Tech Source, Inc., an independent supplier of high performance embedded video, graphics and high end computing solutions, has partnered with RunTime Computing Solutions (RTCS) to accelerate GPGPU (general purpose graphics processing unit) development on its Condor 3000 XMC video graphics cards.
The partnership has enabled engineers from each company to work together to optimize RunTime’s VSI/Pro GPU math and signal processing library on Tech Source’s Condor 3000 cards, which are based on the AMD RadeonTM E6760 embedded GPU and natively support the industry standard OpenCL™ programming language. These cards boast 576 GFLOPs of peak single precision floating point performance and are designed for GPGPU applications such as image analysis, radar, sonar, and video surveillance.
Selwyn L. Henriques, president and CEO of Tech Source Inc., said: “We partnered with RunTime as we wanted to make it easy for customers using our boards to develop high performance GPGPU applications in the OpenCL world. Early benchmark tests demonstrate that using RunTime’s VSI/Pro GPU on our boards speeds the development process significantly and enables engineers to be up and running with their GPGPU applications in hours rather than weeks.”
RunTime’s VSI/Pro GPU math and signal processing library provides performance-portable signal processing functionality, including FFTs (fast Fourier transforms), correlations, convolutions, and linear, vector, and matrix operations to enable real-time and near-real-time applications.
According to RunTime, VSI/Pro will provide embedded GPU developers using the Condor 3000 three kinds of benefits. First, it supports the easy porting of existing VSIPL-standard-based programs to this new architecture. Second, VSI/Pro enables developers to begin accessing signal processing performance on the Condor 3000, even if they don’t have existing OpenCL experience or code. Third, VSI/Pro supports an extensible framework that lets developers add their own OpenCL kernels to the mix in order to further expand the use of the Condor 3000.
Jennifer H. Skjellum, president, RunTime Computing Solutions, said: “We are delighted to be working with Tech Source to support embedded GPU developers using our VSI/Pro library for the Condor 3000. Our library provides Condor 3000 users with this performance-portable library that enables existing VSIPL programs on the new hardware thereby providing low cost portability for existing architectures. Since the VSIPL standard is a proven way – particularly in defense and mil/aero systems – to write high performance signal processing applications, many existing applications will work on the Condor 3000, speeding the ability to use this embedded GPGPU.”
Tech Source has been developing graphics solutions for air traffic control, military and embedded applications for over 20 years. The ISO9001:2008 certified company offers a range of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) products, including graphics processors – targeted at general purpose graphics processing unit (GPGPU) applications, input solutions, video compression and streaming boards, imaging cards, recording solutions and software libraries. Key markets include airborne, shipboard, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), and ground based systems.
“GPGPU computing is gaining momentum in the military/defense arena as a simpler way to do complex multiprocessing, particularly for sensor processing applications where high rate processing and calculation are needed,” added Selwyn L. Henriques of Tech Source. “Our close collaboration with AMD, and now our partnership with RunTime with its VSI/Pro GPU library, enables us to help reduce time to market for our customers’ GPGPU products.”
