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EZSDK vs. RDK

Other Parts Discussed in Thread: TVP7002

All-

We're currently in the evaluation & planning phase of a new project, and are looking at which of these two development kits will most closely meet our needs.

Quick system overview-

  • PCI-based card, with both DM8165 and DM8147 behind a PCIe switch / PCIe --> PCI bridge combo.
  • Need to be able to encode single HD (1080p30 max) on 8165 and transfer to host via PCI bus, H.264 or MPEG-2.
  • Need to be able to transfer from host via PCI bus and decode single HD (1080p30 max) on 8165, H.264 or MPEG-2.
  • Both encode and decode need to be running simultaneously.
  • Need to be able to encode up to four SD (480i/p, 576i/p) on 8147 and transfer to host via PCI bus, H.264 or MPEG-2.
  • Need to be able to transfer from host via PCI bus and decode single SD (480i/p, 576i/p) on 8147, H.264 or MPEG-2.
  • Both encodes and decode need to be running simultaneously.

Based on my reading here, the EZSDK doesn't support multi-channel encode, but RDK does.  Is this correct?

Is the RDK limited to just the 816x chips?  Is there a version available for the 814x?
I see that the RDK is available from UDworks, but I've also seen reference to obtaining it through our local TI FAE?  We already have an 8168 EVM, and would prefer to use that to evaluate the various development kits - it should let us run as a PCIe endpoint for early development.  Is it possible to run the RDK on the EVM hardware?
Thanks!
-Cory
  • Hi,

    DVRRDK is not limited to DM816x. We have DVRRDK available for DM8168 as well as DM8148.

    DVRRDK works on DM8168 DVR hardware that can be obtained from UDWorks as well as on DM8168/DM8148 TI EVM hardware.

    The software that you get from UDWorks includes a complete DVR functionality - GUI, DVR optimized storage system, sensors support, PTZ protocols etc.

    You can received the DVRRDK from TI also. But this would only have UART based UI to control the underlying Multi-Channel Framework. This can be enough for your evaluation. Anyways, for DM8148, we dont have a GUI based system from UDWorks, so the TI McFW is the only available software.

    Your above requirements can be met with DVRRDK.

    EZSDK is not targetting the multi-channel capture systems and hence we also recommend DVRRDK for your usecase.

    Regards,

    Anshuman

    PS: please mark this post as verified, if you think it has answered your question. Thanks.

  • Anshuman-

    It does sound like the DVRRDK is the better starting point for what we're trying to implement, thank you very much for clarifying this.

    I already have an inquiry in to UDWorks, but given that their framework is more geared towards a full DVR implementation (including GUI), it sounds like far more than what we need.  A UART-controlled stack running on the 8168 EVM (which we already have) in PCIe endpoint mode would be an excellent starting point for our proof-of-concept testing.

    What is the recommended method for obtaining the DVRRDK directly from TI?  I've already been in contact with an FAE at one of our primary distributors, and he with another TI FAE; both led me to believe that the only way to obtain the RDK was by contacting UDWorks directly.

    A couple more follow-on questions, if I may:

    • You state DVRRDK is available for both DM8168 and DM8148.  I assume it's functional on any of the 816x or 814x series (our design currently includes both an 8165 and 8147).
    • How does the RDK "base" Linux build compare with that of EZSDK?  (I'm assuming kernel, drivers, and core user-space are pretty much the same, with the primary difference in the McFW middleware and applications it enables).
    • Does the RDK support the any additional A/V codecs beyond those found in the EZSDK?

    Thanks for your time and expertise!

    -Cory
  • Hi,

    You can ask TI FAE to contact me and i can help him with details.

    Cory Tusar said:
    • You state DVRRDK is available for both DM8168 and DM8148.  I assume it's functional on any of the 816x or 814x series (our design currently includes both an 8165 and 8147).

    DM8147 is already supported. For DM8165, we did not explictly test it but we have a patch that can be used for DM8165. The main difference is related to the number of HDVICP instances in DM8168 and DM8165.

    Cory Tusar said:
    • How does the RDK "base" Linux build compare with that of EZSDK?  (I'm assuming kernel, drivers, and core user-space are pretty much the same, with the primary difference in the McFW middleware and applications it enables).

    It is very similar to the EZSDK build system. The package is self-contained with all dependent components and tools. We use the same low level HDVPSS drivers, syslink, linux kernel, codecs as we do in EZSDK.

    Cory Tusar said:
    • Does the RDK support the any additional A/V codecs beyond those found in the EZSDK?

    Currently we support H.264 Enc/Dec, MPEG4 Dec, MJPEG Enc/Dec in our system. For audio we support G.711 encode and decode.

    Regards,

    Anshuman

    PS: Please mark the post as verified, if you think it has answered your question. Thanks.

  • Anshuman Saxema said:
    DM8147 is already supported. For DM8165, we did not explictly test it but we have a patch that can be used for DM8165. The main difference is related to the number of HDVICP instances in DM8168 and DM8165.

    Understood.  We're working within a very aggressive power budget, and the DM8165 should have just enough instances to support our needs.

    Is this patch included in the RDK?  If not, I'll follow-up with you once we're up and running with the RDK to see about obtaining it.

    Anshuman Saxena said:
    It is very similar to the EZSDK build system. The package is self-contained with all dependent components and tools. We use the same low level HDVPSS drivers, syslink, linux kernel, codecs as we do in EZSDK.

    Excellent.  I'm mostly concerned with codecs; we may be looking to source a 3rd party codec for MPEG-2 encode, and I want to make sure that we're researching codecs that will work within the framework provided with DVRRDK.

    Thank you again for your help, it's greatly appreciated.

    -Cory

  • For DM8165, i can generate a patch for you. As i said, we have not validated it but we expect it to work.

    Regards,

    Anshuman

  • Hello Cory,

     I would like to ask if you know how to add support for hd  in RDK. From what I understand It involves changing M3 to support tvp7002.

    Regards,

     

    Ran 

  • ran shalit said:
    Hello Cory,

     I would like to ask if you know how to add support for hd  in RDK. From what I understand It involves changing M3 to support tvp7002.

    Regards,

     

    Ran 

    Ran-

    We'll be looking to add support for an HD/SDI input, so we've not looked at doing anything with the TVP7002.

    -Cory