The fastest interface boards in our FireBird range

We’re turbo-charging imaging systems with our new range of FireBird CoaXPress frame grabbers.

The 4xCXP-12 acquisition card (PCIe Gen3 x8; CoaXPress v2.0) is the latest addition. With speeds up to 12.5 Gbps per link, it supports the fastest cameras on the market and allows acquisition of high-speed, high-resolution images in real-time. The board is ideal for single or multi-camera solutions in high-speed industrial inspection applications. Based on a Gen3 PCI Express interface, the new frame grabber uses the ActiveDMA RISC-based engine to guarantee zero CPU intervention, providing high-speed and low-latency image data transfers. Long cable lengths are supported – up to 35m at 12.5 Gbps and 100m at 3.125 Gbps using Belden 1694A cable – or even longer lengths using thicker cables.

Cost-effective imaging solution

For more cost-sensitive projects, the 4xCXP12-3PE4 version offers excellent value and features. Similar in price to our well-established CXP-6 quad frame grabber, this board supports CXP-12 for dual applications, as well as quad CXP-6, along with many of the advantages of the 3PE8 board.

Features of the new CoaXPress boards include:

• High-speed data, power and camera control all over a single cable.
• Fast PCI Express 4-lane and 8-lane Gen3 interfaces.
• ActiveDMA engine – RISC-based acquisition with zero CPU usage.
• Comprehensive I/O including end panel I/O.
• CoaXPress v2.0 support.
• Supports PoCXP (Power over CoaXPress).
• Micro-BNC connectors.
• Standard half-length PCI form-factor.
• Full GenICam support (including GenTL Producer).

All Active Silicon frame grabbers come with the easy-to-use, comprehensive ActiveSDK Software Development Kit which allows integrators to develop applications quickly and effectively, together with a range of third-party software drivers.

The benefits of longer cable length with CoaXPress

One of our customers in the field of vision-assisted surgery told us why they’ve made the move to CXP: “The specific benefit for us with CoaXPress is the ability to run long cables outside the treatment environment, as we have seen PC failures in such a harsh environment. Our latest specification camera can only operate at three meters over Camera Link, but we have had no problem at 45 meters with CoaXPress.”

In addition to our CoaXPress series, we also manufacture a range of camera solutions, Camera Link frame grabbers, camera interface boards and embedded vision systems. If you think it’s time you looked into adding more speed, accuracy and control to your vision system, contact us to see how we can help.