Optimize Image Processing Algorithm on ARM Cortex-A72 and A53

Abstract

This work presents a technique to optimize processing image algorithms. The increasing demand for video applications like context-aware computing on mobile embedded systems requires the use of computationally intensive image processing algorithms. The system engineer has the mandate to optimize them so as to meet real-time deadlines. A methodology to take advantage of the asymmetric dual-core processor, which includes an ARM supported by shared memory, is presented with implementation details. The target platform chosen is the NanoPi M4V2. It has a dual-core and quad-core architecture with an ARM Cortex-A72 and Cortex-A53. The basic image correlation algorithm is chosen for benchmarking as it finds widespread application for various template-matching tasks such as face recognition. The basic algorithm prototypes conform to OpenCV, a popular computer vision library. OpenCV algorithms can be easily ported to the ARM core, which runs a popular operating system such as Linux. The algorithms are tested on a variety of images, and performance results are presented, measuring the speedup obtained due to dual-core and quad-core implementation. A major advantage of this approach is that it allows the ARM processor to perform important real-time tasks.