Real-time image and video processing using high-level synthesis (HLS)

Implementing high-performance, low-cost hardware accelerators for the computationally intensive image and video processing algorithms has attracted a lot of attention in the last 20 years. Most of the recent research efforts were trying to figure out new design automation methods to fill the gap between the ability of realizing efficient accelerators in hardware and the tight performance requirements of the complex image processing algorithms. High-Level synthesis (HLS) is a new method to automate the design process by transforming high-level algorithmic description into digital hardware while satisfying the design constraints. This chapter focuses on evaluating the suitability of using HLS as a new tool to accelerate the most demanding image and video processing algorithms in hardware. It discusses the gained benefits and current limitations, the recent academic and commercial tools, the compiler’s optimization techniques and four case studies.