Performance Benchmark of DSP and FPGA Implementations of Low-Level Vision Algorithms

Selecting an embedded hardware platform for image processing has a big influence on the achievable performance. This paper reports our work on a performance benchmark of different implementations of some low-level vision algorithms. The algorithms are implemented on both Digital Signal Processor (DSP) and Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) high-speed embedded platforms. The target platforms are a TITMS320C6414 DSP and an Altera Stratix FPGA. The implementations are evaluated, compared and discussed. The DSP implementations outperform the FPGA implementations, but at the cost of spending all its resources to these tasks. FPGAs, however, are well suited to algorithms, which benefit from parallel execution.