JPEG Encoder IP Core Performance Optimization Solution

On June 19, semiconductor IP supplier CAST announced that it would optimize the functionality and performance of its JPEG encoder IP core.

System designers now have two rate control options to choose from to tune the JPEG compression function for specific applications:

Limited buffering and block-based rate control minimizes on-chip memory for buffering and transmission bandwidth, resulting in high-quality images.

Motion JPEG-oriented video rate control maximizes video quality for Motion JPEG data streams while using hardware resources more efficiently.

"Image compression simply means 'JPEG' to the layman, but it is far from a 'one size fits all' technology," said Nikos Zervas, Vice President of Marketing at CAST. "The choice of a specific compression algorithm and the processing options within it can make a huge difference in quality, bandwidth, memory requirements, performance and power consumption. We pride ourselves on helping customers understand, determine and configure the best encoder for their specific system."

The JPEG encoder IP core now runs on the latest Altera® and Xilinx® FPGAs, up to 400Msamples/s. This means that a single encoder IP core can process 1080p@60fps video on low-cost Altera Cyclone-V and Xilinx Artix™-7 devices, and can also process 4k@30fps digital movies on higher-end devices such as Altera Stratix® V and Xilinx Virtex®-7 FPGAs. At the same time, the IP core has also been tested with the new Xilinx Vivado™ tool set for better efficiency.

CAST offers and supports the broadest and deepest set of image compression IP cores and available subsystems, including JPEG, Scalado Speedtags JPEG, 12/8-bit Extended JPEG, Lossless LJPEG and JPEG-LS, and JPEG 2000. CAST video compression IP cores include multiple H.264 profiles, MPEG2 and DV. JPEG and H.264 IP cores are sourced from technology partner Alma Technologies.