Samsung to use low-cost Xilinx FPGAs in latest digital video surveillance system

Xilinx has announced that its Spartan-3E FPGA and MicroBlaze soft processor have been selected for Samsung Electronics' latest digital video surveillance system. Xilinx low-cost Spartan-3E FPGA and MicroBlaze soft processor play an integral role in both the digital video recorder (DVR) and dome camera, providing Samsung with the competitive edge by increasing functionality, reducing development costs and improving time-to-market.

Samsung is among a growing number of video surveillance manufacturers to rely on Xilinx embedded solutions to gain the competitive edge. Video surveillance systems are a key component in ensuring security at train stations, airports, banks, casinos, malls, even our homes. As security risks increase, the need to visually monitor and record events has escalated in diverse use models. As a result, new architectures must provide scalability for cost-effective solutions across an increasingly diverse set of video surveillance system requirements. According to the research firm Semicast, the market for video surveillance cameras and equipment is forecasted to grow from $919 million to $1.7 billion over the next five years, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in excess of 13 percent.

"Xilinx low-cost Spartan-3E devices and MicroBlaze soft processor provided the ideal solution, combining low-cost and ease-of-use with ultimate flexibility at the right performance," said Lee Hyuk Bum, senior engineer at Samsung. "In addition, FPGAs enable a flexible architecture allowing future upgrades and new features to be deployed over the network, thus increasing the life of the system."

The Samsung DVR processes four channels simultaneously on a single Spartan-3E device embedded with a MicroBlaze soft processor. A second Spartan-3E device with MicroBlaze processor is used by the dome camera to calculate multiple coordinates and interface with the digital video recorder.

About Xilinx Spartan-3 generation FPGAs
Based on its industry leading performance and low price points, the Xilinx Spartan generation has been broadly adopted in high-volume, consumer applications such as DVD players, plasma displays and HDTV. With the recent introduction of its Spartan-3A, Spartan-3AN, and Spartan-3 DSP platforms, Xilinx continues to add new market-specific features to its low cost Spartan series FPGAs while reducing the cost by 30X since its introduction. Visit www.Xilinx.com/Spartan for more information.

About the Xilinx MicroBlaze soft processor core
The Xilinx MicroBlaze soft processor core is a scalable system that enables embedded developers to tune performance to match the requirements of target applications. The MicroBlaze processor core is supported with a comprehensive ecosystem of embedded design tools, processor IP library, and development platforms. For more information on the MicroBlaze processor or to learn more about other Xilinx processing solutions, visit www.Xilinx.com/Processor.