Category: Special Topics: DSP Functions in FPGAs:

Friday, September 03, 2010

DSP Functions in FPGAs

Do’s and Don’ts of Architecting the Right FPGA Solution for DSP Design

Designing a flexible, programmable DSP system architecture is a daunting task. From evolving mobile standards to the newest video compression techniques, the latest algorithms are rapidly growing in complexity. For example, a customer that previously was satisfied with standard definition resolution MPEG-2 video compression may now demand that the next product support high definition resolution H.264, which will require more than an order of magnitude increase in system performance. At the same time, the pressure to increase system channel count is unrelenting as network capabilities continue to grow. Consequently when starting a new design, the engineer must consider not just today’s requirements, but understand that this system might also be called upon to address unforeseen challenges.

Read the entire article from Altera Corp. on SOCcentral.

FPGAs "DiSP"lay Their Processing Prowess

Digital-signal processing, thanks to explosive growth in wired and wireless networks and in multimedia, represents one of the hottest areas in electronics. So it's no surprise that dozens if not hundreds of stand-alone-chip and embedded-core vendors are chasing after the business, representing both the software- and the hardware-centric implementation extremes. But at least one in-between option bears your consideration. Like software, a programmable-logic device is almost infinitely customizable, and, as with a processor, the silicon physical-design work is already done for you. FPGAs aren't quite as low-power, fast, or dense as ASICs, but they're superior to processors in those regards. You can buy FPGAs, unlike ASICs, in small quantities with no upfront NRE charges, and you need not wait for months' worth of fab, packaging, and test delays after your design's done to obtain a working chip.

By Brian Dipert, EDN Technical Editor

Read the entire articles on the EDN website.

FPGAs: Fast Track to DSP

Dedicated DSP processors and cores are still a widely popular means of achieving digital signal processing needs. In little more than a few days time, a programmer can take a DSP chip and write an algorithm that will efficiently perform the digital signal processing task required. But as CPUs have incorporated arithmetic coprocessors and extensions that optimize digital signal processing tasks, and as other silicon alternatives have emerged, the necessity of a separate DSP chip is no longer viewed as inevitable. In fact, there seems to be increasing evidence that the negatives of discrete DSP chips might outweigh their benefits.

Read the entire white paper on the Mentor Graphics website.

SOCcentral has identified more than 150 DSP design tool and IP vendors. Use the drop-down menu to access detailed information about a specific vendor.

SOCcentral news items about DSP in FPGAs

Xilinx XtremeDSP Solution Enables Dolby's LED-Backlit LCD Display Technology (12/12/2007)

Synplicity and Lattice Expand Partnership to Include DSP Synthesis (11/5/2007)

Xilinx Announces New Low Cost, High Performance DSP Development Platform (9/24/2007)

Lattice Semiconductor Announces True 90-nm Non-Volatile FPGA Family (5/29/2007)

Xilinx Virtex-5 SXT FPGAs Achieve PCI Express v1.1 Compliance (5/23/2007)

Xilinx Enables Miranda Technologies Kaleido-X Multi-Image Processor (4/16/2007)

Xilinx FPGAs Enable First Modulator for South American ISDTV Market (4/16/2007)

Altera FPGA Replaces 64 DSP Devices in Fairlight's New Media Processing Engine (4/9/2007)

Xilinx Launches New Low-Cost Spartan-DSP Series (4/2/2007)

Mentor Graphics Announces Synthesis Support for Xilinx Virtex-5 SXT FPGAs (3/8/2007)

Synplicity Offers a Complete Design Solution for Xilinx High-Performance Virtex-5 SXT DSP Platform (2/14/2007)

VMETRO Adopts Xilinx Virtex-5 SXT FPGA to Boost DSP Performance (2/13/2007)

Xilinx Ships Highest Performance DSP Platform with New Virtex-5 SXT FPGAs (2/5/2007)

XtremeDSP Development Tools Reduce Power, Extend Performance for Virtex-5 DSP Applications (10/30/2006)

Celoxica Adds Floating-Point Toolkit to IP Portfolio (7/21/2006)

Synplicity Advances DSP Algorithm Implementation (7/21/2006)

Altera Speeds Time-to-Market and Improves Performance for Video and Image Processing Applications (4/24/2006)

Xilinx Enables New Multi-Function Digital Video Broadcast Mobile Product (4/24/2006)

Xilinx, Ateme Demonstrate New Real-Time MPEG-4 Video Encoder in a Single FPGA (4/24/2006)

Xilinx AccelDSP Synthesis 8.1 Tool Accelerates DSP System Design (4/4/2006)

AccelChip Expands Model-Based Design Solution with Automated Generation of C++ Verification Models (1/9/2006)

Magazine & Jouranl articles on DSP functions in FPGAs

ESL Synthesis Solution Improves Productivity for DSP Designs in ASICs and FPGA Devices SOCcentral (9/20/2007)

Speed Hardware Development with Model-Based Design DSP DesignLine (11/24/2006)

Speed Up Downconverter Implementation with Rapid Prototyping Wireless Net DesignLine (11/13/2006)

Combining FPGAs and DSPs to Get the Best Performance Wireless Net DesignLine (4/18/2006)

Image Processing Applications on New Generation FPGAs FPGA and Programmable Logic Journal (3/7/2006)

Optimizing DSP Functions in Advanced FPGA Architectures Programmable Logic DesignLine (1/25/2006)

System Level Design of FPGA-Based DSP Algorithms SOCcentral (12/19/2005)

FPGA-Centric Computing Architecture SOCcentral (12/15/2005)

Denser, Faster Chips Deliver Knockout DSP Performance Electronic Design Magazine (7/7/2005)

EDN 2005 DSP Directory: Targeted DSPs Take Aim EDN Magazine (4/28/2005)

A Methodology for DSP-Based FPGA Design eeDesign (EE Times EDA News) (3/9/2005)

Plug and Play Design Methodologies for FPGA-based Signal Processing FPGA and Programmable Logic Journal (3/8/2005)

Design FPGA-Based DSPs for Performance and Power Chip Design Magazine (3/1/2005)

FPGA at the End of 2004 FPGA and Programmable Logic Journal (12/28/2004)

Destination DSP: Methodologies for Signal Processing Success FPGA and Programmable Logic Journal (11/30/2004)

No Size Fits All for Signal Processing on FPGAs Electronic Engineering Times (EE Times) (11/8/2004)

Embedded Logic Analyzer Speeds SoPC Design Chip Design Magazine (9/1/2004)

FPGAs in High-Performance Signal Processing: The Big Picture RTC Magazine (8/1/2004)

High-Performance DSP Capability within an Optimized Low-Cost FPGA Architecture FPGA and Programmable Logic Journal (7/6/2004)

FPGAs Go, Go, Go: Solving the FPGA Timing Closure Challenge for High-Speed Designs Chip Design Magazine (7/1/2004)

2004 DSP Directory EDN Magazine (4/29/2004)

Top-Down DSP Design Flow to Silicon Implementation FPGA and Programmable Logic Journal (3/9/2004)

Reduce Build Costs by Offloading DSP Functions to an FPGA FPGA and Programmable Logic Journal (2/24/2004)

Using FPGAs for DSP Image Processing FPGA and Programmable Logic Journal (1/19/2004)

System-Level Design Using FPGAs and DSPs: An Example Showing Software-Defined Radio RTC Magazine (1/1/2004)

Radar Processing Shifts to FPGAs and Altivec Military & Aerospace Electronics (6/1/2003)

FPGA Cores Enhance Radar Pulse Compression COTS Journal (1/10/2003)

FPGAs Provide Reconfigurable DSP Solutions DSP-FPGA (1/1/2003)

Tutorials, White Papers & Conference Papers on DSP functions in FPGAs

A Guide to Using FPGAs for Application-Specific Digital Signal Processing Xilinx, Inc.

An Algorithm for Converting Floating-Point Computations to Fixed-Point in MATLAB Based FPGA Design Design Automation Conference (DAC)

Analog Devices TigerSHARC Link Xilinx, Inc.

Automatic Translation of Software Binaries onto FPGAs Design Automation Conference (DAC)

Cost Effective Digital Radio Processing Solutions Using New Spartan-DSP and Virtex-5 SXT Xilinx, Inc.

Design Tips for Arithmetic Functions Xilinx, Inc.

Designing Convolutional Interleavers with Virtex Devices Xilinx, Inc.

DSP Co-Processing in FPGAs: Embedding High-Performance, Low-Cost DSP Functions Xilinx, Inc.

Estimating FPGA Requirements for DSP Applications Hunt Engineering, Ltd.

FPGA vs. DSP Design Reliability and Maintenance Altera Corp.

FPGAs for High-Performance DSP Applications Altera Corp.

FPGAs for Software Radio Pentek, Inc.

FPGAs Provide Reconfigurable DSP Solutions Altera Corp.

FPGAs Tackle DSP Applications for Communications Pentek, Inc.

FPGAs Unleash Single Board Computers for Real-Time Systems Pentek, Inc.

FPGAs: Fast Track to DSP Mentor Graphics Corp.

High-Performance DSP Capability within an Optimized Low-Cost FPGA Architecture Lattice Semiconductor Corp.

Implementing DSP Designs in Altera Stratix Devices Mentor Graphics Corp.

Implementing Multipliers with Actel FPGAs Actel Corp.

Modeling and Implementation of DSP FPGA Solutions Xilinx, Inc.

Multirate Filters and Wavelets: From Theory to Implementation Xilinx, Inc.

Real Time Image Rotation and Resizing, Algorithms and Implementations Xilinx, Inc.

Reconfigurable Processors for High-Performance, Embedded Digital Signal Processing BYU Configurable Computing Lab

Signal Processing at 250 MHz Using High-Performance FPGAs Rapid Prototypes. Inc.

Soft Multipliers for DSP Applications Altera Corp.

Stratix II DSP Performance Altera Corp.

The Platform FPGA: Enabling The Software Radio Xilinx, Inc.

Transposed Form FIR Filters Xilinx, Inc.

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