Altera and National Semiconductor are developing graphics interconnect solutions for digital video in automotive infotainment and driver-assistance applications. This collaboration leverages Altera's Cyclone III FPGAs and National's FPD-Link II embedded clock SERDES architecture to deliver high-speed, long-range data-exchange solutions that provide high bandwidth, low electromagnetic interference (EMI), increased reliability and lower system costs.

"National has a proven track record for enabling the high-speed data link between video source and sink in automotive applications," said Erroll Dietz, vice president of National's High-Speed Product Division. "Altera's proficiency in embedded digital video processing is a natural complement to National's FPD-Link II SERDES."

Altera and National developed a reference design showing the transmission of a digital video bitstream over a 10-meter CAT6 cable to National's DS90C124 FPD-Link II deserializer. The deserializer output interfaces directly to a Cyclone III FPGA, which processes the incoming signals and sends the resulting video to a display.

Michael Samuelian, director of Altera's automotive and industrial business unit added, "This work with National represents the first in a multi-step collaboration between the two companies to facilitate the routing of high-resolution digital video within automotive applications. Our experience in processing automotive video, graphics and human-machine interfaces combined with National's widely deployed FPD-Link II SERDES family delivers automotive manufacturers a proven solution for deploying digital video in their next-generation vehicles."