Stemmer Imaging has introduced a selection of cameras and framegrabbers that make use of the new CoaXPress data transmission standard. CoaXPress can send high speed video, communication, control and power over long distances using a single standard coaxial cable. With data rates of up to 6.25 Gbps per cable for video, images and data are achievable over distances up to 40m and data transmission over distances greater than 100m are possible at 3.125 Gbps.
Stemmer Imaging's Optronis CL4000CXP Camera with CoaXPress interface. Image credit: Stemmer Imaging.
The Optronis high speed CL4000CXP is the world's first 4 megapixel camera with the CoaXPress interface. Available in monochrome or colour versions, it features a CMOS sensor with high-speed global shutter and 2304 x 1720 pixel resolution. A frame rate of 500 images per second at full resolution can be increased to 100,000 images per second by reducing the scanned area to 2304 x 4 pixels. The fast global shutter allows for shutter speeds as low as 2 microseconds, thus providing sharp images even of high-speed objects. The image data is separated into packets and transferred via four parallel coaxial channels to the PC at a speed of some 2GB per second. Coaxial cables with cable lengths of up to 40 metres at maximum frame rate present a cost-effective data transfer solution.
New Image capture cards utilising the CoaXPress standard will be available shortly from both Active Silicon and Silicon Software. The Firebird from Active Silicon and the microEnable V cards from Silicon Software are all Windows and Linux (32 bit and 64 bit) compatible. Based on the PCI express x8 interface, all of these cards feature power over CoaxPress (PoCXP).
Active Silicon's Firebird cards use the latest FPGAs and DDR3 memory and allow the simultaneous image acquisition from up to four CoaXPress links. They are available with one, two or four CoaXPress channels and include on-board general purpose digital I/O. Each link supports data rates of up to 6.25 Gbps, along with device power up to 13W and device control at 20.8 Mbps – all on a single coax cable. For very fast devices, the links can be combined to provide multiples of the single coax bandwidth. For instance, a camera can use four links to transfer data rates of 25 Gbps.
The Silicon Software microEnable V has four CoaXPress channels and is available as an acquisition board (A series) or a processing board (V series) supporting the VisualApplets FPGA design environment. It uses DMA3600 technology for image transfer to the PC. Digital I/O is available as an add-on.