The FireBird CoaXPress over Fiber 4xCOF-12 frame grabber acquires image data at a rate of up to 40 Gbps and uses the same fiber optic cables and connectors applied in mainstream Ethernet technology. Very long cable lengths, up to several kilometers, are supported.
FireBird CXP over Fiber, as a member of the FireBird family, 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.
Active Silicon was one of the primary authors of the international CoaXPress standard, which is hosted by the JIIA (Japan Industrial Imaging Association). CoaXPress over Fiber (COF) is an extension of the CoaXPress 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 (40 Gigabit Ethernet), which 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 cable and optical transceiver module, cameras can be placed multiple kilometers from the frame grabber/PC.
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 4xCOF-12 frame grabber is also available with data forwarding functionality. Here, a second QSFP+ connector allows data forwarding (Aurora, CoaXPress over Fiber formats) for daisy-chained data-processing applications.
Active Silicon provides a complete vision solution for the CoaXPress over Fiber interface. The Oncilla Machine Vision Computer – CoaXPress over Fiber combines a rugged machine vision industrial PC system with an integrated 4XCOF-12 frame grabber.
For fiber-optic cable solutions, please see the related products section below or visit our accessories & cables page.
| CoaXPress over Fiber Interface | One QSFP+ transceiver cage. The 4xCOF-12 frame grabber supports:
LEDs on the end bracket show the link status according to the CoaXPress over Fiber specification. |
| Buffer Memory | Up to 4GBytes of DDR4 memory is fitted for buffering between the CoaXPress over Fiber interface and the PCI Express bus. |
| PCI Express | PCIe 3.0 (Gen3) 8-lane interface to support up to 6.8 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 50 way header on the FireBird board.
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| PCI Express Interface: | PCI Express Bus 3.0 (Gen3) 8-lane interface with a max payload size of 512 bytes. FireBird 4xCOF-12 3PE8 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 6.8 Gbytes/sec, subject to host performance. |
| CoaXPress: | FireBird 4xCOF-12 3PE8 conforms to v2.1 of the CoaXPress specification, and CoaXPress over Fiber Bridge Protocol 1.0. |
| Approvals: | EU
US
The printed circuit board is manufactured by UL recognized manufacturers and has a flammability rating of 94V-0. |
| Download | File Type | File Size | |
|---|---|---|---|
Datasheets |
Datasheet FireBird CoaXPress over Fiber 4xCOF-12 | 299.14 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 (STEP format zipped) | zip | 3.65 MB |
| Mechanical Overview | 611.67 KB | ||
Other Downloads |
White Paper: Optical Fiber Technology for CoaXPress over Fiber | 855.26 KB | |
| Tech Note TN011: Using a CXP Uplink Trigger & FireBird Timers | 1.04 MB | ||
| Tech Note TN013: Using an External Trigger Input with a FireBird CoaXPress Board | 576.37 KB |
| Part number | Description |
|---|---|
| AS-FBD-4XCOF12-3PE8 |
FireBird CoaXPress over Fiber 4xCOF-12 frame grabber Four-lane QSFP+ interface and 8-lane PCIe 3.0 (Gen3) interface, supporting: High-speed QSFP (CoaXPress over Fiber) interface up to 40 Gbits per second line rate delivering 4x CXP-12 data payloads. |
| AS-FBD-4XCOF12-3PE8-DF |
FireBird CoaXPress over Fiber 4xCOF-12 frame grabber with data forwarding Four-lane QSFP+ interface and 8-lane PCIe 3.0 (Gen3) interface, supporting: High-speed QSFP (CoaXPress over Fiber) interface up to 40 Gbits per second line rate delivering 4x CXP-12 data payloads. A second QSFP+ connector allows data forwarding (Aurora, CoaXPress over Fiber formats); for daisy-chained data-processing applications. |
| 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.
A introduction to the company and our main products showcased at VISION 2024. From 1:33 our Product Manager for frame grabbers presents our latest FireBird CoaXPress and CXP over Fiber boards including live demos.
ActiveCapture is a consumer application for camera and frame grabber control and is provided with all FireBird frame grabbers.
