Altera puts HD video analytics on a single chip

Today, Altera launches a single chip HD video analytics IC. The device enables a computer to make intelligent analysis of video content via a set of algorithms that analyse movement and determine if action is required based upon user defined rules.

The chip, a Cyclone v FPGA, performs at 1080p/30fps with a 60Mpixel per second throughput.

Altera sees it as being useful for things like traffic surveillance that monitors accident detection, vehicle counting, lane-exit detection, stopped traffic, red-light violations and vehicles moving in the wrong direction.

“Customers can track multiple objects with multiple rules in varying weather conditions in real time, giving customers a more powerful and flexible solution compared to existing technology. This solution can also be leveraged for other applications such as automotive driver assistance which includes rear view and surround view cameras,” says Arun Iyengar, vice president of the military, industrial, and computer, consumer, and storage business units division at Altera, “Altera’s one-stop shop approach for the FPGA and IP reduces the barriers for customers looking to expand their analytics capabilities.”

A user can track dozens of user-defined rules. For example, the user can define rules, configure alerts and remotely update rules for events they want detected, such as a person entering a room or a restricted area in an airport terminal or a building entrance. Video analytics offers surveillance customers the ability to monitor videos automatically, eliminating the need for a person to scan hours of footage to detect and determine specified events.

It also comes with a software GUI that allows designers to customize the event-detection parameters and rules for their specific applications, and allows customers to interface with their own video management systems or develop their own custom GUI.

It removes, claims Altera, the need to make tradeoffs between system performance and the number of rules running at the same time.

Altera also offers a single-vendor source model for the video analytics solution. The IP and FPGA can be purchased directly from Altera, which simplifies the development of a video surveillance system significantly. The purchasing model eliminates the need to work with multiple vendors for licensing fees, NRE charges, or royalties.

This means customers buy the video content analytics IP directly from Altera without having to pay a large, up-front NRE cost. Instead, customers purchase a security device from Altera which is connected to the FPGA on the customer’s board and enables the IP to function in the customer’s system.