A reconfigurable coprocessor for high-resolution image filtering in real time

Applications based on Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) such as signal and image processing require high computational power, plus the ability to experiment with algorithms. To try to meet the dual requirements of high performance and ease of development, in this work we present a High Level framework for the implementation of FFTs for real-time image processing applications. The frequency-domain (convolution-based) image filtering problem is targeted by developing an FPGA-based parametrisable environment based on the proposed parallel 2-D FFT architecture for real-time operation. Results show that the parallel implementation of 2-D FFT achieves virtually linear speed-up and real-time performance for large matrix sizes.