MPEG-2 Decoder Node for Switcherland

MPEG-2 Decoder Node for SwitcherlandThis is a ETHZ UTCN master thesis from 1997, describing the design and sources of a hardware node for the Switcherland distributed system, and controlled using the Oberon Operating System. The node decodes MPEG video by controlling flow into and out of an ODEUM chip. The firmware source code provided is written using LOLA hardware description language on Oberon F, for a Xilinx XC5215 device. The design is complete except for the feedback of the ODEUM

This is a ETHZ-UTCN master thesis from 1997, describing the design and sources of a hardware node for the Switcherland distributed system, and controlled using the Oberon Operating System. The node decodes MPEG video by controlling flow into and out of an ODEUM chip. The firmware source code provided is written using LOLA hardware description language on Oberon F, for a Xilinx XC5215 device. The design is complete except for the feedback of the ODEUM chip which is not used to slow down input into its buffers, part that is left to the reader. The design is inspired from the preliminary design in the MS thesis of Markus Fretz, and the board that he proposed. The formal ETHZ requirements for the work (page 5 in book) were found only after the end of the design, and therefore do not match the work performed. The work was supported as a collaboration between the UTCN professor Kalman Pusztai and ETHZ professor Hans Eberle, with advice from assistant Peter Ryser and technician Weiss.