Quantum3D Announces IG178 COTS, Software-Based GPU For Safety-Critical Applications

PRLog (Press Release) - Mar 05, 2008 -
– Quantum3D®, Inc., a leading provider of Commercial, Off-the-Shelf (COTS) open-architecture, realtime visual computing solutions for the Visual and Sensor Simulation and Training (VSST) and Embedded Visual Computing (EVC) markets, today announced the release of IGL178™, the industry’s first, entirely software-based, FAA DO-178B Level-A certifiable OpenGL® Safety Critical (SC) and OpenGL Embedded Systems (ES) Graphics Processing Unit (GPU).

IGL178 enables avionics and other safety-critical visual computing application developers to deploy industry-standard realtime OpenGL ES and SC applications on virtually any embedded system or display device, including systems not equipped with hardware-accelerated GPUs. IGL178 also enables GPU-equipped systems for which safety-critical certifiable drivers are not available to host certified applications by eliminating un-trusted driver code. With its ability to support high-fidelity, high-performance realtime 2D and 3D graphics and video applications on a wide range of systems and operating environments, IGL178 is well suited for development and deployment of new classes of low-cost, obsolescence-proof avionics, weapon systems and other advanced-display applications, including Primary and Multi-Function Displays (PFDs and MFDs), Heads-Up Displays (HUDS), Standby Instruments and Soft Controllers. IGL178 also features unique capabilities that make it ideal for new applications, including scaleable Avionics Application Standard Software Interface (ARINC 653)-partitioned safety-critical and multilevel-secure workstation applications.

Implemented by the Quantum3D IData® team and optimized for avionics and other safety- and mission-critical embedded visual computing applications, IGL178 is an efficient, small-footprint, comprehensive software implementation of OpenGL ES and SC that features extensive optimizations to provide high-performance, high-fidelity, precision software-based rendering. A key benefit of IGL178 is that it offers application developers a scalable solution for embedded graphics that supports both CPU-accelerated and GPU-accelerated graphics subsystems with a single industry-standard API so that applications may be readily deployed across multiple platform types with minimal time and development expense.

"IGL178 addresses many of the biggest problems facing the safety-critical embedded graphics industry today—COTS GPU scalability, certifiability and obsolescence," said Ross Q. Smith, Quantum3D President and Co-Founder. “By enabling the usage of industry-standard OpenGL ES and SC on virtually any platform, IGL178 allows developers in all embedded markets to employ common tool chains and common software to deploy long-lifecycle, high-fidelity, precision 2D and 3D graphics and video-intensive applications on essentially all embedded visual computing platforms, even those without dedicated hardware graphics acceleration, as well as address new challenges like MLS workstation and ARINC 653 partitioned applications."

IGL178 Fundamentally Addresses Merchant GPU Obsolescence and Certifiability
While desktop or embedded merchant GPUs can provide powerful performance for visual computing applications, they also have significant limitations—especially for avionics, medical device and military applications where safety-critical certification and long-lifecycle support is required. Modern merchant GPUs are designed for volume PC and cell phone applications where features, performance and cost are the most important design factors. Merchant GPUs, in general, are not designed to meet the rigorous hardware verification requirements of FAA DO-254 or similar standards. Because of the complexity required to meet the needs of demanding video games and similar applications, the design of merchant GPUs makes such certification efforts resource and cost prohibitive for the GPU manufacturers and virtually impossible to conduct as a post-design effort. In addition, this same GPU complexity, combined with the limited volume of safety-critical and mission-critical applications compared with consumer applications, also results in limited availability and often expensive software development efforts to produce drivers that are suitable for FAA DO-178B Level-A or similar software certifications. Moreover, the short service life of merchant GPUs (typically one to three years, with five years for automotive components) requires expensive and frequent lifetime buys for end-of-life components when such components are employed on long-lifecycle (10- to 20-year) programs such as avionics systems. Also, application-specific requirements, such as video alpha blending, alpha-out channels, strict time partitioning, precision anti-aliasing, support for unique display formats and use with FPGAs, DSPs and multi-core designs, may be difficult or exceedingly expensive to implement with COTS GPUs. IGL178, by exploiting the available performance and capability of modern, embedded CPUs, fundamentally addresses merchant GPU limitations while still providing the capabilities and performance required for a wide variety of embedded visual computing applications.

IGL178 Unique Features and Capabilities
IGL178’s highly optimized, comprehensive implementation of OpenGL ES and SC addresses merchant GPU scalability, obsolescence and certifiability issues addresses by providing a number of unique capabilities:

·   Full OpenGL ES and SC functionality enabling applications to run in a processor-only mode while retaining upward compatibility with hardware accelerated GPUs
·   Support for an optional virtualized driver that enables a standard PrPMC processor, second CPU or CPU core to function as a dedicated GPU in an embedded system
·   Efficient high-performance implementation, supporting both floating- and fixed-point math with extensive CPU specific optimizations
·   Complete, tailorable source code usable in any operating system and processor type
·   Small implementation certifiable to safety standards, including FAA DO-178B Level-A, with an available FAA DO-178B Level-A Certification Kit
·   Support for Quantum3D TrueStroke™ precision anti-aliased lines, points and fonts
·   Configurable support for 16, 24 and 32-bit frame buffer modes, with single, double or triple buffered rendering, Z-buffering, with alpha and with or without alpha-out
·   Support for Off-Screen Rendering using a user-supplied frame buffer to accomplish video blending, static symbology backgrounds and other special-purpose features.

IGL178 Enables New Applications
In addition to supporting conventional avionics and similar mission- and safety-critical visual computing applications, IGL178 enables new classes of visual computing applications including:
·   Output of the rendered image to a display device that contains only a hardware frame buffer and display-control and interface functionality
·   Rendering using a user-supplied frame buffer that may contain existing pixel data to be overlaid, such as live video data or previously rendered backgrounds
·   Using the optional Virtualized IGL178 driver, developers may dedicate a processor in an embedded system to serve as a GPU using IGL178
·   IGL178 may be used to perform off-screen, render-to-texture commands that, in turn, are supplied to a hardware-accelerated GPU, which enables cross-platform render-to-texture capabilities that insulate applications from reliance on vendor-specific OpenGL extensions.
·   IGL178 may also be used to render a frame buffer with an alpha channel for use by dedicated video-blending hardware.

For more information about Quantum3D or Quantum3D EVC Products including IGL178, please visit www.quantum3d.com or send email to salesinfo@quantum3d.com.