The FireBird CoaXPress over Fiber 1xCOF100G-4PE8 frame grabber features a QSFP28 port that supports data rates up to 100 Gbps across four 25 Gbps lanes. Its PCI Express 4.0 x8 interface enables real-time transfer of high-resolution image data to the host system. The board will be fully compliant with CoaXPress v3.0 (released later this year) and delivers a significant increase in bandwidth and performance compared to the previous generation.
As a FireBird board, it is designed for ultimate performance using Active Silicon’s proprietary DMA Engine technology, “ActiveDMA”. This technical innovation applies RISC-based processor techniques, ensuring high-speed, low-latency image data transfers and zero CPU intervention.
The FireBird 1xCOF100G also offers up to 8GB onboard buffer memory and comprehensive I/O, including a selection of signals available directly on the end bracket. Additional flexibility is provided through ActiveFlex-IO, enabling sophisticated trigger and output sequencing schemes.
CoaXPress over Fiber is an extension bridge protocol of the CoaXPress v2.1 Machine Vision standard for high-speed imaging in professional and industrial applications. CoaXPress over Fiber allows the CoaXPress protocol to run over a fiber optic cable. The fiber optic cables and connectors needed for transmission are sourced from mainstream Ethernet technology (100 Gigabit Ethernet), this keeps their costs to a minimum and availability plentiful. Using fiber optics for communications has significant benefits where long cable runs are required, or cameras are placed in harsh electrical environments. With the correct choice of optical transceiver module, cameras can be placed multiple kilometers from the grabber.
Active Silicon was one of the primary authors of the international CoaXPress standard, which is hosted by the JIIA (Japan Industrial Imaging Association).
FireBird is supported by Active Silicon’s software development kit, ActiveSDK. This is available as a separate item and allows rapid system development and integration. It provides comprehensive example applications and optimized libraries and supports a variety of operating systems via a common API, such as Windows and Linux (x86 and ARM, including NVIDIA Jetson). Drivers for third-party applications are also available, such as Cognex VisionPro, HALCON, Common Vision Blox, StreamPix, LabVIEW, MATLAB etc.
Full GenICam support is provided with the frame grabber drivers and this includes a GenTL Producer for data streaming as well as register accesses. In addition to functions that control the hardware, the libraries include general-purpose functions for the manipulation and display of images. A separate datasheet describes ActiveSDK in detail.
The FireBird CoaXPress over Fiber 1xCOF100G-4PE8 frame grabber is also available with data forwarding functionality. Here, a second QSFP28 connector allows data forwarding (Aurora, CoaXPress over Fiber formats) for daisy-chained data-processing applications.
For fiber-optic cable solutions, please see the related products section below or visit our accessories & cables page.
| CoaXPress over Fiber Interface | One QSFP28 transceiver cage. The FireBird 1xCOF100G frame grabber supports:
LEDs on the end bracket show the link status according to the CoaXPress over Fiber specification. |
| Buffer Memory | Up to 8GBytes of DDR4 memory is fitted for buffering between the CoaXPress over Fiber interface and the PCI Express bus. |
| PCI Express | PCI Express 4.0 8-lane interface supporting up to 15.7 Gbytes/sec transfer from FireBird to the PC. |
| I/O | The following I/O lines are available for triggers, optical shaft encoders, exposure control and general I/O:
All these I/O signals are provided on a 15-way D-type connector located on the end bracket.
All these I/O signals are provided on a 40-way header on the FireBird board. This can be coupled to extension end panels for a variety of I/O or custom I/O expansion boards. These signals are all ActiveFlex-IO and are supported by the ActiveFlex-IO control engine for the ultimate in IO flexibility. Please contact your local Active Silicon sales representative for more information. |
| PCI Express Interface: | PCI Express Bus 4.0 8-lane interface with a max payload size of 512 bytes. FireBird 1xCOF-100 4PE8 supports both Short (32-bit) and Long (64-bit) Address packets. It also generates Posted Writes for image data, thus achieving transfer rates up to 13.6 Gbytes/sec, subject to host performance. |
| CoaXPress: | FireBird 1xCOF-100 4PE8 conforms to v2.1 of the CoaXPress specification and CoaXPress over Fiber Bridge Protocol 1.0. Support for CoaXPress v3.0 will be added when the specification is ratified. |
| Approvals: | EU
US
The printed circuit board is manufactured by UL recognized manufacturers and has a flammability rating of 94V-0. |
| Dimensions: | PCB: 168mm by 69mm. |
| Approximate weight: | 235g |
| Power consumption (typical): | TBA |
| Storage Temperature: | -15°C to +85°C. |
| Operating Temperature: | 0°C to +60°C (ambient environment). |
| Relative Humidity: | 10% to 90% non-condensing (operating and storage). |
| Download | File Type | File Size | |
|---|---|---|---|
Datasheets |
Datasheet FireBird CoaXPress over Fiber 1xCOF-100G | 277.98 KB | |
| Datasheet ActiveSDK | 199.78 KB | ||
| Datasheet ActiveCapture front-end software | 829.51 KB | ||
| GenICam solutions for FireBird frame grabbers | 236.43 KB | ||
Manuals & Quick Start Guides |
FireBird Quickstart Guide v2.6 | 3.71 MB | |
CAD Drawings & Data |
3D CAD Model and Mechanical Overview available on request, please contact us | 170.88 KB | |
Other Downloads |
White Paper: Optical Fiber Technology for CoaXPress over Fiber | 855.26 KB |
| Part number | Description |
|---|---|
| AS-FBD-1XCOF100G-4PE8 |
FireBird 1xCOF100G CoaXPress over Fiber frame grabber with four-lane QSFP28 interface and PCIe 4.0 (Gen4) 8-lane interface, supporting up to 100 Gbits per second line rate. |
| AS-FBD-1XCOF100G-4PE8-DF |
FireBird 1xCOF100G-DF CoaXPress over Fiber frame grabber with four-lane QSFP28 interface and PCIe 4.0 (Gen4) 8-lane interface, supporting up to 100 Gbits per second line rate. |
| AS-ACTIVESDK-WIN |
ActiveSDK, Software Development Kit for Windows operating system. More information on the ActiveSDK page. |
| AS-ACTIVESDK-LIN |
ActiveSDK, Software Development Kit for Linux operating system. |
| Cable Solutions |
Fiber optic cable solutions are available (please contact sales). |
Active Silicon presents Firebird CoaXPress over Fiber frame grabber technology, which offers exceptional bandwidth, advanced triggering, electrical noise immunity, and minimal signal loss over long distances. Watch the video to learn more.
ActiveCapture is a consumer application for camera and frame grabber control and is provided with all FireBird frame grabbers.
