News and New Products

Embedded DSP boards capture FireWire images

By Warren Webb -- EDN, 9/25/2003

Traquair Data Systems recently announced support of video FireWire frame capture for the microline family of embedded DSP boards (Picture). With 400-Mbps IEEE 1394a FireWire communications- and camera-control capabilities, the microline modules give developers access to an image-frame-capture and   -processing platform for embedded real-time video applications. An IIDC (Instrumentation and Industrial Digital Camera) FireWire Camera-compliant software-function library allows developers to control camera operation from DSP-resident application code. The software supports various video modes and formats from 8 to 24 bits/pixel and 160×120- to 1600×1200-pixel frame sizes. Depending on the camera’s functions, software features also include adjustable frame rates, brightness, auto exposure, sharpness, white balance, hue, saturation, gamma, shutter, gain, trigger mode, zoom, pan, tilt, and optical filter. The microline DSP boards support single- or multiple-camera configurations.

Developers can process the captured image data in real time with user-programmable DSP and FPGA resources on microline DSP boards. The flagship of the microline family, the C6713Compact provides a high-performance TMS320C6713 DSP processor, a Virtex-II FPGA in a 256,000-, 512,000-, or 1 million-gate-density configuration and an onboard, two-port IEEE 1394a FireWire interface. The 512,000- and 1 million-gate versions can master the 64 Mbytes of onboard memory, making such configurations ideal for high-speed, 2-D convolution.

Available options include 10/100BaseT Ethernet; IEEE 1394a FireWire connectivity; digital I/O, analog I/O, and an open microline bus interface for OEM developers to add their own peripheral hardware. Prices for FireWire-enabled microline-DSP-board configurations start at $1200 (100). The FireWire camera interface software is now available for $1300.

Traquair Data Systems, 1-607-266-6000, www.traquair.com.