Cortex, PowerPC, X86 and FPGA.

FPGAs - Right For Your Application?

Simply put, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is an integrated circuit that can be programmed after manufacturing.

In 1985 Xilinx co-founders Ross Freeman and Bernard Vonderschmitt invented the first commercially viable FPGA. Two decades later, Freeman was entered into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his invention.

FPGAs allow designers to adapt or completely change their designs very late in the production cycle– even after the end system has been manufactured and deployed in the field. You can configure an FPGA to be as simple or as complex as you require, but an FPGA does nothing by itself. FPGAs store their configuration in RAM, meaning that once they the power is switched off they lose their configuration. They must be configured every time power is applied.


To get started. the designer needs to create a bit file for the FPGA. Once it's loaded the FPGA will behave like the digital circuit you designed. FPGAs have large resources of logic gates and RAM blocks to implement complex digital programs. Similar to a PLD, but whereas PLDs are generally limited to hundreds of gates, FPGAs support thousands of gates. Thanks to their programmable nature, FPGAs are an ideal fit for many different markets.

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Extreme Engineering (X-ES) has designed and manufactured a line of high-performance FPGA processing modules in industry-standard XMC and 3U VPX form factors. These rugged, configurable modules include features such as FMC sites and daughter cards to simplify I/O compatibility for many different applications.

X-ES also has extensive experience integrating FPGAs with Intel® and Freescale-based SBC and I/O platforms into a wide range of customer-specific and SecureCOTS designs. With the combination of superior signal processing capabilities as well as high speed A/D and D/A conversion, these modules are ideal solutions for high-end RF signal acquisition, SDR, and DSP requirements.

Check out the FPGA Development Kit (FDK) whitepaper from X-ES for an in-depth review of how to integrate their FPGA capabilities into your application.

Extreme Engineering Solutions

Sarsen Introduces Impulse Accelerated Technologies to the Product Line

Author - Laura

We are very excited to annouce that Impulse Accelerated Technologies has appointed Sarsen Technology Ltd as its FPGA Tools and Design Services distributor in the UK and Ireland.

Founded in 2002, Impulse Accelerated Technologies is a Washington State based company who specialise in high performance and high reliability solutions which accelerate compute bound software modules by offloading them to FPGA. Having been in the business for over a decade Impulse offers sophisticated tools that work with Altera FPGA-based boards from BittWare, as well as Xilinx-based FPGA modules from Extreme Engineering and DAVE Embedded Systems (and other well known manufacturers!)

About Impulse C

Impulse C is one of the most widely used software to FPGA hardware optimizing compilers. It has been used in over 2,000 designs by clients as diverse as NASA, Sony and Wall Street Banks. Impulse CoDeveloper is compatible with > 90% of FPGAs, and available processor cores. Impulse CoDeveloper also produces synthesizable VHDL or Verilog compatible with many other tools.


Impulse C enables developers to rapidly prototype offloading CPU bound applications by moving them to multiple streaming processes running in FPGA hardware and software.

C and VHDL can be combined in heterogeneous programming. Impulse C even outputs IEEE compliant VHDL to simulators from Mentor and Aldec.

Impulse also offers board interface packages which link to memory, I/O, processors and other hardware features from C. 


The new relationship is going to allow us to support customers with complete FPGA-based solutions in the financial trading, telecommunications infrastructure, power generation and Mil/Aero markets, providing not only hardware and software, but also training and support going forward.

Impulse has helped over 500 teams improve their application by refactoring and recompiling it to run faster, smaller or at lower power. For more information about the new relationship and how it could benefit your FPGA-based application please contact Sarsen Technology on +44 1672 511166, or email us - info@sarsen.net