Can 18 x 18 Multiplier blocks be used as texture mapping units in a FPGA?

[Flux]

Can you use multiplier blocks like the ones used in the Spartan-3E or IV to map textures to a 3d model?

 

[Simon F]

Provided you don't mind having very limited resolution textures and can also compute a reciprocal, then I don't see why not. FWIW the equation you need to evaluate per pixel is

U(x,y) = (a * x + b *y + c) / (p * x + q * y + r)

V(x,y) = (d * x + e *y + f) / (p * x + q * y + r)

where a thru f and p, q and r are constants that depend on the texture applied to an individual triangle.

 

[Flux]

Can you get an array of multipliers like say 100,000 of them to do this task?

 

[Nick]

You may want to check out the Open Graphics Project. They're using a Xilinx Spartan XC3s4000 and aim to support OpenGL 1.3 features.

Frankly though I think you're better off with a multi-core CPU and a software renderer.