New graphics system uses single core for high performance video processing

At Aviation Electronics Europe (AEE) this month, Aitech Defense Systems Inc. and CoreAVI will be exhibiting a demo of a high performance graphics system that captures images with an extremely low latency of two frames. All video throughput runs under VxWorks on a single core of a 12-core T4240 processor, keeping the remaining 11 cores free for other processing tasks.

The system uses two high performance Aitech boards. The M596 graphics and video XMC is based on AMD's flagship Radeon E8860 (Adelaar) GPU, with six independent graphics heads and UVD support for hardware-accelerated H.264/MPEG2/VC-1 video decoding. This XMC sits on the C112, a single-slot 6U VPX SBC that uses NXP's 12-core T4240 QorIQ processor with internal AltiVec vector processing engines for added performance.

Graphics and video are generated using CoreAVI's safety-critical OpenGL SC software, then rendered by the M596's GPU. The 4th gen UVD within the GPU uses CoreAVI's E8860 H.264 video decode drivers to decode the H.264 video, a task typically handled by the CPU. The GPU incorporates the decoded H.264 video and displays it through CoreAVI's video capture API. This allows for easy integration with 2D or 3D graphics-video overlays, while using a single or even multiple independent graphics display heads.

ANSYS SCADE Suite works with CoreAVI's OpenGL SC platform to provide a convenient, easy-to-use interface that greatly simplifies the application development process.

Designed to be flexible as well as handle intense video demands, the new system can easily serve as the heart of modern mission and display computers in virtually any aircraft.

The M596 can simultaneously process up to four different types of analog and digital video inputs and outputs over a wide range of resolutions. The C112's large memory arrays and broad I/O range allows it to meet many mission requirements right out of the box. The inherent Secure Boot and Trust Architecture, encryption capabilities of the T4240 processor provides added security needed in defense and aerospace applications.