Developing cutting-edge vision systems requires more than just advanced hardware—it demands the ability to customize and optimize image processing to meet specific application needs. That’s why e-con Systems offers a suite of high-performance Image Signal Processing (ISP) FPGA IP cores that can help achieve this goal.
In this blog, you’ll learn how e-con Systems’ FPGA IP cores operate and how we can customize them to fit unique vision requirements.
About e-con Systems’ FPGA IP Cores
e-con Systems provides a range of ISP FPGA IP Cores that ensure high-quality image processing. They are developed for seamless integration into various cameras, managing both pre and post-image capturing tasks. These cores are also flexible across different FPGA platforms, such as Lattice and Xilinx, making them ideal for applications that demand rapid image processing.
Before getting to know about the extent of customization, it’s important to understand the core features that these IP blocks offer.
- Maximum frame rate: Supports Full HD at 240 fps and 4K at 60 fps, ensuring smooth and high-quality video capture
- Autofocus, auto white balance, and auto exposure: Automatically adjusts settings to enhance image clarity
- Crop and binning support: Allows for flexible image scaling and region of interest selection
- Enhanced Debayer algorithm: Improves the conversion of raw image data to full-color images
- Black level and gamma correction: Adjusts image brightness and contrast for better visual output
- Advanced 5×5 matrix interpolation: Delivers superior image quality compared to standard IP cores
- 3×3 color correction matrix: Ensures accurate color representation
- Piece-wise linear function: Helps low-noise image adjustments and ensures optimal display range remapping
- Brightness and saturation control: Offers control over image appearance
- Color space conversion: Converts between RGB and YCbCr color spaces
- Denoising block: Offers the best images in low-lux environment with higher gains
- Sharpness block: Helps achieve solid data extraction from the images.
Customizing e-con Systems’ FPGA IP Cores
e-con Systems has a wealth of experience in catering to client requirements in the design, development, and manufacturing of custom OEM cameras. Our ISP IP cores harness the capabilities of various popular sensors. The support we offer to help you achieve the best results for your vision applications includes:
ISP tuning
ISP tuning is critical, as it involves thoroughly adjusting parameters and algorithms that affect image quality. By fine-tuning the ISP, you can optimize factors such as color balance, contrast, and noise reduction to meet your application’s unique needs. e-con conducts a wide range of IQ tests and quality checks on the image quality to get best out of your image sensors.
Interface support
Supporting various sensor interfaces is a must for seamless integration. e-con Systems provides customization for interfaces such as subLVDS, SLVS-EC MIPI, LVDS and output interfaces including PCI, MIPI, USB, and Ethernet. It ensures that your vision system can connect and interact with several sensors and devices.
FPGA porting
Customizing FPGA support is another major component, from optimizing DDR access and achieving higher data rates to ensuring that the necessary interfaces are supported. e-con Systems can enhance the performance and compatibility of the ISP IP cores with your specific hardware setup. e-con has wide partnership base for the major FPGA vendors like LATTICE, XILINX and so on. With over two decades of FPGA expertise and a proven track record with major FPGA architectures and high-speed interfaces, e-con Systems offers expert support from integrating ISP to their FPGA to full system design.
FPGA support
e-con Systems’ ISP IP cores are compatible with multiple FPGA platforms, such as:
- Lattice: Crosslink NX, Certus pro NX
- Efinix: Titanium, Trion
- Xilinx: 7 series, Ultrascale, UltraScale+
How e-con Systems’ Customization Works
- Start by clearly outlining your vision requirements and identify the key features and performance metrics that are crucial for your application.
- Evaluate criteria like processing power, memory capacity, etc., to select the FPGA platform that best meets your project’s requirements.
- Configure ISP features to match your application requirements while adjusting parameters for autofocus, white balance, etc.
- Integrate the customized ISP IP cores into your camera system and validate that the customized settings meet your requirements.
Highlights of e-con Systems’ ISP IP Core
- High-performance support for FPGA chips: e-con Systems’ ISP IP cores harness the processing power of FPGA chips from major FPGA vendors. It ensures that your camera systems can handle complex image-processing tasks.
- Seamless camera integration: e-con Systems’ ISP IP cores are developed for direct integration into camera systems. This integration enhances the camera’s capability to perform complex image processing tasks, improving overall image quality and performance.
- Flexible integration options: e-con Systems’ ISP IP cores offer flexible integration options, supporting multiple IP usage and standalone module integration. It results in the development of custom solutions that meet exact application demands.
e-con Systems and Lattice Semiconductor – Partnering for innovation
e-con Systems has 20+ years of experience in designing, developing, and manufacturing OEM cameras. Through our journey, we have built an unparalleled partner network. For instance, we collaborate with Lattice Semiconductor to create camera solutions for industrial applications. Our high-performance cameras leverage Lattice’s FPGA chips, including Crosslink, Crosslink NX, ECP5, and Certus-NX.
Lattice’s FPGAs support advanced image-processing tasks, ideal for real-time data handling and analysis. They support various image sensor interfaces and communication protocols. By programming these FPGAs, e-con Systems delivers optimized vision systems capable of advanced ISP core functions, LVDS to MIPI conversion, PCI to HDMI, and more.
Furthermore, TintE is e-con Systems’ high-performance ISP SDK based on Lattice FPGA chips, which enhances the efficiency of embedded vision-based applications. Currently, two of our cameras—See3CAM_50CUG and See3CAM_CU200 — are equipped with this world-class ISP.
Watch e-con Systems’ TintE demo
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If you need expert help in integrating camera solutions into your embedded vision systems, please write to camerasolutions@e-consystems.com.
Prabu is the Chief Technology Officer and Head of Camera Products at e-con Systems, and comes with a rich experience of more than 15 years in the embedded vision space. He brings to the table a deep knowledge in USB cameras, embedded vision cameras, vision algorithms and FPGAs. He has built 50+ camera solutions spanning various domains such as medical, industrial, agriculture, retail, biometrics, and more. He also comes with expertise in device driver development and BSP development. Currently, Prabu’s focus is to build smart camera solutions that power new age AI based applications.