ChipWrights' Latest Software Release is Prime for IP Camera Market

ChipWrights stacks its latest software release with major improvements to its DSP libraries and Linux support, making it possible to implement a dome fish-eye (360 degree) camera with dewarping and filtering functionality using ChipWrights’ CW5631 System-on-Chip.

This software release includes “the necessary components to implement cost-effective IP cameras using the CW5631 System-on-Chip, and complements ChipWrights’ initial software release for IPTV media player applications,” said Halil Padir, Director of Software at ChipWrights, Inc. The CW5631 System-on-Chip is an excellent platform for IP cameras and IPTV set top boxes; it is an embedded single-chip solution designed for multi-purpose applications that require high-speed digital video processing, small size, and low power consumption.

Linux 2.6.29 kernel highlights include video capture support (V4L2) for various video sources, allowing users to “easily port video capture applications to the CW5631,” Padir added. Other kernel improvements include: DSP firmware load support, faster SD driver with SDIO support, SDIO Wi-Fi support through “libertas” driver, booting and rootfs in NAND flash with JFFS2, and improvements to various device drivers.

Application support includes: Qt 4.5 support; DSP acceleration of Qt applications via an SDL driver layer; Mplayer built with V4L2 support for live playback of captured video; standalone FFMPEG (libavcodec) with DSP accelerated encode and decode for supported codecs; MTD utils for NAND flash support; support for WPA/WPA2 Wi-Fi connections; DSP video processing showcase with PC-based GUI and live video capture using V4L2; real-time DSP processing including, de-interlacing, de-warping, filtering, chroma-key, picture-in-picture, and live RTP streaming of MPEG4 encoded video using FFMPEG/Live555.

Other key improvements include NAND boot loader bundled with u-boot (u-boot-2009.01), which enables running the root file system from flash and eliminates the need for additional storage media (such as an SD card or a hard drive) to run the whole system. Plus, a sample IP Camera application with a PC-based GUI shows most features.