Xilinx is targeting development of next generation 3D TVs and set-top boxes with a development platform based on its Spartan-6 FPGA.
The Spartan-6 FPGA Broadcast Connectivity Kit and Broadcast Processing Engine IP core enable broadcast system designers
The aim is to meet the growing need for processing power for fast data transmission and real-time video processing in cameras and routers.
The FPGA supplier is expecting broad adoption of 3D TV which will have x2 the bandwidth requirements as compared with 1080p60 formats.
This increases the number of SDI ports required in each system implementation or increasing the speed of these ports to 6Gbit/s and beyond,” said Xilinx.
Xilinx is offering an FPGA implementation of Triple-rate SDI (SD, HD, 3G) and other interfaces, supported by a real-time video processing capability.
Developed with Tokyo Electron Devices, the Spartan-6 design kit also supports the HDMI (High-Definition Media Interface), DisplayPort, DVI and V-by-One HS standards.
The Broadcast Connectivity kits will also accommodate the higher speeds required by 3D, Digital Cinema and Ultra HDTV (6G-SDI, 10G-SDI and 12G-SDI) in the future.
An integrated Broadcast Processing Engine will support up to 4Kx4K resolution in the video scaler at 12-bit colour depth.
For higher performance real-time video systems, Xilinx has worked with Vanguard Software Solutions to demonstrate the VSofts H.264/AVC-I IP core running on a Virtex-6 FPGA.
According to Xilinx, each evolution from 1080i through 4Kx2K formats requires a x8 increase of throughput off the back of the camera from 1.5Gbit/s to 12Gbit/s. This can be addressed with the H.264AVC Intra IP core which uses the parallel processing and high-speed I/O provided by the FPGA.
Also announced at the IBC2010 conference today, Xilinx has demonstrated the use of Coreworks Dolby audio technology and other audio codec IP cores embedded in FPGAs for compressing multichannel audio.
Coreworks designed the new IP cores to fully support Dolby Digital, AAC+ and MPEG-1 Layer II for distribution to the home and Dolby E from professional studio to studio.