IP Cores for Fast AES and LZ77 Processing

The goal of the project is to improve game load times on an electronic gaming machine (EGM). Currently the bottleneck in loading a new game is the processing of game data read from memory when a new game is selected by the user. The current software based method of processing bogs down the EGM. The student will develop a processing technique that uses specialized computer hardware (FPGA)technology and will not have a detrimental effect on the EGM. The design will make use of existing computer hardware resources in the EGM and therefore must be designed with hardware resource usage in mind. The target is to increase efficiency by a factor of 4. Implementation of this processing technique should prove to be an invaluable asset for this system and will increase the value and salability of the EGM’s. This will be accomplished by providing a much more enjoyable gaming experience for end users by increasing load times for games. It will allow Spielo to exceed market expectations for game load times and will increase the security of the system by allowing more data to be completely encrypted. Another benefit of this implementation is to free up EGM resources to perform other unrelated tasks which cannot be done now. In working with UNB on this project, Spielo will strengthen its relationship with UNB’s Engineering Department which should lead to further joint development projects.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Kenneth Kent

Student:

Joseph Libby

Partner:

SPIELO

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Information and communications technologies

University:

University of New Brunswick