A Single-on-Chip for Onboard SAR Imaging Processor Based on the LEON3

Abstract

This paper described the design and development of onboard SAR imaging processor based on LEON3 softcore processor implemented on FPGA board. The SAR imaging processor will be used for future onboard microsatellite and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) of Josaphat Microwave Remote Sensing Laboratory. The system-onchip (SoC) approach has been chosen for highly configurable, easy to integrate with other IP core through an on-chip bus and low cost implementation. The open hardware LEON3  processor has been configured to meet the system requirement to aim at high performance processing. The target implementation of System-on-Chip is on an Altera Cyclone IV FPGA family. The RDA algorithm for SAR image processing is implemented in software on LEON3 Processor by using C language. The system testing is done by using the data ALOS PALSAR. The experimental results show that the system’s functionality successfully works. The system can convert raw image data into a SAR image but processing speed needs to be improved. The proposed design promises to solve the problem of SAR image processing in the future with a low price.