FPGA-based system-on-module for digital signal processing

“We are pleased the team at Solectrix has successfully leveraged the unique capabilities of our SmartFusion2 SoC FPGA devices, as its SXoM-SF2 complements Microsemi’s efforts to build a robust portfolio of products and solutions for video and imaging applications,” said Prem Arora, director of marketing for Microsemi.

“FPGA-based DSP and high-speed PCIe streaming are ideal for many image processing applications, particularly within the industrial, medical and defense and markets where these capabilities combined with the SmartFusion2’s security and low power are a compelling combination.”

At a compact size of 55mmx30mm, SXoM-SF2 can be deployed across a wide range of applications including motion capturing and analysis, medical and scientific imaging, security and surveillance, high-end machine vision, traffic monitoring and airborne imaging.

The device functions as a modular system core for high performance DSP applications and uses a carrier board with a PCIe interface to enable high-speed streaming of processed data to the host (PCIe streaming server).

Users can leverage the SXoM-SF2 module for their own design and benefit from Microsemi’s SmartFusion2 SoC FPGA, which combine a flash-based FPGA fabric featuring 56K logic elements (LEs) with an ARM-based hard processor system running at 166 megahertz (MHz).

“Our SmartFusion2-based SOM allows customers in the broad imaging market to easily build high performing, secure and low power DSP systems with the ability to integrate functions like imaging processing, video capture and high-speed PCIe streaming to the host,” said Stefan Schuetz, Managing Director at Solectrix. “In addition to its ultra-compact form factor, low power embedded architecture, and metadata and audio extraction, leveraging Microsemi’s SmartFusion2 device enables the development of a wide variety of higher performance applications.”

According to Chaitanya Kumar, CEO of market research firm IndustryArc, which published a report titled, “Global Machine Vision Market,” “Surging demand for image processing and video analytics capabilities in various end user industries such as food processing, industrial automation, medical and automotive, are likely to proliferate the adoption for high performance SOMs in these markets. Significant innovations and developments in image processing techniques on the back video analytics initiatives and big data are the key drivers of the machine vision market, which is witnessing remarkable growth rate of 11 percent and is projected to reach $8.6 billion by 2021, subsequently driving the market for SOM in machine vision.”

Solectrix offers a HD-SDI to PCIe base board to help demonstrate its SXoM-SF2’s capabilities for customers. This board set can capture HD video and perform audio extraction, scaling, etc. Customers looking to leverage the device for their specific applications can purchase the SOM for a single PCS. In addition, Solectrix provides design services and turnkey development for custom designs.

Application example based on the SXoM-SF2 device:

• Dual 3G/HD-SDI receivers (connectors and PHYs on carrier board), supporting 1280 × 720 pixels, 4:2:2 and 1920 × 1080 pixels, 4:2:2;
• High-quality scaling and RAW bypass for image data;
• PCIe-based streaming server for image data;
• PCI Express 2.0 x1 interface to host (5 Gbit/s).