Design and implementation of a real-time image processing system with modularization and extendibility

A new design method for the real-time image processing system based on field programmable gate array (FPGA) and digital signal processing (DSP) structure is presented in the paper. In the practical system, FPGA is used to be logic unit for sensor interface protocol and complete image preprocessing and display of PAL video; DSP is applied as the main processing unit which is extendable for better performance; Modules are connected by user-configurable I/O interface, external memory interface (EMIF) and host-post interface (HPI), which configure the system to be a loosely coupled and cascaded multi-DSP system. Finally, the design approach shows good performance in the real-time image processing system with the capability of real-time processing, extendibility and multi-interface, which is significant for practical application.