FPGA-based DVCPRO HD decoder implementation using impulse C

Abstract

High-level languages (HLL) for defining hardware implementation are important in both academic and commercial research. Impulse C could be an example of such language. This environment provides a programming model and library of functions for parallel applications, targeting FPGA-based platforms with the ability to partition the algorithm between software and hardware. This article’s aim is to briefly describe DVCPRO HD, one of the intra-frame video-coding algorithms widely used in consumer equipment. DVCPRO HD is a DCT -based lossy video coding algorithm which uses variable-length coding (VLC) and run-length encoding (RLE) to achieve a 5:1 compression ratio. This paper presents DVCPRO HD video-coding-standard principles as well as decoder implementation working in real-time, compliant with the afore-mentioned standard and implemented in Impulse C. According to the authors’ knowledge, the presented solution is the first FPGA implementation of this coding standard which includes all three VLC stages of data re-arrangement. What is more, this is the first DVCPRO HD implementation which utilizes Impulse C.