EDT VisionLink F Series, VisionLink F1 User Manual

User’s Guide

VisionLink F-Series

Camera Link Frame Grabbers
for PCI Express

Date: 2019 April 29
Rev.: 0012

EDT, Inc.

2

EDT | Engineering Design Team, Inc.

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© 1997-2019 Engineering Design Team, Inc. All rights reserved.

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This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to part 15 of FCC Rules.
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harmful interference, in which case the user will be required to correct the interference at his or her own expense.

Caution: Changes or modifications not expressly approved by Engineering Design Team, Inc. could void your warranty to
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EDT, Inc.

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EDT, Inc.

4

Contents

Overview ..................................................................................................................................................................... 6

Included Files ....................................................................................................................................................... 6

Power Over Camera Link (PoCL) ........................................................................................................................ 7

Related Resources ............................................................................................................................................... 7

Requirements ............................................................................................................................................................. 8

Installation ................................................................................................................................................................... 8

Setting the Camera Model .......................................................................................................................................... 9

Image Capture and Display GUI ................................................................................................................................. 9

Units, Connectors, and Channels ............................................................................................................................. 11

LEDs ......................................................................................................................................................................... 12

Serial Communication ............................................................................................................................................... 12

At Initialization .................................................................................................................................................... 12

From Command Line ......................................................................................................................................... 12

From EDT GUI ................................................................................................................................................... 12

From Your Application ........................................................................................................................................ 13

From Camera Manufacturer’s Application ......................................................................................................... 13

Example and Utility Applications .............................................................................................................................. 13

Triggering .................................................................................................................................................................. 16

No Triggering – Freerun (Continuous) ............................................................................................................... 16

Triggered by EDT Board (On-Demand) ............................................................................................................. 17

Triggered by EDT Board (Fixed Period)............................................................................................................. 17

Pulse-Width Triggered (Controlled or Level) ...................................................................................................... 18

External Trigger Direct to Camera ..................................................................................................................... 18

External Trigger Passthrough ............................................................................................................................ 18

External Triggering Pins ..................................................................................................................................... 19

Simulation and Testing ............................................................................................................................................. 20

Programming ............................................................................................................................................................ 21

Building or Rebuilding an Application ................................................................................................................ 21

Compiling vlviewer ............................................................................................................................................. 22

Firmware: FPGA Configuration (.bit) Files ................................................................................................................ 22

Checking and Loading the Firmware ................................................................................................................. 23

Corrupted Firmware ........................................................................................................................................... 24

Troubleshooting ........................................................................................................................................................ 24

Board Not Seen .................................................................................................................................................. 25

Problems With Software Installation .................................................................................................................. 25

Corrupted Images, Slow Acquisition, Timeouts, Data Loss ............................................................................... 26

Problems With Bandwidth .................................................................................................................................. 27

Problems Acquiring Images With EDT Applications .......................................................................................... 27

Problems With Your Applications ....................................................................................................................... 28

Problems With Threads ...................................................................................................................................... 28

Problems With Firmware .................................................................................................................................... 28

Appendix A: Pin Assignments................................................................................................................................... 29

Appendix B: Diagrams – Boards and Cabling .......................................................................................................... 30

VisionLink F-Series Frame Grabbers ................................................................................................................. 30

F1 and F4 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 30

Additional External Inputs .................................................................................................................................. 31

Via Berg or Optional Lemo Connector. ........................................................................................................................ 31

Via Optional Cable Assembly ....................................................................................................................................... 31

Via Ribbon Cabling and D9 Connectors....................................................................................................................... 32

Appendix C: Timestamping....................................................................................................................................... 33

Camera Configuration File Directives ................................................................................................................ 33

EDT, Inc.

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Footer Format .................................................................................................................................................... 33

IRIG API ............................................................................................................................................................. 35

Revision Log ............................................................................................................................................................. 37

VisionLink F-series

Overview

EDT, Inc.

2019 April 29

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Product

Bus spec

Camera Link

Part

Product

name

x lanes

modes

number

description

VisionLink F1

PCIe x1

Base

019-14853

Half-height backpanel, 1 SDR

019-14854

Half-height backpanel, 2 SDRs, 128 MB DDR3, IRIG-B

019-14836

Full-height backpanel, 1 SDR

019-14852

Full-height backpanel, 2 SDRs, 128 MB DDR3, IRIG-B, Lemo

VisionLink F4

PCIe x4

Base–

TBD

Half-height backpanel

full

019-14856

Full-height backpanel

019-14857

Full-height backpanel, Lemo

VisionLink F-series

Overview

This guide covers EDT VisionLink F-series frame grabbers, which provide fast, high-resolution image capture and DMA
between an external Camera Link camera and a host computer.

These frame grabbers are designed for PCIe Gen2 but can work with other PCIe generations; however, performance
is limited by the generation of the board or slot, whichever is lower.

Companion products include remote camera extenders (RCX) over fiber; for details, see Related Resources on page 7.
Available configurations for the F-series are shown in Table 1.

Table 1. VisionLink F-series frame grabbers for Camera Link

Included Files

For the above products, your EDT installation package includes README files for quick start information and special
cases (README.*), as well as device drivers for supported operating systems and source code and binaries for...

•

GUI capture and display applications (vlviewer, pdvshow)

•

Standalone initialization applications (initcam, camconfig)

•

Command-line capture and display applications (take, simple_take, simplest_take, simple_*)

•

Command-line serial communication tool (serial_cmd)

•

Diagnostic tools (pciload, pciediag, dvinfo, pdb)

•

API libraries (libpdv, libedt, and associated source files)

•

Makefiles for Windows and Linux (makefile)

•

Visual Studio project and solution files (*/*.vcproj, */*.sln)

•

Camera configuration files (camera_config/*.cfg)

•

Board firmware files (flash/* directories)

•

Windows silent install / uninstall example batch files (wdf/install/*.bat)

VisionLink F-series

Overview

EDT, Inc.

2019 April 29

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For detailed descriptions of selected programs, see Example and Utility Applications on page 13. For a more complete
list of files and quick-start information, consult README.pdv in your EDT installation package (see Installation on

page 8). For programming information, consult the EDT API (see Related Resources on page 7).

Power Over Camera Link (PoCL)

VisionLink frame grabbers support Power over Camera Link (PoCL) via the MSP430 using safe power. PoCL is enabled
via software (implementation TBD). For PoCL pin assignments, see Appendix A: Pin Assignments on page 29.

Related Resources

To find product-specific information that is related to a particular EDT product, go to .edt.com and open the relevant
product page. There you’ll see links to that product’s datasheet (specifications), user’s guide, and other resources.

In addition, the resources below may be helpful or necessary for your applications.

EDT Resources

•

Application programming interface (API) edt.com/dv_api

•

Installation packages (Windows, Linux) edt.com/download-hub

•

VisionLink F1 datasheet / specifications edt.com/product/visionlink-f1

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VisionLink F4 datasheet / specifications edt.com/product/visionlink-f4

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Companion products edt.com/vision

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Camera configuration guide edt.com/downloads/DeviceConfig.pdf

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Firmware reference edt.com/downloads/dv-c-link-firmware-reference.pdf

•

Cabling options edt.com/clink-cables

•

Tutorial video(s) edt.com/vision

Third-Party Resources

•

PCI Express (PCIe) specifications www.pcisig.com

•

Camera Link specifications www.visiononline.org

•

IRIG-B specifications irigb.com

EDT, Inc.

2019 April 29

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VisionLink F-series

Requirements

Bus type*

Throughput (observed)

Cabling

OS

VisionLink F1

x1 PCIe, Gen2

400MB/s

Standard Camera Link SDR
NOTE: Cabling can be from EDT or a third party.

For more documentation on cabling / pins, see

Related Resources on page 7 and Appendix A:
Pin Assignments on page 29.

Windows,
Linux

x1 PCIe, Gen1

175MB/s

VisionLink F4

x4 PCIe, Gen2

1000MB/s

x4 PCIe, Gen1

700MB/s, preliminary

Requirements

EDT boards are high-speed DMA devices that require adequate bandwidth for reliable operation. The requirements will
vary by camera (since different cameras run at different speeds), so you should select and configure your camera and
system with the proper requirements in mind, as shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Requirements for I/O, bus type, throughput, cabling

*

For bus type, observe these considerations to optimize performance...

–

Typically, these products will not work in a bus slot dedicated to graphics (display) cards.

–

Typically, these products will work in a bus slot with more, but not one with fewer, lanes than the number given here.

–

Typically, although these products will work in a bus slot newer than PCIe Gen2 (such as Gen3), performance still will not exceed
Gen2 specifications.

For details on requirements and bandwidth issues, see Problems With Bandwidth on page 27.

Installation

“Installation directory” in this guide refers to the directory in which your EDT installation package was saved.

Unless you opted to save it elsewhere, the package is saved in the default installation directory specified below.

•

The Windows default installation directory is: C:\EDT\pdv

•

The Linux default installation directory is: /opt/EDTpdv

1.

Uninstall any previously installed EDT installation packages.

2.

To use the latest possible package without creating version incompatibility issues, do one of the following...
—

For a new application, download the latest package from the EDT installation disk (included with the product),
or from www.edt.com (see Related Resources on page 7).

To install your frame grabber software, follow the steps below.

—

For an application running third-party software, use the EDT installation package version with which the soft­ware was built, or recompile / relink the application with the latest package (see Related Resources on page 7).

—

For a new board used in applications developed for earlier boards (e.g., EDT DV/a series), recompile / relink
the application with libraries / header files from an EDT device driver / SDK, version 5.4.5.8 or later.

3.

Follow the installation instructions from your camera manufacturer and your host computer manufacturer.

4.

Connect the frame grabber, using the cabling specified in Requirements on page 8.

5.

To verify that the driver is installed and the board is recognized, run pciload from the command line (for details,
see Example and Utility Applications on page 13).

NOTE If you need to provide an EDT silent Windows software installation as part of your own installation process, see

the EDT Windows batch (.bat) files in the wdf\install subfolder of the EDT installation folder. The comments
in the files explain how they can be used.

EDT, Inc.

2019 April 29

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VisionLink F-series

Setting the Camera Model

OS

Configuration via GUI

Configuration via command line

Windows

Click the desktop icon for vlviewer.
When the camera selection dialog box appears, select

your camera. After initial setup, access this dialog box
any time via the Camera>Setup menu.

From the pdv utilities command shell, invoke the

initcam utility...

initcam -f camera_config\filename.cfg

...where filename is the camera configuration file
that matches your camera model and operating mode.

For specifying a non-default unit and channel and other
options, see initcam (Example and Utility

Applications on page 13) and the Camera

Configuration Guide (Related Resources on page 7).

Linux

First, build vlviewer (see Compiling vlviewer on

page 22). Then, in the installation directory (see
Installation on page 8), enter...

vlviewer

When the camera selection dialog box appears, select
your camera. After initial setup, access this dialog box
any time via the Camera>Setup menu.

From a terminal window, navigate to the installation
directory and follow the procedure for Windows,

replacing “\” with “/”.

If you do not have “.” in your path, add “./” before
each command – for example...

./initcam -f camera_config/file.cfg

Setting the Camera Model

Your EDT installation package provides example configuration files for various camera models; if no file is provided for
your camera, or if you wish to modify the directives of an existing configuration file, consult the EDT Camera
Configuration Guide (see Related Resources on page 7).

After installing the board and its driver, configure it for the camera you will use.

Next, initialize (configure) the driver for your camera model, using one of the methods in Table 3.

Table 3. Configuring the driver for your camera

Image Capture and Display GUI

Your EDT software contains the GUI application vlviewer, a GUI application which allows you to:

•

Configure the frame grabber for a specific camera.

•

Capture, display and save (.bmp, .tif, .jpg or .raw) images from cameras connected to the frame grabber.

•

Perform image processing and analysis on captured image data.

•

Communicate with the camera via serial.

•

Display information about the frame grabber hardware and device driver.

The Windows version of vlviewer is shown in Figure 1.

EDT, Inc.

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VisionLink F-series

Image Capture and Display GUI

Figure 1. Windows version – vlviewer

NOTE In Windows, the command line is a property of the icon.To use an icon to access a unit or channel other than 0 (the

To run the GUI...

•

For Windows: Click the vlviewer desktop icon, or enter vlviewer at a command prompt.

•

For Linux: Compile vlviewer (see Compiling vlviewer on page 22); then, in the installation directory (see Instal-

lation on page 8), enter...

vlviewer

To invoke with other than the default (0,0) unit and channel, run...

vlviewer -pdvU_C

...replacing U with the unit number (useful if you have more than one VisionLink device) and C with the channel
number for multichannel devices (see Units, Connectors, and Channels on page 11).

For example, to run the GUI using board 0, channel 1, run...

vlviewer -pdv0_1

This example is useful if, for instance, you are using one board with two base-mode cameras and you want the GUI to
access the camera on channel 1.

default): copy and rename the vlviewer icon; then change its shortcut properties to use the command line with the
option -pdvU_C where U is the unit and C is the channel.

If the image window shows incorrect data (usually because the camera model has been changed since the last
configuration), select Camera > Setup and choose the correct camera model.

If you have not yet configured the device for your camera, select your camera or simulator from the list and click OK.

To access camera controls, use the GUI toolbar and menus. For details on available options, run...

vlviewer --help

...or bring up vlviewer and select the Help menu.

EDT, Inc.

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VisionLink F-series

Units, Connectors, and Channels

Definition

Usage and Enumeration

unit

physical board

If you install one board in your host system, the system will assign the default unit number (0) to
that board. If you install multiple boards, the system will assign a unique unit number to each
board, starting with 0 (the sequence is system-dependent). Typically, the unit number is an
argument when invoking an application (such as take or vlviewer) or a parameter passed
into one of the EDT subroutines.

connector

physical Camera
Link connector

Each VisionLink board has one or two SDR connectors and one simulation channel.

•

In base mode, each camera requires one SDR connector on the EDT board, and each con­nector provides one channel. Therefore, in base mode, an EDT frame grabber with two con­nectors has two channels.

•

In medium or full mode, each camera requires two SDR connectors on the EDT board. In this
case, the two connectors work together to support one channel.

The software enumerates each SDR connector starting from the PCIe bus. So the first (primary)
connector is “0” and the next (secondary) connector is “1.” The simulator channel is “2.”

See Simulation and Testing on page 20.

channel

channel or,
sometimes,
simulation channel

LEDs

LED enumeration is 0, 1, 2, 3 (left to right
in the board’s typical vertical orientation).

0 1 2 3

Units & Connectors

Unit enumeration is system-dependent,
starting with unit 0.

Unit 0,
Connector 1
(secondary
connector)

Unit 1,
Connector 1
(secondary
connector)

Connector enumeration starts at 0 with
the connector nearest the PCIe bus. Unit 0, Unit 1,

Connector 0 Connector 0
(primary (primary
connector) connector)

Units, Connectors, and Channels

This section covers how to work with multiple units, connectors, and channels, defined and used as shown in Table 4.

Table 4. Definition, usage, and enumeration

Figure 2 illustrates enumeration. Units (boards), connectors, and channels are always enumerated from 0. Figure 2 also

shows the status indicator LEDs (see LEDs on page 12), which are enumerated in the same way.

Figure 2. Illustration of enumeration

If you are using multiple EDT boards (units), or multiple connectors on a single EDT board, the software assigns a
unique handle to represent each unit and connector. Unless you specify a different unit number, connector number, or
both, all EDT example and utility applications will default to unit 0, connector 0.

The way that you address the appropriate unit and channel will depend on what you are doing.

•

In the EDT GUI (vlviewer or pdvshow), use -pdvU_C (see Image Capture and Display GUI on page 9.

•

In the EDT example and utility applications, use -u unit and -c channel (see Example and Utility Applica-

tions on page 13).

•

In the EDT API, use pdv_open_channel(..., unit, channel). For each device, the open routine will return
a pointer to the structure that represents the opened device (unit and channel); this pointer appears in EDT exam­ples and documentation as pdv_p. Each unit / channel combination can be opened and manipulated independent­ly by passing the appropriate pointer to the library subroutines. For details, consult the EDT API (see Related

Resources on page 7).

EDT, Inc.

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VisionLink F-series

LEDs

LED #

Connector #

Status

0 0

Pixel clock: on = present; off = absent

1 0 PoCL output:: on = 12V; off = GND; fast blink = error; slow blink = floating / open / sensing

2 1

Pixel clock: on = present; off = absent

3 1 PoCL output:: on = 12V; off = GND; fast blink = error; slow blink = floating / open / sensing

LEDs

As shown in Figure 2, each frame grabber’s backpanel has four LEDs (0, 1, 2, 3, left to right) to show status, as below.

Table 5. LED behavior and significance

Serial Communication

Most cameras have a manufacturer-defined serial command set for camera control and status. To utilize this capability,
EDT boards implement serial transmit and receive using standard serial lines as defined by the Camera Link standard.
You can use serial communication in a number of ways, as discussed below.

At Initialization

As mentioned in Installation on page 8, the initialization process uses directives in a configuration file to set the board
registers and the driver variables to match your camera model and your operating mode. Additional directives
(especially serial_baud, serial_init, serial_binit, and other serial_* directives) can be used to
send serial commands when the system is initialized. These are described in the EDT Camera Configuration Guide (see

Related Resources on page 7).

EDT provides several example configuration files that contain the serial commands needed to put a camera into the
desired mode. You can edit these commands or copy them to a new configuration file.

For suggestions, see comments in the example configuration files camera_config/genericXcl.cfg (where X is
replaced by a specific bits-per-pixel value – for example, generic8cl.cfg) in the EDT installation package.

From Command Line

The command-line utility serial_cmd, described in serial_cmd on page 15, allows you to send serial commands to
a camera and receive its response, in either ASCII or hexadecimal format. Command-line help also can be accessed
by entering serial_cmd --help.

If you wish to incorporate this functionality in your own application, see the source code provided in serial_cmd.c
in the EDT installation package.

From EDT GUI

In vlviewer, from the Camera menu, select Programming. The resulting dialog allows you to send and receive serial
commands from the camera. For details, see Image Capture and Display GUI on page 9.