splink/README.md

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2022-06-05 16:36:06 +02:00
# WS2812 driver gateware for blinkenwall v3
At 100 FPS, a single strand of WS2812 can only be just over 300 LEDs long:
```
MAX_LENGTH = (1 / FPS - RESET_TIME) / BIT_TIME / BITS_PER_PIXEL
318 = (1 / 100 - 50e-6) / 1.3e-6 / 24
```
Because blinkenwall v3 has `64 * 96 = 6144` pixels, driving it at 100 FPS requires at least
`6144 / 318 = 20` parallel drivers. For simplicity, the wall is devided into 24 strands of
256 LEDs. Unfortunately, most microcontrollers have at most a couple WS2812-capable interfaces
(typically SPI), so this would require coordinating several microcontrollers in parallel. A
much more integrated solution is to instantiate as many WS2812 drivers as desired in an FPGA,
then point the entire video firehose at the FPGA.