An SoC FPGA-based Integrated Real-time Image Processor for Uncooled Infrared Focal Plane Array

This paper presents an integrated image processor architecture designed for realtime interfacing and processing of high-resolution thermal video obtained from an uncooled infrared focal plane array (IRFPA) utilizing a modern system-on-chip field-programmable gate array (SoC FPGA). Our processor provides a one-chip solution for incorporating non-uniformity correction (NUC) algorithms and contrast enhancement methods (CEM) to be performed seamlessly. We have employed NUC algorithms that utilize multiple coefficients to ensure robust image quality, free from ghosting effects and blurring. These algorithms include polynomial modeling-based thermal drift compensation (TDC), two-point correction (TPC), and runtime discrete flat field correction (FFC). To address the memory bottlenecks originating from the parallel execution of NUC algorithms in realtime, we designed accelerators and parallel caching modules for pixel-wise algorithms based on a multi-parameter polynomial expression. Furthermore, we designed a specialized accelerator architecture to minimize the interrupted time for runtime FFC. The implementation on the XC7Z020CLG400 SoC FPGA with the QuantumRed VR thermal module demonstrates that our image processing module achieves a throughput of 60 frames per second (FPS) when processing 14-bit 640×480 resolution infrared video acquired from an uncooled IRFPA.