How to check vpu usage?

[dilipkumar]

I'm using the vpu of i.MX6 to encode/decode videos using gstreamer. As expected the cpu usage is low which implies that the vpu is doing the encoding or decoding work. But how can i actually view the vpu usage in terms of percentage just like i can see cpu usage by using 'top'. Is there any way i can do that by using gstreamer itself or is there any other way?

gst-launch-0.10 mfw_v4lsrc ! vpuenc ! matroskamux ! filesink location=test.mkv & top

[art · Accepted solution]

There is no ready to use software mechanism to control the VPU load/usage. You can use the VPU API to check the VPU ready/busy status to calculate its usage. For more information, please refer to the VPU API User Manual document, included in the Linux BSP documentation bundle.

Also, you can make some estimations on the VPU load related to the maximum VPU processing capability numbers. The maximum VPU performance allows it to encode or decode one Full HD (1920x180) at 30fps video stream at a time.

[dilipkumar]

Oh. I was hoping there was an existing implementation of that as a gstreamer plugin. I'll post an update if I try it. Thank you art