H264-E-BPF - Ultra-fast, 4k-Capable, AVC/H.264 Baseline Profile Encoder
Block Diagram
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Overview
This video encoder supports the Constrained Baseline Profile of the H.264 standard It implements an ultra-high throughput, UHD- capable hardware encoder that is optimized for ultra-low-latency video streaming at low bit rates.The H264-E-BPF requires significantly less silicon area than most equally capable H.264 cores allowing for cost-effective FPGA implementations. Its small silicon footprint, low memory bandwidth, and zero software overhead enable H.264 coding at an extremely low energy cost. Depending on its configuration the core is able to process Full-HD or UHD/4K video onIntel® FPGAs.The core produces high quality video, even at low bit-rates, and features extremely low latency. It uses a constant Qp to output VBR streams, or automatically regulates Qp to output CBR streams. In CBR mode it responds rapidly to video content changes. This can be combined with Intra-Refresh coding to effectively eliminate bit-rate peaks, while preserving the periodic intra-coded references.
Features
- Ultra-fast, AVC/H.264 encoder - Options for 2 down to 1 cycle per pixel - UHD capable and very high frame rates at lower resolutions
- Small and Low Power: Significantly less silicon resources than equally capable encoder cores
- Low Latency and Low Bit Rates with Fewer Artifacts: Supports CBR, Intra-refresh and coding tools that improve quality at low bit-rates
- Constrained Baseline Profile & Interlaced Video using Main Profile syntax
Device Utilization and Performance
The core can be mapped to any Intel® FPGA Family (provided sufficient silicon resources are available) and optimized to suit the particular project's requirements. When configured to process 1 pixel every 2 clock cycles (H264-E-BPf/2) the core synthesizes to 20k ALMs, 816k Memory bits, and 18 DSP blocks. Under this configuration, It can process 720p60, 1080p50 on several Intel FPGA devices.When configured to process 1 pixel every clock cycle (H264-E-BPf/1) the core synthesizes to 38k ALMs, 1.1M Memory bits, and 36 DSP blocks. Under this configuration, It can process 1080p60, or UHD/4k at 25 or 30fps on several Intel FPGA devices.
IP Quality Metrics
| Basic | |
|---|---|
| Year IP was first released | 2015 |
| Latest version of Quartus supported | 15.1 |
| Altera Customer Use | |
| IP has been successfully implemented in production with at least one customer | Y |
| Deliverables | |
Customer deliverables include the following:
|
Y |
| Parameterization GUI allowing end user to configure IP | N |
| IP core is enabled for OpenCore Plus Support | N |
| Source language | Verilog; VHDL |
| Testbench language | Verilog; VHDL |
| Software drivers provided | N |
| Driver OS support | N/A |
| Implementation | |
| User Interface | AXI; Other: Simple native interface |
| IP-XACT Metadata included | N |
| Verification | |
| Simulators supported | Modelsim, Questa, NCSIM |
| Hardware validated | Y. Altera Board Name DK-DEV-4SGX230N & DK-START-5AGXB3N |
| Industry standard compliance testing performed | N |
| If No, is it planned? | N |
| Interoperability | |
| IP has undergone interoperability testing | N |
| Interoperability reports available | N |
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