PathPartner Technology Announces Industry's First Hybrid Hardware-Software HEVC Decoder Optimized for Programmable SoC Devices
BANGALORE, September 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --
Hybrid HEVC Decoder uses ARM CPU and FPGA fabric optimally enabling flexible, highly
integrated video systems at lower overall system cost
PathPartner Technology [http://www.pathpartnertech.com ], a leading provider of
embedded multimedia software services and solutions, announces the availability of
Industry's First Hybrid HEVC (H.265) Decoder partitioned optimally into ARM Cortex-A9
Software and FPGA Hardware on Xilinx Zynq-7000 All Programmable SoCs. This hybrid HEVC
Decoder runs on a single chip delivering low power consumption and also the flexibility to
integrate custom hardware blocks in the FPGA fabric on the same chip, thereby reducing
overall system cost. Compared to pure hardware implementations that run on high-end FPGAs,
this hybrid decoder uses the ARM CPU of Programmable SoC devices for highly sequential
code like CABAC and hence uses less FPGA resources reducing power consumption and lowering
cost.
Benefits of Hybrid HEVC Decoder on Programmable SoC for Video System Integrators
Since the hybrid HEVC decoder only uses a portion of the FPGA logic resources on the
Zynq-7000 SoC, the remaining hardware resources can be used to integrate external display
interfaces like DisplayPort, SD/HD/3G-SDI, LVDS for single or multi-panel displays for
displaying the decoded video from the same chip. Compressed video can be brought to the
HEVC decoder via standard interfaces like Gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0, SD/MMC or PCI Express
available as hardened blocks on the Zynq-7000 SoC. Besides, the HEVC decoder uses only one
of the ARM Cortex-A9 CPUs in the Zynq-7000 SoC. The 2nd ARM CPU can be used for other
software functions like handling network protocols, Graphics overlay, OS etc.
Key features of the Hybrid HEVC/H.265 Decoder:
- Universal Main profile decoder - supports all features of Main profile as
per latest HEVC (H.265) standard approved by ITU-T/ISO
- Compliant to HM (JCT-VC reference code) version 13.0. Highly robust to error
streams and supports high quality error concealment
- Scalable from HD (1080p) to UltraHD (4K) Video Resolutions
- Hardware part of decoder available with AXI4 Interfaces for easy integration
into SoC
- Software part of decoder available for Linux. Other OS/RTOS integration
possible.
- 1080p30 version of decoder runs on Xilinx Zynq Z7045 device at slowest speed
grade and with less than 50% utilization of Hardware resources
Since HEVC (H.265) standard results in reduced bandwidth requirement as compared to
H.264 for high resolution videos, it is popular in applications with wireless
communication. Using SoC based FPGA chip enables usage of built-in interfaces like USB,
SDIO in the Zynq SoC, along with custom hardware logic and wireless interfaces. This is
particularly useful for defence and custom secure communication network based
applications. "said Vinay Mangalore, VP of Engineering, PathPartner Technology.
"Xilinx welcomes PathPartner as a Member of the Xilinx Alliance Program and looks
forward to providing the industry's leading silicon platform for their IP development."
said Aaron Behman, Segment Lead, Broadcast and Professional A/V business at Xilinx.
For licensing of this solution, please reach out to sales@pathpartnertech.com or
sales.usa@pathpartnertech.com
About PathPartner Technology:
PathPartner Technology based out of California, USA and Bangalore, India is a leading
provider of products and services for multimedia centric embedded devices. PathPartner has
extensive experience in Technology, Engineering & Business practices focusing on audio &
video codecs, video analytics & vision, FPGA Design, imaging, multimedia middleware, OS
porting, system integration, applications, and hardware design. We specialize in
addressing challenges faced by leading Silicon vendors, OS providers and ODM/OEMs in their
product development.