Skip to main content
The video software stack consists of a client application that interacts with the Adreno VPU using the V4L2 framework. The following figure shows the video software architecture for the decoder and the encoder. The image on the left shows the decoder architecture, and the image on the right shows the encoder architecture.
Figure: Video decoder and encoder software architecture

Figure: Video decoder and encoder software architecture

The following table lists the components of the video software architecture:
Table: Components of video software architecture
ComponentDescription
User applicationInteracts with the FileSource for decoder and the Camera Source for encoder based on GStreamer/V4L2
V4L2 framework
  • Interacts with user application and the Adreno VPU driver
  • Handles events, callbacks, and buffer management
Adreno VPU driver
  • Acts as an entry point to the video kernel-mode driver (KMD)
  • Common driver for the encoder and decoder that controls the Adreno VPU
  • Manages the video driver state machine, buffer allocation, clock/bus management, and communication with Adreno VPU using the Host Firmware Interface (HFI)
Adreno VPUFunctions as a hardware accelerated engine that decodes and encodes video with minimal power consumption

​
Video capabilities

The Adreno VPU on QCS6490 is a sixth-generation video processing unit that comes with the following capabilities:

Table: Adreno VPU features and capabilities for QCS6490
FeatureCapability
Video decodeUp to 4096 × 2160 at 60 fps for H.264/HEVC/VP9
Video encodeUp to 4096 × 2160 at 30 fps for H.264/HEVC
Multichannel Capability
Config#1Config#2
  • 8x of 1920 × 1088 at 30 fps
  • 16x of 1280 × 720 at 30 fps
  • 16x of 720 × 480 at 30 fps
  • 8x of 1920 × 1088 at 30 fps
  • 16x of 1280 × 720 at 30 fps
  • 16x of 720 × 480 at 30 fps
High frame rate capture1280 × 720 at 480 fps or 1920 × 1088 at 240 fps
Maximum macroblocks per second2088960
The maximum number of macroblocks per second is calculated using the following formula:
(aligned width×aligned height×fps)/(macroblock size)(aligned \ width \times aligned \ height \times fps) / (macroblock \ size)
Example: (4096 × 2176 × 60) / 256 = 2,088,960

or more information on the decode and encode capabilities of QCS6490, see Advanced video specifications.

​
Next steps