Fpga Coprocessor For Accelerated Classification Of Images

摘要

An effort related to that described in the preceding article focuses on develop ing a spaceborne processing platform for fast and accurate onboard classification of image data, a critical part of modern satellite image processing. The approach again has been to exploit the versatility of recently developed hybrid Virtex-4FX field-programmable gate array (FPGA) to run diverse science applications on embedded processors while taking advantage of the reconfigurable hardware resources of the FPGAs. In this case, the FPGA serves as a coprocessor that implements legacy C-language support-vector-machine (SVM) image-classification algorithms to detect and identify natural phe- nomena such as flooding, volcanic eruptions, and sea-ice break-up. The FPGA provides hardware acceleration for increased onboard processing capability than previously demonstrated in software.