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Altera_Forum's avatar
Altera_Forum
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7 years ago

Is it possible to use PCIe for image transfer instead of display port?

I'm currently looking at the sample code a10_dp_vip_pro project from the link (https://cloud.altera.com/devstore/platform/1986/). As far as I figured out, this sample code uses on-board display port to read and write the image(or video). I was wondering if I could change the code so the images are transferred between host CPU instead of display port via PCI connection. So the goal is to use videos instead of cam. This is because I'm using fpga board which is installed on the server with no cameras nor displays...

3 Replies

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    7 years ago

    In theory you probably could, but could the CPU handle the transfer rate? probably not. 4kp60 video is 12 Gbps

    Where were you going to source the video from? Raw video is very large. Even if it was compressed, the CPU would need to de-compress it and then transmit at the above rate - I doubt a CPU could handle it.
  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    7 years ago

    Hmm.....I overlooked that part indeed. I was trying to build a test live streaming platform but considering the CPU bandwidth limitation it seems impossible even if I had a camera attached. I have to find some other options....thanks! :)

  • Altera_Forum's avatar
    Altera_Forum
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    7 years ago

    You might be able to stream a compressed video over the PCIe (100mb/s for 4k would be very good quality) but you need quite a lot of FPGA resources for a H265 decompression core on an FPGA, or you'll have to route it to an H265 decoder chip, which I assume you dont already have on the board.