Implementing Stream-Processing Applications on FPGAs: A DSL-Based Approach

We introduce CAPH, a new domain-specific language (DSL) suited to the implementation of stream-processing applications on field programmable gate arrays (FPGA). CAPH relies upon the actor/dataflow model of computation. Applications are described as networks of purely dataflow actors exchanging tokens through unidirectional channels. The behavior of each actor is defined as a set of transition rules using pattern matching. The CAPH suite of tools currently comprises a reference interpreter and a compiler producing both SystemC and synthetizable VHDL code. We describe the implementation, with a preliminary version of the compiler, of a simple real-time motion detection application on a FPGA-based smart camera platform. The language reference manual and a prototype compiler are available from http://wwwlasmea.univ-bpclermont.fr/Personnel/Jocelyn.Serot/caph.html.