Linux (specifically uCLinux) is used to control all the functions of the camera (ethernet, video streaming, etc.) running on an Axis SoC. Unfortunately, an embedded general-purpose microcontroller just doesn't have the horsepower to run a software encoder for the raw image data coming from the CCD. To solve that problem, Elphel tossed a .09-micron Spartan FPGA on the controller's memory bus. The logic designers then wrote an encoder for the open-source, royalty- free Ogg Theora video codec.
Then they released it all (including the Verilog HDL for the FPGA!). How sweet is that? This is a must-read for all the geeks who read my blog.. so basically, all 3 of you who read it.. :-)
Build an Ogg Theora camera using an FPGA and embedded Linux
ogg, theora, fpga, spartan, linux, uclinux
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2 comments:
Man, I just had to clean my keyboard over that one.... Too bad that codec is in Verilog instead of VHDL ;-). Speaking of, I was informed (yet again) at work that hardware description languages are a really crappy way to design hardware, and that schematic entry is the only way to design anything that is decently fast. Imagine doing that codec gate-by-gate.....
Schematic entry may be a better way, but when you're talking a few hundred man-hours for something like a FIFO, there's problems..
hell, how long did our "encryption" chip take? And it didnt even work :-)
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