CubeDMA-Optimizing Three-Dimensional DMA transfers for Hyperspectral Imaging Applications

Abstract

Onboard computing is one of the principal needs in space-related technology in the recent years. In particular, onboard hyperspectral imaging (HSI) processing has advanced significantly. Due to advances in sensor technology, onboard HSI processing continuously meets new challenges related to increasing dataset size, limited processing time and limited communication links. High throughput and data reduction are crucial for satisfying real-time constraint and for preserving transmission bandwidth. For systems capable of accommodating a wide range of processing algorithms, there is a need for a flexible communication infrastructure that can provide fast access to/from memory in different access patterns. In this paper, existing FPGA-related Direct Memory Access (DMA) solutions have been evaluated, and a new DMA solution tailored for hyperspectral images has been proposed. Results show that the proposed DMA core, CubeDMA, handles targeted memory access patterns in more efficient manner than existing solutions while being resource efficient.