Pleora Technologies, the world's leading supplier of high-performance video interfaces, is expanding its portfolio of extreme temperature products with a new external frame grabber that converts Camera Link Base configuration cameras into GigE Vision 2.0 cameras. The iPORT CL-GigE External Frame Grabber ensures highly reliable video transmission in -40°C to +60°C conditions, while bringing the computing, cabling, and networking advantages of Ethernet to demanding vision applications.
Pleora is showcasing its industrial-grade video interfaces for military imaging, intelligent transportation, and factory automation applications at the SPIE DSS conference in Baltimore, April 21-23th, 2015 (Booth # 305). Company experts are also discussing video interface design choices for military imaging systems at the conference’s “Image Sensing Technologies: Materials, Devices, Systems, and Applications” session on April 23rd.
“The iPORT CL-GigE brings field-proven, industrial-grade GigE Vision 2.0 video connectivity to imaging systems operating in the most hostile of environments,” said John Phillips, senior manager, product management with Pleora Technologies. “With our new external frame grabber, manufacturers and integrators employing Camera Link cameras in new vision systems or upgrade projects can now benefit from Ethernet to reduce system complexity, cut costs, and enhance performance.”
Previously, Camera Link-based imaging systems required specialized frame grabber cards to capture image data, limiting designers to bulky and expensive tower PCs for processing and analysis. These imaging systems also needed splitters, repeaters, and switches to distribute data to multiple endpoints, adding unnecessary costs and system complexity.
In comparison, the plug-and-play iPORT CL-GigE converts images from a Camera Link camera into a GigE Vision-compliant video stream. The video is transmitted with low, consistent end-to-end latency over an off-the-shelf cable directly to an existing Ethernet port on a wide variety of processing platforms, including laptops, embedded computers, and single-board computers. Integrated Power over Ethernet (PoE) and Power over Camera Link (PoCL) capabilities enable one-cable installations to further simplify design and reduce component costs.
Taking advantage of Ethernet’s inherent networking flexibility, multiple streams of video can be transmitted to any combination of processing platforms, displays, and recording units – all without changing hardware or software. The video interface’s integrated programmable logic converter (PLC) and IEEE 1588 capabilities allow end-users to control, trigger and synchronize equipment and multiple cameras, while the sophisticated real-time GPIO employs differential signaling and high-threshold logic (HTL) techniques to minimize the effects of electrical noise.
In a military vetronics application, the iPORT CL-GigE reduces design complexity and system costs by incorporating existing Camera Link cameras into a single, all-digital, real-time video network. By eliminating the need for a computing platform with an available peripheral card slot, military imaging systems can employ ruggedized laptops for image analysis and control. Video, control data, and power are transmitted over the single cable; lowering component costs, simplifying installation and maintenance, and reducing “cable clutter” in the vehicle.
With all devices connected to a common infrastructure and straightforward network switching, multiple streams of video can be transmitted to any combination of mission computers and displays. Troops can decide “on the fly” which video streams they need to see, without any changes to cabling or software configurations, or use the on-board mission computer to combine images for use by others in the vehicle. The video can also be multicast to Pleora’s Transcoder Gateway, where it can be compressed for storage and wireless transmission to a command center, other vehicles, or battlefield troops who can view the video on a smartphone or tablet.
Availability
The iPORT CL-GigE External Frame Grabber prototypes are available for testing and evaluation, with full availability scheduled for June 2015. For product details, visit http://www.pleora.com/our-products/frame-grabbers/iport-cl-gige.The
The iPORT CL-GigE is supported by Pleora’s feature-rich eBUS™ SDK application tool kit and drivers. With this software suite, designers can rapidly prototype and deploy production-ready software to support video transmission over GigE, 10 GigE, USB 3.0, and wireless using the same application programming interface (API).
