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1. Cutting Edge imaging NY FrameLink Express User s Manual CONFIDENTIAL NOTICE Copyright 2008 Imperx Inc All rights reserved Any unauthorized use duplication or distribution of this document or any part thereof without the prior written consent of Imperx Corporation is strictly prohibited Imperx inc DOC 0014 0002 6421 Congress Ave Ste 204 Rev RA01 Boca Raton FL 33487 USA 10 30 08 CONFIDENTIAL amp PROPRIETARY Page 1 of 75 Revision Histor RAO1 Aug 12 2008 Initial Release AO AO A eee Page 2 of 75 Table Of Contents CHAPTER DaIN PRODUC PION vrcisasaescccdascecdcavicsdeccacctecsccvaxcesescdsscedevacosbenstoueGeucesocuasaceawbddesccsuessuancUcvenvoedenscededeostoes 5 FEAT NERO Gn OR Tr TY ETL TEU Sem E NTN Ye IR RR Wa ORO ONO 6 WHAT YOU NEED TO CET STARTED o ota tre aval oa epee dew a a pico N anton 13 INSPECTING THE FRAMELINK EXPRESS PACKAGE ccceccsceccececcececcecsceecscscscecescecesceceecsceecscscscsescusescesescusescesescncess 14 CHAPTER 2 HARDWARE INSTALLATION 2 cccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccs 15 CHAPTER 3 SOFTWARE INSTALLATION ccsccsccsccsccscccccccccscesccsccccccccccccscescesccccccccccccscesccscccccccccsce 16 SOPTA ARPE S UTE dla it timbre Mami aasactwanedanshante 16 SOFTWARE INSTALLATION FROM CD 0 cccececcsceccsceccsceccscccscsccscscescscscscsscscnsescnsescssescsseecscescscscscesescesescese
2. Careers kaba il Tb Pate 110 r Cound SST DMA Extra Carrera grk Resultant image Example using Stretch between markers for contrast enhancement BColorization Barkers Bitretch between markers 2 a Sn a a OBIE amp Soha e 10000 1000 Camera Pate 110 a Fiabe 00 rabo Card HN DMA Adie Camera oni The histogram shows the distribution for the This is the original sample image sample image Mcolorization Barkers Bstretch between markers 10000 1000 S p A SRR 7 OE e o Cand M A y A Bee A f Fs o ya Y nye EN 4 Camera Rate 110 Grabar aa abbr Comal EN DMA Adie Carrer oii The histogram Markers and Stretch are Resultant contrast enhanced image turned on The lower limit marker green is set to 13 and the upper limit marker red is set to 48 This causes all pixels between 13 and 48 to be stretched all pixels with a value less than 13 to be converted to black and with a value greater than 48 to be converted to white Page 62 of 75 Path Filename Header Enable Lookup Table Dialog The Lookup Table dialog allows the user to select and enable a lookup table transfer function The lookup table feature allows the user to modify and transform the original video data into any arbitrary value Any 12 bit value can be transformed into any other 12 bit value This is useful for Gamma correction digital gain offset thres
3. 3 Bayer start Oc OR B Os Pattern 4 Bayer start Cig R OB 06 Use this selection when the camera provides the following pattern Use this selection when the camera provides the following pattern Use this selection when the camera provides the following pattern G 22 R G R G R G G B G B cB Line Page 35 of 75 Apply Start Stop Grab Close Causes the application to apply the current settings to the FrameLink Express card This button will toggle between Start Grab and Stop Grab every time the user clicks on it Clicking on Start Grab enables the FrameLink Express s DMA engine and causes the main window to display live images received from the camera Clicking on Stop Grab disables the DMA engine and causes the display to freeze This button will close the Camera Parameters dialog Page 36 of 75 CC Control Dialog The CC Control dialog allows the user to program the FrameLink Express card to generate signals on the Camera Link CC1 CC4 signals These signals are often used by cameras to control triggering and exposure time via the host computer The FrameLink Express includes two pulse generators per channel Master and Slave Both pulse generator s outputs can be routed to the CC1 CC4 signals of either channel SN _ al CC pulse generator Number of pulses f Continuous C Send only Po pulses Skart Pulse width a O cycles Ma
4. AVI Movies Fast Displays the last image in the series Forward Stop Halts current playback Page 66 of 75 Player Dialog The Player Dialog window appears when the user selects the Play Files item under the File pull down menu at the top of the FrameLink Express main window The Player Dialog window provides the primary area for viewing playback of pre recorded images or movies This window can be moved anywhere around the screen to suit your needs The size of the window and image is determined by the size of the image file selected in the Player Control window and can be scaled using the Image Size option For example if the user selects an image file that was produced by a 640x480 resolution camera then the Full frame window size will be 640x480 In this example selecting Y frame produces a window size of 320x240 and selecting 1 4 frame produces a size of 160x120 Player Dialog LL LL i F Page 67 of 75 Chralpte Y Electrical Interfaces This chapter contains information on the FrameLink Express s connectors Page 68 of 75 Camera Link Connector The CameraLink connectors are shielded right angle through hole 26 position female SDR shrunk delta ribbon style connectors Two such connectors are provided on the card The first connector is used for a Channel 1 Base configuration while the second is used for either a Channel 2
5. Base or Channel 1 Medium configuration Note that in the Channel 1 Medium configuration the second connector s CC 4 1 and SerTC SerTFG signals are unused Y OONOuRWN AS t 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Table 3 Camera Link Connector Pin out Note that the Camera Link connector pin out for the frame grabber is 180 degrees rotated from the pin out for the camera Page 69 of 75 ExpressCard Connector The ExpressCard connector is a surface mount right angle 26 position female connector Y OONOuRWN AS In Out Note A V0 VO ei 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 AA A ENANA ee E Sd a Po a EA E Table 4 ExpressCard Connector Pin out Notes CPPE indicates to the host that the card has been inserted 2 CLKREQ indicates to the host that the card is requesting that the REFCLK be provided This is a Power Management function and is not implemented on the FrameLink Express 3 WAKE is used to notify the host that it should re apply power to the card This is a Power Management function and is not implemented on the FrameLink Express 4 PERST is a reset signal driven by the host to reset the card 5 3 3V AUX is used to power the WAKE circuitry This is a Power Management function and is not implemented on the FrameLink Express Page 70 of 75 Chrapter v Video Source Physical Dimen
6. CC3 2 CC4 2 WMV SerTFG 2 SerTC a PonA 8 PontB 8 Portt 8 4 Strobes 4 q Clk Camera Link Receiver XO 2 X1 X2 2 X3 2 Xclk CC1 2 CC2 CC3 2 CC4 2 ASAS VV SerTFG 2 SerTC Figure 1 FrameLink Express Block Diagram Page 8 of 75 CameraLink Connector 2 Channel 2 Base POO OOOO OOOO DODVOO OOOO OO OO OOD OOOOCOOOOO OOODOGOOOOOO Oo Channel 1 Medium A functional block diagram of the Camera Link interface is illustrated in Figure 2 Rx17 Port C7 Rx16 Port C6 15 12 12 X0 Rx22 Port C5 Pair 1 Rx21 Port C4 Rx20 Port C3 2 Pair 1 25 25 X0 Rx19 Port C2 Rx18 Port C1 Rx15 Port CO 16 11 11 X1 Rx11 Port B7 Pair 2 Rx10 Port B6 Rx14 Port B5 3 Pair 2 24 24 X1 A Rx13 Port B4 Rx12 Port B3 Rx9 Port B2 17 10 10 X2 Rx8 Port B1 Pair 3 Rx7 Port BO Rx5 Port A7 4 Pair 3 23 23 x2 0 Rx27 Port A6 Rx6 Port A5 Rx4 Port A4 19 8 8 X3 Rx3 Port A3 Pair 5 Rx2 Port A2 Rx1 Port A1 6 Pair 5 21 21 X3 0 Rx0 Port AO 5 5 o 5 Rx26 DVAL o3 s8 3 Rx25 FVAL c lt e s Rx24 LVAL s6 ES EQ o o Sie SE Sor Rx23 spare NO Na
7. Click on Remove Click Next Click Yes Click Finish Click on Yes Click on Close After having removed a previous version or if a version of FrameLink Express was NOT previously installed on this machine then The first step is to install the application files 2il 22 2 3 2 4 Insert the FrameLink Express CD into the appropriate drive the setup exe file will run automatically Note If it does not start automatically then click on Start Run enter or browse to CD drive setup exe and click OR Wait for the FrameLink Express InstallShield Wizard screen to appear Follow the on screen instructions For Vista click on Install this driver software anyway when the following message appears Page 18 of 75 1 Windows Security gt Don t install this driver software You should check your manufacturer s website for updated driver software for your device Install this driver software anyway Only install driver software obtained from your manufacturer s website or disc Unsigned software from other sources may harm your computer or steal information w See details 2 5 When the following message appears choose if you would like to register online by clicking on Register now or Skip FrameLink Express InstallShield Wizard EO x Register on Imperx web site Installation complete Please take a few
8. L Description 640 480 monochrome Alias WO4210 SAVE Tap reconstruction I swaptaps More gt gt gt Camera resolution me Pre walid Valid Post walid Width pixels O 640 Height lines o 480 Strobes Bayer start 7 CG CR a m Ignore DY Al Apply Start grab o o gt Camera bit depth fs Cirio 12 14 016 f RiGee C RGBS O RGB Video Type Monochrome t Bayer C RGB C CMYG Invert DYAL Invert LWAL Invert FAL These text fields allow the user to record the vendor and part number of the attached camera This text along with all of the other settings can then be saved as a CAM file on the PC for later retrieval This 1s a user defined name for the channel The text entered into this field will be displayed as the channel name in the Title bar Loads a previously saved camera configuration file Clicking on this box will cause a Windows browse box to appear The user can then browse to the folder and file he wishes to open The program will then open the selected file parse it and populate the fields in the dialog Saves the current GUI fields as a camera configuration file Clicking on this box will cause a Windows browse box to appear The user can then browse to a folder and enter a file name The program will then create a CAM file using the values in the dialog s fields and write it
9. Lett nea Path Filename Text Overlay This text field allows you to provide a path and filename for the recorded image file Clicking on the box will cause a Windows browse box to appear The user can then browse to a folder and enter a file name The filename extension BMP or JPG will automatically be added depending on the image format chosen and therefore you do not need to include the filename extension Enabling Insert Date and Time automatically overlays the date and time received from the PC s operating system on each image recorded Date and time formats are the same as those used on your computer Enabling Insert Timestamp automatically overlays an accurate timestamp on each image recorded The timestamp is a decimal integer value indicating the time in microseconds when the card acquired the frame from the attached Page 42 of 75 Accept Cancel camera Enabling Insert Text Message allows you to enter a text string to be automatically overlayed on each image recorded Clicking on Position causes a pull down menu to appear which defines the placement position of the date time text message within the image Available options include Top Left Top Center Top Right Bottom Left Bottom Center and Bottom Right Clicking on this causes the entries made to the various fields to be accepted and then closes the Single Frame Settings dialog window Clicking on
10. a set of valid lines Most cameras can disqualify these dummy lines by negating the FVAL signal For cameras that do not disqualify the dummy lines the FrameLink Express has to be told the number of pre valid valid and post valid lines in order to properly construct an image Pre valid Specifies the number of leading lines prior to any valid lines The FrameLink Express will exclude these lines from the displayed captured image Valid Specifies the number of valid lines The FrameLink Express will include these lines in the displayed captured image Post valid Specifies the number of trailing lines following Page 32 of 75 Learn any valid lines The FrameLink Express will exclude these lines from the displayed captured image Clicking on this button pops up the Auto learn dialog xl Select camera operating mode E tap Interleaved 7 Attached camera is delivering 320 clocksiline 400 linesfframe Camera resolution Pre walid Valid Post walid weidth pixels o 640 o Heightilines o 400 o Apply OK Cancel Auto learn 1s a unique feature of the FrameLink Express card which assists the user in entering the camera resolution parameters The FrameLink Express card is continuously measuring the signals it receives from the CameraLink interface and therefore can determine what the cameras resolution 1s It measures both the number of CLOCK transitions per LVAL cloc
11. b3 b2 bi bO a7 a6 a5 a4 a3 a2 al a0 MODE o 01 1 1 a7 ae as5 as aA3 aA2 A1 A0 TB Be Bs B4 B3 B2 Bt BO A7 AG AS A4 A3 A2 At AO 1C7 C6 C5 C4 C3 C2 C1 CO B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B1 BO A7 A6 A5 A4 A3 A2 A1 AO ae a a a FS a ESA A A AA Pt 0 1 1 A9 AB A7 AG AS 4 3 2 At AO B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B1 BO0f B9 B8 A9 AB A7 AG A5 A4 AB A2 A1 AO AEREAS EEE eee eae Att At0 A9 AB A7 AG AS A4 A3 A2 At AD B11 B10 B9 B8 A11 A10 A9 A8 A7 A6 A5 A4 A3 A2 A1 AO ST Pl BO AR E E 20900 E a fa ee A A 1 f JAtgar2ariaro Aa As A7 AG AS A4 AS A2 At AO ER a A E E Fe A O Fe ce I f JfA5 aid arg ar2 attiato A9 A8 A7 AG AS A4 AS A2 At AD RA Se A Pe es ee RD7 RD6 RD5 RD4RD3 RD2 RD1 RDO RGB 1x24 TAA ie B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B1 M Table 1 Image data bit to port assignments per the Camera Link specification Page 10 of 75 Byte4 Byte3 Byte2 Bytel d63 d62 d61 d60 d59 d58 d57 d56 d55 d54 d53 d52 d51 d50 d49 d48 d47 d46 d45 d44 d43 d42 d41 d40 d39 d38 d37 d36 d35 d34 d33 d32 MODE A7 AG A5 A4 AS A2 A1 AO A7 AG A5 A4 AS A2 Al AO A7 AG AS A4 AS A2 A1 AO A7 A6 A5 A4 AS A2 A1 A0 1x8 B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B1 BO A7 A6 A5 A4 A
12. causes the sequence to begin The sequence will end after the programmed number of pulses are delivered Granularity Sets the granularity of the clock used by the Master and Slave pulse generators A value of 1 corresponds to a clock period of 10 nSeconds a value of 2 to 20 nSeconds etc All master and slave pulse variables 1 e width period etc are scaled by this clock granularity Master Sets the parameters for the Master pulse generator Pulse width Sets the width of the master pulse Pulse period Sets the period repetition rate of the master pulse Slave Sets the parameters for the Slave pulse generator Pulse delay Sets the delay between the master and slave pulses Pulse width Sets the width of the slave pulse CC1 CC4 Configures the behavior of each of the four CC signals 0 Drive the selected CC signal to a logic 0 T Drive the selected CC signal to a logic 1 Master pulse Drive the selected CC signal with the output of the master pulse generator Inv master Drive the selected CC signal with the inverted output of the Pulse master pulse generator Slave pulse Drive the selected CC signal with the output of the slave pulse generator Inv slave Drive the selected CC signal with the inverted output of the slave Pulse pulse generator OC Master pulse Drive the selected CC signal with the output of the other channel s master pulse generator OC Inv master Drive the selected CC signal with t
13. on aS 18 9 9 Xclk Pair 4 RxCLKOut Clock 5 Pair 4 22 22 Xclk 12 15 15 CC4 Pair 11 cC4 25 Pair 11 2 2 CC4 24 3 3 CC3 Pair 10 CC3 11 Pair 10 16 16 CC3 10 17 17 CC2 Pair 9 cc 23 Pair 9 4 4 CC2 22 5 5 CC1 Pair 8 CC1 9 Pair 8 18 18 CC1 21 6 6 SerTFG Pair 7 SerTFG 8 Pair 7 19 19 SerTFG 7 20 20 SerTC Pair 6 SerTC 20 Pair 6 7 7 SerTC 1 Inner Shield 1 1 13 Inner Shield 13 13 14 Inner Shield 14 14 26 Inner Shield 26 26 Camera Link FrameLink Express Cable Frame Grabber Figure 2 Camera Link Interface Page 9 of 75 Video Capture The video capture engine is responsible for receiving video pixel data and qualifiers from the Camera Link transceivers formatting the data and transferring it into on board memory The data that it receives from the Camera Link transceivers is formatted per Table 1 Ten different modes of Operation are supported as indicated in the table The video capture engine translates this data into doublewords 64 bits as defined in Table 2 in order to use the ExpressCard bandwidth more efficiently and conserve memory space Table 2 reflects how the data will appear in host memory In the case of the single tap and dual tap 8 bit modes the module packs eight pixels into each doubleword In the case of the other modes excluding 3x8 and RGB the module packs four pixels into each doubleword Port C O PortB Pota Y c7 c6 c5 c4 C3 c2 ci co b7 b6 b5 b4
14. order to create a time lapse series of images This option is mutually exclusive with the Continuous option Specifies that image capture is free running Page 45 of 75 Capture duration Allows you to control how much to capture with for each event each capture event specified above Limits can be specified by either time or number of frames whichever occurs first Limit capture Allows you to limit the duration of the time to recording by the amount of time specified Limit number Allows you to limit the duration of the of frames to recording by the number of frames specified Total capture Allows you to control how much to capture over all events specified above Limits can be specified by either time or number of frames whichever occurs first Limit total capture Allows you to limit the duration of the total time to recording by the amount of time specified Limit total number Allows you to limit the duration of the total of frames to recording by the number of frames specified Page 46 of 75 Examples of how to use Capture timers and counters Example 1 To capture 5 frames every 1 5 hours over a 12 hour period Capture event occurs Capture every 01 Hr 30 Min 00 Sec Capture duration for each event Limit number of frames to 5 Total capture Limit total capture time to 12 Hr 00 Min 00 Sec Example 2 To capture 5 minutes worth of images every 15 minutes and not to exceed a total of 250 images
15. to the disk Page 31 of 75 Camera These fields specify the geometry of the attached camera and instructs the Resolution FrameLink Express on how to reconstruct a received image Width pixels These fields specify the total number of pixels per line The Camera Link standard defines a line as being a series of pixels enveloped by the LVAL strobe and qualified by the DVAL strobe Cameras generally provide some leading and trailing dummy pixels before and after a set of valid pixels Most cameras can disqualify these dummy pixels by negating the DVAL signal For cameras that do not disqualify the dummy pixels the FrameLink Express has to be told the number of pre valid valid and post valid pixels in order to properly construct an image Pre valid Specifies the number of leading pixels prior to any valid pixels The FrameLink Express will exclude these pixels from the displayed captured image Valid Specifies the number of valid pixels The FrameLink Express will include these pixels in the displayed captured image Post valid Specifies the number of trailing pixels following Height lines any valid pixels The FrameLink Express will exclude these pixels from the displayed captured image These fields specify the total number of lines per frame The Camera Link standard defines a frame as being a series of lines enveloped by the FVAL strobe Cameras can sometimes provide some leading and trailing dummy lines before and after
16. 000 The clservce dll is fully compliant with v1 0 of the Camera Link specification Alternatively if the camera configuration software does not provide an interface to the Camera Link clser dll but only supports standard COM ports then the user can invoke our VceComX exe COM port emulator This software will emulate a PC COM port allowing any terminal emulator or camera configuration tool to access the FrameLink Express serial interface To create a virtual COM port simply run the VceComX exe program Then select the port number from the pull down list and click on Create Port You can now begin using the virtual COM port in you terminal or camera configuration software NOTE You must not exit the VceComX program while it is in use When you are done using the COM port then click on Delete Port and Exit Page 72 of 75 FrameLink COM port emulator Virtual port name ULA Please select the virtual port name and press Create port Do not exit this dialog while using virtual COM port When done press Delete port to delete virtual port and then press Exit to close dialog Page 73 of 75 AV PONCE Overview Using an ASCII text editor LUT Format Creating Look Up Tables This appendix provides a reference on how to create a lookup table using both an ASCII editor and an Excel spreadsheet The Lookup Table file can be created using any standard ASCII text editor o
17. 3 A2 At AO B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B1 BO A7 AG A5 A4 A3 A2 A1 AO 2x8 la c7 cs cs c4 c3 ca Ct co 7 Be B5 B4 B3 B2 B1 Bo A7 AG A5 A4 A3 A2 A1 AO 3x8 SSS a ac a re ey AAA AAA AAA AAA AAA AAA ere eee AE p A9 AB A7 AB AS AS AS A2 At AO a9 as a7 A6 AS A4 AB A2 At ADT 1x10 B9 B8 87 86 B5 64 83 82 Bt BO A9jasfa7 AG AS As A3 A2 At AO 2x10 SSS SSS SS SSS Se PA SS ANN SSS SS O AO NA SSS SIN TO IO PEE E p Ait Ato Ag As a7 AB AS Ad AS A2 At aof At1 A10 A9 AB A7 AG AS A4 AS A2 A1 AO 1x12 811 610 B9 B8 B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B1 Boy A11 A10 A9 AB a7 AG A5 Ad A3 A2 A1 AO 2x12_ A O AAA A Sa ee a ee EE rn PAI ANI ee AAA ee aes roe EN JA13 At2 ati A10 A9 AB A7 AG AS A4 AS AZ Ai AO atsjar2 at1 Jato A9 AB A7 AG A5 A4 AS AZ At AO 1x14 SSS SSS SSS SSS A A SS AS A A A A O SSS A A A APA eee EEE MAPA PEDO PATO E AAA AAA AAA AAA A AAA A AA A AAA AAA AA AAA eee RD RD RD RD RD RD RD RD GR GR GR GR GR GR GR GR BL BL BL BL BL BL BL BL RGB 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 077 6 5 4 3 2 1 077 6 5 4 3 4 241 1 0 1x24 Byte8 Byte7 Byte6 Byte5 d63 d62 d61 d60 d59 d58 d57 d56f d55_d54 d53 d52 d51 d50 d49 d48 d47 d46 d45 d44 d43 d42 d41 d40 d39 d
18. 38 d37 d36 d35 d34 d33 d32 MODE A7 A6 A5 A4 AS A2 A1 A0 A7 A6 A5 A4 A3 A2 At AOL AZ AG AS A4 A3 A2 A1 AOL A7 AG A5 A4 AS A2 A1 AO 1x8 B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 Bi BO A7 A6 A5 A4 A3 A2 At AO B7 Be B5 B4 B3 B2 B1 BO A7 AG A5 A4 A3 A2 A1 AO 2x8 1 c7ic jesica ca e2 ci co 87 B6 85 B4 B3 B2 Bi Bo A7 A6 A5 A4 A3 AZ At AO 3x8 AA A A A A AA E EA ee ee ae ee ee SA EEE all gt A9 AB A7 AG a5 a4 Aa a2 At Ao A9 AB A7 AG as a4 as A2 A1 AO 1x10 89 68 87 Be B5 B4 B3 B2 B1 Boy aolas a7 ae A5 A4 3 AZ At AO 2x10 SS SS ee AA PO eS a AAA AR A A AAA AA PESO ed Fee At1 Ato Ao As Az AG AS AS AS A2 At AO A11 A10 A9 asf A7 AG AS A4 AS A2 At AO 1x12 B11 B10 B9 B8 B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B1 B0 Ati At0 A9 AB A7 AG AS A4 as A2 Ai AO 2x12 AAA AS TA AU AAA A ie ee AAA A ANA fe AAA ed we a ee ee A ne a A rd JAtSjat2 Att aio A9 AB A7 AB AS AS AB A2 At AO arsjar2A11 Jato A9 AB A7 AS AS Ad AS A2 At AO 1x14 A AAA A A A RN A A AN A A AA A A AN AAA NN RO ANNA ACA RA A a AN AN A15 JA14 A13 A12 a11 A10 A9 AB A7 AG as a4 as a2 Ai AOJA15 Atajar3jat2 a11At0 A9 AB A7 AG AS A4 AS A2 At AO 1x16_ AAA AAA A AS e pl A A AA A A A rl A A RD RD RD RD RD RD R
19. Capture event occurs Capture every 00 Hr 15 Min 00 Sec Capture duration for each event Limit capture time to 00 Hr 05 Min 00 Sec Total capture Limit total number of frames to 250 Example 3 To capture 10 frames every 1 hour over a 6 hour period and not to exceed a total of 300 images Capture event occurs Capture every 01 Hr 00 Min 00 Sec Capture duration for each event Limit number of frames to 10 Total capture Limit total capture time to 06 Hr 00 Min 00 Sec Limit total number of frames to 300 Example 4 To capture continuously for a period of 2 hours and not to exceed a total of 100 images Capture event occurs Continuous Total capture Limit total capture time to 02 Hr 00 Min 00 Sec Limit total number of frames to 100 Page 47 of 75 NOTE Buffer frames When selected will store images in system memory to memory during capturing When capturing is complete the images in memory will be flushed to the disk drive Select this option to improve capture performance 1 e the number of frames per second stored to disk If this option is not selected images will be stored directly to disk and therefore capture performance will be limited by the disk s transfer rate Freeze preview When selected will stop the live image in the main window while window from updating during capture otherwise capturing the image will remain live Selecting this option improves capture performance 1 e the numb
20. D RD GR GR GR GR GR GR GR GR BL BL BL BL BL BL BL BL RGB 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 07 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 077 6 5 4 3 4241 0 1x24 Table 2 FrameLink Express Image data mapping into memory Pixel Buffering The pixel data formatted by the video capture engine is stored into two on board FIFO memories This memory serves as a local store for formatted video pixel data The FIFOs are managed by an independent pair of controllers implemented in the FPGA supporting concurrent operation The two FIFOs are utilized in a ping pong fashion such that while one is being filled with new pixel data the other is being emptied via DMA into host memory DMA The DMA engine is responsible for reading formatted pixel data from the on board FIFO memories and transferring them into host memory via the ExpressCard interface An intelligent scatter gather method is utilized providing for an efficient use of the ExpressCard bandwidth The use of non contiguous 4Kbyte buffers provides support for the Windows operating system s memory allocation model Serial Interface A bi directional Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter UART gt is provided for each Camera Link serial interface It transmits and receives ASYNC formatted characters with 1 Start bit 8 data bits no parity and 1 Page 11 of 75 Camera Control FPGA Stop bit The baud rate of this interface can be configured by the user to be any one of a set of standard bit rate
21. ETTETETT EKER REET pi eee cere al Beri tiie a E E a amp E EET E O SRE ERETTE D Lit bettie Resultant colorized image Example using Markers for single thresholding 18l BColorization Mivarkerz BStretch between markers 10000 i 2a tee An SeORi 2 e E ju Y 1000 Casera Rate 110 ating Fishes 00 brg Cort 31363 441x173 106 DMA Arie Canan onini The histogram shows the distribution for the This is the original sample image sample image 2 Pramelink Enpresas WA 10 aloj x Pis Input hanna View Help Ste wae Dn l e a O Ail amp R 1 Bolorization Eiharkerz A between markers 10000 1000 Cameras Pate 110 Grabar rar ari 167 Elba Sr 115 DMA Adlon Catena onan The histogram markers are turned on Resultant black amp white image with all grayscale removed Both the lower limit marker green and upper limit marker red are set to the same pixel value of 100 This causes all pixels with a value less than 100 to be converted to black and with a value greater than 100 to be converted to white Page 59 of 75 Example using Markers for double thresholding BColorization MENE stretch between markers 10000 g 1000 5 The histogram shows the distribution for the sample image BColorization EMarkers stretch between markers o 10000 1000 P The histogram markers are turned on The lower limit marker green is set to 61 a
22. Express application simply double left mouse click on the FrameLink Express icon on the desktop A FrameLink Express In the remainder of this chapter references to clicking on objects in the GUI refers to the left mouse button Page 25 of 75 File Input Channel View Help Menu Bar Icon Bar Main Window When the FrameLink Express application is executed a main window titled FrameLink Express will appear The main window provides the primary area for viewing real time images received from the camera This window can be sized and moved to suit your needs When image viewing is active the size of this window will be automatically scaled as a function of the camera parameters 1 e pixels line and lines frame specified in the Camera Parameters dialog FrameLink Express Channel 1 E Oj xj Camera Rate 0 Grabbing Rate 0 Grabbing Count 0 T OMA Inactive Camera offline The Main dialog contains a Title bar a Menu bar an Icon bar and a Status bar Page 26 of 75 Title Bar Menu Bar File Input Channel View The Title bar reflects the name assigned to the Camera Link port that is currently selected A name of Channel 1 or Channel 2 is used as a default The user can replace this default name by filling in the Alias field in the Camera Param
23. acquired during the analyze procedure and to apply these to the received image prior to display Page 40 of 75 Start Stop Capture Close Image Format Normalize Capture Settings Dialog This dialog gives the user complete control over image storage Capture settings El Image Format ie A Best Small JPEG IR FP Normalize C RAW Capture options 10 Single Frames Series ob frames f AYI Video start Capture This button will toggle between Start Capture and Stop Capture every time the user clicks on it Clicking on Start Capture starts the process of recording the images to disk The options set in the Capture Options field determine what how and when actual recording is performed Clicking on Stop Capture causes recording to stop This button will hide the Capture Settings Dialog screen You can invoke it again by either hitting Ctrl S or by selecting it from the Control Panel pull down menu When recording images to disk this option selects the format BMP JPEG TIFF or RAW that the image will be saved in Selecting JPEG activates a compression slider Best provides the least compression while Small provides the most compression Normalize defines the way in which TIFF files are created Since a TIFF file uses 16 bits to represent each pixel and cameras can produce less than 16 bit pixel
24. arker and the upper marker to be stretched in effect causing contrast enhancement In the example above the pixels with values between 1001 and 1999 will be stretched so that they fill the entire range from to 4094 This means that a pixel value of 1001 will be converted to and a pixel value 1999 will be converted to 4094 All other pixels values 1002 to 1998 will be scaled linearly to fill in the range Plots the histogram of the current frame displayed in the image window as a function of pixel frequency Y axis vs pixel value X axis The range of the pixel value in the X axis depends on the bit depth of the camera For example the range is 256 for 8 bits 1024 for 10 bits etc The pixel frequency represents the total number of pixels with a given pixel value Two histogram plots are provided with the upper plot representing CameraLink tap 1 and the lower representing tap 2 Plots the average value of the current frame displayed in the image window as a function of average pixel value Y axis vs horizontal position X axis The average value for all pixels in a given column of the image is plotted on the Y axis The range of the horizontal positions in the X axis depends on the number of columns in the frame For example in the sample illustration the range of the X axis is 640 indicating that there are 640 pixels line in the sample image In this example the average of all of the pixels in column numb
25. cccccccccccccccccccccccsccoecs 72 APPENDIX B CREATING LOOK UP TABLES cccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccceess 74 Page 3 of 75 Illustrations Ecore I Fame nk Express block DICT AIM uicisscicnd pio osacthandnndessannereperion flia plis peticiones 8 Preune 2 Camera Link Intertaco E E EE E ous savaronstenendond sen E rr dquo E E T 9 Tables Table 1 Image data bit to port assignments per the Camera Link specifiCati0N ccccccccccnnononnnonnnnnnnnnnnnnononononononanos 10 Table 2 FrameLink Express Image data mapping into memory ccccccnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnos 11 Table gt Cameri Eink Connector aia 69 Table 4 ExpressCatd Connector PIU ta A ai cian 70 Page 4 of 75 Introduction This chapter outlines the key features of the Imperx FrameLink Express card Page 5 of 75 Functionality Interfaces FrameLink Express The FrameLink Express frame grabber is a ExpressCard 54 card with two Camera Link interfaces It provides the ability to capture digital video data from both base configuration Camera Link interfaces and transfer that data to host memory via an ExpressCard PCIe x1 interface e Captures video data from two Base Camera Link interface formats this data and stores it into local FIFO s e Retrieves the formatted data from the FIFO s and transfers it into host memory via an intelligent scatter ga
26. d the driver You must follow the steps outlined in the section above titled Software Installation from CD to install the driver 4 To run the Upgrade Utility simply double click on the icon Note DO NOT POWER DOWN OR REMOVE THE CARD WHILE PROGRAMMING IS IN PROGRESS 5 The Upgrade Utility will display the following dialog box FrameLink Express Remote Upgrade xi welcome to the FrameLink Express remote Upgrade utility This utility will upgrade the firmware on your FrameLink Express card Current Firmware information Revision 0 1 0 1 Image ID Application New Firmware information Revision 0 1 0 2 Image ID Application Erasing done Programming done verify done Resetting done Page 23 of 75 0 Chrapte Vv Using the FrameLink Express This chapter contains information on how to configure and use the FrameLink Express card Page 24 of 75 Launching Application Note Running the FrameLink Express Application The VCECLB_app exe program supplied with the FrameLink Express card is a stand alone Windows based application It provides an easy to use graphical user interface GUI allowing the user to configure the FrameLink Express card and to view record and playback video data received from the CameraLink interface The application consists of a main window as well as several other dialogs which can be accessed from the main menu or from convenient icons To launch the FrameLink
27. de Page 14 of 75 Chapteg Y Hardware Installation Installing the FrameLink Express card is as simple as plugging it into an available ExpressCard 54 slot on your computer Page 15 of 75 Chantez Software Installation This chapter explains how to install the FrameLink Express software Software Suite The FrameLink Express software suite consists of the following files Windows application files located in c Program Files ImperX FrameLink Express FrameLink_Express exe Area scan application program VceComEx exe Virtual COM port emulator FrameLink_Express chm Help file FrameLinkConsole exe Console program for debug purposes FLExDrvManager exe Driver manager tool for debug purposes VCECL B dll FrameLink Express library clseripx dll CameraLink serial interface library ippLib dll Intel image processing library IpxLog dll ImperX logging library IpxMisc dll ImperX miscellaneous library IpxMovieMaker dll ImperX movie maker library DSMovieWriter ax Movie Writer DirectShow filter Windows driver files located 1n c Program Files ImperX FrameLink Express driver fl_ex sys WinXP 2000 Vista driver file fl_ex inf WinXP 2000 Vista driver info file Page 16 of 75 Software Development Kit SDK files located 1n c Program Files ImperX FrameLink Express SDK bin folder binaries inc folder include files lib folder libraries doc fold
28. displayed including release identifiers for the application software library driver and firmware This information should be provided to Imperx technical support personnel during a service call Causes an interactive point and click style help manual to be displayed The help manual provides a summary description of all GUI controls and fields Page 28 of 75 Icon Bar Y 45 aa n E F 23 Em 2 R 8 Hh OHS The Icon bar contains a set of icons that act as shortcuts into the features located on the Menu bar select Channel 1 Select Channel 2 Start stop continuous Grab Snap single frame Start stop Capture to disk Open Camera Parameters dialog Open CC Control dialog Open RGB Control dialog Open Capture Settings dialog Open Terminal dialog Open Statistics dialog Open Hex Pixel Dump dialog Open Histogram dialog Enable disable Lookup Table processing Zoom 1 1 Zoom In Zoom Out Fit to Window Turn Grid on off Help Page 29 of 75 Status Bar Camera Rate Grabbing Rate Grabbing Count DMA Status Camera Status The Status bar reflects the real time state of the current camera connection Displays the real time frame rate of the attached camera as measured at the input of the FrameLink Express card Displays the real time rate at which frames are being transferred from the card into host memory Displays a running count of the total number of frames transferred into system memory Thi
29. ed characters to be entered Specifies which control character should be added to the end of the command that the user entered into the Send line Causes the command entered into the Send line to be transmitted to the camera Page 51 of 75 Camera Rate Grabbing Rate Grabbing Count Drop Count Overrun Count Timestamp Statistics Dialog The Statistics dialog displays real time status information about the current camera connection Camera rate 208 fps Grabbing rate 208 fps Grabbing count 47 Frames Drop count lo Frames Overrun count Po Frames Timestamp 2606388 Displays the real time frame rate of the attached camera as measured at the input of the FrameLink Express card Displays the real time rate at which frames are being transferred from the card into host memory Displays a running count of the total number of frames transferred into system memory This counter is reset when grabbing is stopped Displays a running count of the total number of dropped frames Dropped frames are defined as frames that were received from the camera but due to a lack of host buffers could not be transferred into host memory It is the host computer s responsibility to provide the card with pointers into host buffers If the host computer cannot keep up with the incoming frame rate then the card will drop frames The primary cause of this is background applications that are competing for the host processors ti
30. ed camera to be read from the card and automatically populated into the Frame per Second field Compressor Allows you to choose between a variety of compressor implementations and options This pull down menu lists several different implementations of AVI compressors Each has its own set of configuration options Page 49 of 75 9 Freeze preview Same as in Series of Frames window while capturing Text Overlay Same as in Single Frames Accept Same as in Single Frames Cancel Same as in Single Frames Page 50 of 75 Receive as Baud rate Clear Log Send as Append Send Terminal Dialog The Terminal dialog allows the user to communicate with the attached camera via the Camera Link s serial interface Terminal ES be Receive o A Receive as ASCII f HEX Baud rate 9600 Clear Log Send Sendas ASCII HEX AA 7 Append W cR LE NULLITY Otherdsb hex Allows the user to select the format in which he wants received characters to be displayed Specifies the data transfer speed of the CameraLink s serial interface Clicking on this box causes a pull down menu to appear The user can then select the desired baud rate from among the choices presented ranging from 9600 to 115 200 bits per second This setting must match the camera s requirements Clears the terminal window of all text Allows the user to select the format in which he wants transmitt
31. er documentation and sample source code Documentation files located in c Program Files ImperX FrameLink Express Doc FrameLink_Express_Users_Manual pdf User manual document FrameLink_Express_Datasheet pdf Technical datasheet LUT Files located in c Program Files imperX FrameLink Express LUT gamma_45 lut Sample lookup table for Gamma_45 gamma_45 xls Sample excel file for Gamma_45 CAM Files located in c Program Files ImperX FrameLink Express CAM_Files LYNX folder FrameLink Express configuration files for Imperx LYNX series of cameras Note that our FrameLink Express application program was created using our SDK software developers kit Our SDK is included in the standard FrameLink Express software suite that comes with the card Page 17 of 75 Software Installation from CD Use the following steps to install the FrameLink Express software supplied on a CD Note that click refers to the left mouse button l If a version of FrameLink Express was previously installed on this machine then you must first remove it To remove the application files 1 1 LZ 1 3 1 4 1 5 1 6 ta 1 8 1 9 Click on Start Click on Settings Click on Control Panel Double click on Add or Remove Programs Click on FrameLink Express Click on Remove If the FrameLink Express InstallShield Wizard pops up then do the following otherwise go to step 1 8
32. er 400 is 100 A single plot represents both taps The averages for each tap however is listed at the top of the plot Page 56 of 75 Vertical Plots the average value of the current frame in the image window as a Average function of average pixel value Y axis vs vertical position X axis The average value for all pixels in a given row of the image 1s plotted on the Y axis The range of the vertical positions in the X axis depends on the number of rows in the frame For example in the sample illustration the range of the X axis is 480 indicating that there are 480 lines frame in the sample image In this example the average of all of the pixels in row number 100 is 50 Page 57 of 75 Examples of how to use the Histogram The examples below illustrate the effect that colorization markers and stretching have on an image These examples are based on a single tap image with a bit depth of 8 bits Example using Colorization BColorization Mivarkerz Motretch between markers 10000 1000 The histogram shows the distribution for the sample image fiColorization AE A between markers 10000 1000 The histogram colorization is turned on This causes all pixels with a value of O black to be converted to green and with a value of 255 white to be converted to red Page 58 of 75 2a w a n o en O hd E i a ke oT D E me oo TP TTHTTT LLL A E i i af T
33. er of frames per second stored to disk Text Overlay Same as in Single Frames Accept Same as in Single Frames Cancel Same as in Single Frames While capturing is in progress if the host operating system denies the FrameLink Express application s request to allocate more frame buffers in host memory then the following error message will appear FrameLink Express E System ran out of memory Capture Stopped Frames captured 1849 Memory used 1976 MBytes Page 48 of 75 AVI Video Select this option when you wish to create an AVI movie file An AVI movie is a series of images assembled into a single AVI file Clicking on this button causes the AVI Video Clip Settings dialog to open AYI Yideo Clip Settings q x File Name FathFilename L Documents and Settingslab4 Desktop imagel awi Capture Limit number of frames to lo Frames per Second 30 Learn from card Compressor Uncompressed ll Options Display Freeze preview window while capturing Text Overlay Insert Date and Time M Insert Timestamp Insert Text M BSsaqe Fositiort Top Lett rea Path Filename Same as in Single Frames Limit number Allows you to limit the duration of the recording by of frames to the number of frames specified Frames per Limits the frame rate of the recorded movie Second Learn from Clicking on this button causes the actual card frame rate of the attach
34. eters dialog The Menu bar includes a set of pull down sub menus as follows Clicking on this item reveals a pull down menu with two options Player and Exit Play Files Exit This option opens the Player Dialog and Player Control windows Clicking on this option causes the program to terminate Reveals a pull down menu allowing the user to select which Camera Link channel to connect to Clicking on this item reveals a pull down menu with the following options Camera Parameters CC Control RGB Control Capture Settings Terminal Statistics Hex Pixel Dump Histogram Lookup Table Causes the Camera Parameters dialog to appear Causes the CC Control dialog to appear Causes the RGB Control dialog to appear This option is only available if Bayer or RGB is selected in the video type field of the Camera Parameters dialog Causes the Capture Settings dialog to appear Causes the Terminal dialog to appear Causes the Statistics dialog to appear Causes the Hex Pixel Dump dialog to appear Causes the Histogram dialog to appear Causes the Lookup Table dialog to appear Page 27 of 75 Help Zoom About Help Manual Causes the Zoom menu to appear Clicking on this item reveals a pull down menu with two options About and Help Manual Causes version information to be
35. ew window For an illustration of how these features work see Examples of how to use the Histogram below Colorization Causes the live preview image to be colorized Colorization results in pixels with no value 1 e O decimal to be displayed as green and pixels that are saturated 1 e 4095 decimal in 12 bit mode to be displayed as red All other pixels 1 e from 1 to 4094 decimal in12 bit mode are displayed as normal Page 55 of 75 Markers Stretch between markers Histogram Horizontal Average Turns on two vertical markers green and red that move along the X axis of the Histogram plot The green marker can be moved by dragging it with the left mouse The red marker can be moved by dragging it with the right mouse The green marker defines a lower limit for the pixel value while the red marker defines an upper limit for the pixel value All pixels with a value less than or equal to the lower limit will be converted to 0 while all pixels with a value greater than or equal to the upper limit will be converted to saturated For example in 12 bit mode the pixel values range from 0 to 4095 decimal If the lower marker is set to 1000 then all pixels with a value between 0 and 1000 will converted to O If the upper marker is set to 2000 then all pixels with a value between 2000 and 4095 will be converted to 4095 Causes all pixel values lying between the lower m
36. h holding etc Refer to Appendix B for details on how to create a Lookup Table Note A Gamma45 lookup table will be loaded by the application program by default Lookup Table Settings ES File Mame Path Filename MiReleasellymadL0T negative LUT Header Function is negative image created by John Doe date 1 14 05 Enable Cancel This text field allows you to provide a path and filename for the lookup table file to be opened Clicking on the lt box will cause a Windows browse box to appear The user can then browse to a folder and enter a file name The filename extension lut will automatically be added and therefore you do not need to include the filename extension This text window displays the header read from the LUT file For example in the negative lut file illustrated in Appendix C the header window would list the following Function is negative image created by John Doe date 1 14 05 Causes lookup table processing to be performed on received images using the selected lookup table file The resultant image will be displayed in the main image window Page 63 of 75 Zoom in Zoom out Fit to window 25 90 100 200 400 Zoom Menu The Zoom menu allows the user to select various zooming and scaling functions The zoom menu can be invoked via the View item on the Menu bar or by right clicking the mouse over the image window zoom in Ctrl oom o
37. he inverted output of the other Pulse channel s master pulse generator Page 38 of 75 OC Slave pulse Drive the selected CC signal with the output of the other channe s slave pulse generator OC Inv slave Drive the selected CC signal with the inverted output of the other Pulse channel s slave pulse generator Page 39 of 75 RGB Offset RGB Gain White balance Analyze Apply RGB Control Dialog The RGB Control dialog allows the user to adjust the gain and offset for each of the RGB color components This option is only available if Bayer or RGB is selected in the video type field of the Camera Parameters dialog RGE Control xj RGB Offset Red Green 1 0000000 Blue 1 QO00000 White balance Analyze Red gain 0 000000 Mean RGB 40 0 0 Green gain 0 000000 Apply Blue gain 0 000000 Specifies the amount of offset to apply to each of the R G and B components Specifies the amount of gain to apply to each of the R G and B components Performs an automatic white balancing procedure Instructs the FrameLink Express card to analyze the current image received from the camera and to calculate a set of RGB Gain coefficients that will cause the sample image to be white balanced NOTE Before clicking on Analyze the user should point the camera at a uniform white target Instructs the FrameLink Express card to use the calculated RGB Gain coefficients
38. ks line as well as the number of LVAL transitions per FVAL lines frame It displays these results in the Attached camera is delivering fields The card however has no way of knowing how many taps are active and what the camera bit depth is The user should select the operating mode of the camera and then click the Apply button This will cause the fields in the Camera Resolution group to automatically be populated NOTE If the clocks line field is reporting a value of 0 then the camera may not be providing a DVAL signal on the Camera Link interface If this is the case then cancel the Auto Learn dialog select Ignore DVAL under Strobes in the Camera Parameters dialog and then click on Learn again to re enter the Auto Learn dialog Page 33 of 75 Tap Reconstruction Specifies the number of taps channels and the pixel ordering provided by the attached camera The following formats are supported fi tap L gt R 1 tap L gt R 1 tap R gt L 2 tap L gt R Interleaved 2 tap R L Interleaved tap L gt R Separate 2 tap R gt L Separate tap Converge Separate tap Diverge Separate 3 tap L gt R Separate 4 tap L gt R Separate 4 tap R gt L Separate 4 tap 2 Seg Interleaved 4 tap 2 5eg Converge Interleaved 4 tap Quad Converge Custom Swap taps Instructs the card to interchange the pixel data received from Tap1 and Tap2 of the Camera Link interface Mo
39. me and preventing it from servicing the FrameLink Express card Displays a running count of the total number of receiver buffer overruns Overruns are defined as pixel data that was received from the camera but due to a lack of space in the card s on board receiver FIFOs had to be discarded Buffer overruns are an indication that the incoming pixel rate exceeds the bandwidth available on the ExpressCard interface Displays a running timestamp counter Each frame that is received from the camera and transferred into host memory is time stamped This field shows the timestamp value for the last frame processed Page 52 of 75 Hex Pixel Dump Window The Hex Pixel Dump window displays a two dimensional table of pixel values plotting row Y vs column X for a bounded region of pixels The hexadecimal value of each pixel is displayed in each cell For monochrome formatted images a single grayscale value is displayed per pixel For Bayer and RGB formatted images three values representing R G and B are displayed per pixel Additionally the background color of each cell is grayscale encoded for monochrome images or color encoded for Bayer RGB images Hovering the mouse over a given pixel reveals both the pixel s hexadecimal and integer values In the monochrome sample image below with the mouse positioned at location 311 239 X Y a box is revealed showing that the value of the pixel at that location 1s 022 in hexadecimal a
40. moments to register pour product on our web site We strongly suggest that you do this so that we can notify you when new oftware firmware becomes available Installshield 2 6 Click Finish This completes the software installation 2 7 Reboot your computer The next step is to install the driver files 2 8 Insert the FrameLink Express card into the laptop 2 9 For XP Wait for the system to prompt you with a Found New Hardware Wizard dialog box Proceed to Step 2 10 For Vista The driver will automatically be installed Proceed to step 2 15 2 10 Under certain conditions the following message may appear Page 19 of 75 Found Hew Hardware Wizard Welcome to the Found New Hardware Wizard inde wll ssarch bo caneri ard updaled poian bi looking on pour computer on he hadas irctallation CD or on Hee Ydos Uplate Web site wtih pour pension Fead our privacy policy an Windows cornecl lo windows Update lo asach for eoltesnre ves this Eme only Yes now and every time cormec a device 0 Mo not His time Click He lo comin If this message appears click No not this time then click Next 2 11 When the following message appears select Install the software automatically Recommended then click Next Found New Hardware Wizard This wizard helps you install software for FrameLink Express Capture Card IF your hardware came with an installation CD 12 or fl
41. n software 3 1 a 3 3 3 4 3 5 Uninstall all application files by following the instructions in step 1 of the Software Installation from CD section Download the FrameLink_Express_Installer exe file from the Imperx web site to a new folder on your PC we will use the folder C new_FrameLink Express as an example Left mouse click on Start Run enter or browse to C new_FrameLink Express FrameLink_Express_Installer exe Left mouse click on Open then OK Follow the instructions starting from step 2 2 above Page 22 of 75 Firmware Upgrade from Web Site Your newly received FrameLink Express card has been programmed in the factory with the latest firmware prior to shipping New firmware however may be released periodically to reflect improvements and or added functionality You can retrieve these updates by visiting the download page of our web site at http www imperx com frame_grabbers camera_link FrameLink Express_downloads php Use the following steps to install newly released firmware l Download and unzip the firmware Upgrade Utility file to a folder on your PC 2 Insert the FrameLink Express card into the laptop Note that if your system has two ExpressCard slots then you must insert the card into the slot in which it was placed during the original driver installation 3 If the system prompts you with a New Hardware Found dialog box then you have not previously installe
42. name extension BMP or JPG will automatically be added depending on the image format chosen Page 44 of 75 Append to Allows the user to choose the format of the text filename filename to be created Every time a recording file is created the filename suffix will automatically be updated for the Date and Time option or incremented for the N Digit Number option Date and Time N Digit Number This option will create files named as Y Y Y YMMDDhhmmssnm where Y year 4 digits M month 2 digits D day 2 digits h hour 2 digits m minute 2 digits s second 2 digits n millisecond 3 digits This option will create numerically named files The filename starts at O and is incremented by one after each frame is captured If the number of frames captured exceeds the number of digits selected then the filename will continue to increment For example If 2 Digit Number is selected then the files will be named as 00 bmp Ol bmp 99 bmp 100 bmp 101 bmp etc If 4 Digit Number is selected then the files will be named as 0000 bmp 0001 bmp 9999 bmp 10000 bmp 10001 bmp etc Capture event Allows you to control how often to start capturing occurs images Capture every Continuous Specifies how often in time to start capturing images Use this feature to take snapshots at regular intervals in
43. nd upper limit marker red is set to 125 This causes all pixels with a value less than 61 to be converted to black and with a value greater than 125 to be converted to white Page 60 of 75 Framelink Express VGAZIO E la Fis ingu Cherel ves Hiii el 2 de ani Oil BS a ahaa Camere Pushes 110 Gabba 110 rar Cod DA DHA Achhe Catei drk This is the original sample image rrameliik AA A O Xx Fis Input Chae ver Heb Sewanee Aer F Canero eaba 110 Gabba rag Cod BR DHA Achhe Caira grk Resultant image BColorization Markers Stretch between markers 10000 g 1000 The histogram markers are turned on The lower limit marker green is set to 13 and upper limit marker red is set to 64 This causes all pixels with a value less than 13 to be converted to black and with a value greater than 64 to be converted to white Colorization EMarkers stretch between markers 10000 g 1000 The histogram colorization and markers are turned on The lower limit marker green is set to 13 and upper limit marker red is set to 64 This causes all pixels with a value less than 13 to be converted to green and with a value greater than 64 to be converted to red Page 61 of 75 0 x M Camera Pate 110 a aa Sivas Coued 2 DMA Ajba Camera cobro Resultant image aloj Bake Eni ARO wi OE Y
44. nd 34 in integer A yellow square overlayed on the main image window shows the position of the bounded region Horizontal and vertical scroll bars allow the user to move the position of the bounded region of pixels anywhere within the entire frame Another method of opening the Hex Pixel Dump window is to drag the mouse over the main image window while holding down the left mouse button This creates the yellow box that defines the pixel dump s bounded region and automatically open the Hex Pixel Dump window Page 53 of 75 Y FrameLink Express Channel 1 i lol x File Edit Input Channel view Help on aaa unl at sn ul 0 0 aa o ul ana aue aes zl aar 2 a a mi 2a w a An IMA DERES ak ace oi ai is aki tan 2 a lod Es ata FM os m Fi Len am anal En nan En E al mi ED En EN an a rua renal EN BR En re Ff oe EN n Camera Rate 208 Grabbing Rate 208 Grabbing Count 58213 DMA Active Camera online 7 The sample monochrome image liey emm il crono A The sample color image Hex dump for color image Page 54 of 75 Histogram Window The Histogram window displays three graphs a histogram plot a horizontal average plot and a vertical average plot lMhiarker stretch between markers 10000 1000 100 200 300 400 500 600 Check Boxes These features affect the way that the pixel data 1s altered prior to being displayed in the live previ
45. on area used to house the CameraLink connectors Page 6 of 75 The FrameLink Express provides a 2 5 GHz PCIe Master Target interface compliant with the ExpressCard Release 1 2 specification This interface provides a single function as defined in the Expresscard specification The design does not support any memory mapped or I O mapped peripherals on card Access to the FrameLink Express s FIFOs is achieved through DMA operations that move the data from the FIFOs into host memory The host cannot directly access the contents of the FIFOs The design supports host access into configuration registers DMA registers local registers and CIS data via configuration space ACCESSES Page 7 of 75 OO0OO0O0000000000 OOO OOOO OO ExpressCard Connector A functional block diagram of the FrameLink Express card 1s illustrated in Figure 1 EEPROM EPCS64 Configuration ByteBlaster Programming Header PCI Express PHY TxD 8 TxCLK TxStrobes e _ RxD 8 gt RxCLK RxStrobes gt 3 3V 3 3V to 2 5V converter 2 5V to 1 25V converter converter 2 5V 1 25V 1 2V 3 3V to 1 2V ALTERA Cyclone3 FPGA CameraLink Connector 1 Channel 1 Base PortA 8 a PoriB_ 8 PortC__8 Strobes 4 gt Clk Camera Link Receiver lt a 2 X2 2 X3 2 Xclk CC1 2 CC2
46. oppy disk insert it now What do you want the wizard to do 2 Install the software automatically Recommended Install from a list or specific location Advanced Click Next to continue lt Back Cancel 2 12 The following message will appear Page 20 of 75 2 13 2 14 DAD Hardware Installation A The software you are installing for this hardware FrameLink Express Capture Card has not passed Windows Logo testing to very its compatibility with Windows lt P Tell me why this testing is important Continuing your installation of this software may impair or destabilize the correct operation of your system either immediately or in the future Microsoft strongly recommends that you stop this installation now and contact the hardware vendor for software that has passed Windows Logo testing Continue Anyway STOP Installation Click Continue Anyway to continue When Click finish to close the wizard appears click on Finish This completes the driver installation Page 21 of 75 Software Upgrade from Web Site New application and or driver software may be released periodically to reflect improvements and or functionality added to the FrameLink Express You can retrieve these updates by visiting the download page of our web site at http www imperx com frame_grabbers camera_link FrameLink_Express_downloads php Use the following steps to install newly released applicatio
47. r by using Microsoft Excel Additionally any spreadsheet or mathematical program capable of generating a comma delimited file can be used A custom LUT lookup table can be prepared using any ASCII text editor Alternatively any spreadsheet program 1 e Microsoft Excel can be used by converting the spreadsheet into a comma delimited csv file In either case the file must be renamed to include the lut extension The lut file has two main sections a header and a table The header section is a free text area of up to 256 ASCII characters Each line of the header section must be terminated in a comma The table section of the file contains an array of 4096 lines with each line containing an input value followed by a comma and an output value The input values represent incoming pixels and the output values represent what each incoming pixel should be converted into as an output pixel Look Up Table input file example lines beginning with two dashes are comments and are ignored by parser Header Function is negative image created by John Doe date 1 14 05 Table 1nPut OUtput 0 4095 1 4094 2 4093 3 4092 4 4091 409 590 Page 74 of 75 Using Microsoft Excel The LUT file can be created in Excel as follows 1 create the spreadsheet as shown below note that 4096 rows are required in the table 2 add the necessary equations into the output cells to generate the transfe
48. r function required 3 save the file as a csv comma delimited format 4 rename the csv file to an extension of lut EdMicrosoft Excel negative xls ae Ls E Los nr ae a HAF 7 E24 4 Look Lip Table input file example 9 input output 10 0 4095 Fi 1 4094 2 4093 3 4092 4 4091 4095 0 Page 75 of 75
49. re gt gt gt Clicking on this button will cause an animation of the selected tap reconstruction mode to appear Strobes Specifies how to treat the Camera Link strobes where DV AL is data valid LVAL is line valid and FVAL is frame valid Ignore DVAL Instructs the FrameLink Express card to ignore the DVAL signal Invert DVAL Invert LVAL Invert FVAL Video Type Camera Bit Depth received from the CameraLink interface Pixel capture will be qualified with the FVAL and LVAL signals only Instructs the FrameLink Express card to invert the DVAL signal received from the CameraLink interface prior to processing 1t Instructs the FrameLink Express card to invert the LVAL signal received from the CameraLink interface prior to processing it Instructs the FrameLink Express card to invert the FVAL signal received from the CameraLink interface prior to processing it Specifies the video mode as either or monochrome Bayer or RGB Specifies the number of bits per pixel Page 34 of 75 Bayer Start Specifies the starting pixel in the bayer pattern as provided by the camera This selection is typically required when a camera is operated with an area of interest feature enabled For the following examples assume that n number of pixels line and m number of lines then Pattern 1 Bayer start G OR Ob Os Pattern 2 Bayer start Oc Mr OB Os Pattern
50. s the normalize option is provided If normalize is disabled then left pixel padding is used so that 16 bit TIFF data is produced by appending zeros to the MSB bits of the pixel data For example for a 12 bit pixel the resultant 16 bit TIFF data is 0 0 0 0 p12 p11 p2 p1 where p12 pl represent the 12 bit pixel Left padding is useful when the user wishes to post process the TIFF data If normalize is enabled then right pixel padding is used so that 16 bit TIFF data is Page 41 of 75 produced by shifting the pixel data left and appending zeros to the LSB bits of the pixel data For example for a 12 bit pixel the resultant 16 bit TIFF data is p12 p11 p2 p1 0 0 0 0 Right padding is useful when the user wishes to view the TIFF data using a standard TIFF viewer program Capture Options Determines how when and where images are recorded to disk Three choices are provided Single Frames Series of Frames and AVI Video Selecting the radio button and then clicking on each option box opens a new dialog providing additional options Single Frames Select this option when you wish to record one frame only Clicking on this button causes the Single Frame Settings dialog to open Single Frame Settings x File Name PathFilename gt D ocuments and Settingslab Desktop image bmp E Text Overlay Insert Date and Time O Insert Timestamp Insert Text M BSsaqe Position Top
51. s counter is reset when grabbing 1s stopped Displays the real time status of the DMA process as being either active or inactive Active indicates that the user has commanded the FrameLink Express to acquire video data by clicking on the Start Grab button and that the camera is providing valid framing Inactive indicates that either the user has commanded the FrameLink Express to stop acquiring video data by clicking on the Stop Grab button or that grabbing is enabled but the camera is not providing valid framing Displays the real time status of the attached camera as being either online or offline Online indicates that the camera is powered on attached and providing a video clock via the CameraLink interface Offline indicates that the FrameLink Express card is not receiving a video clock from the camera either because the camera is powered off or the CameraLink cable is disconnected Page 30 of 75 Manufacturer Model Description Alias Load Save Camera Parameters Dialog The Camera Parameters dialog allows the user to configure the FrameLink Express card with the operating parameters of the attached camera For the FrameLink Express card to be able to properly acquire and display images from an attached camera the settings entered into this screen must match the parameters of the camera xj Manufacturer Imper Load Model IP 4210
52. s ranging from 4800 to 115 2K bits per second A software interface to the UART is provided by means of a Camera Link compliant clser dll file The FrameLink Express card provides four discrete camera control bits per the Camera Link specification for each channel These bits can be configured by the user via the FrameLink Express application GUI The heart of the FrameLink Express is a dense Field Programmable Gate Array FPGA This FPGA implements all of the functions related to video data capture formatting storage and DMA The firmware contents of the FPGA can be upgraded while in the field by following the instruction outlined in Section 3 of this document entitled Firmware Upgrade from Web Site Page 12 of 75 What you need to get started To begin using the FrameLink Express card you need the following A computer with a ExpressCard 54 slot Microsoft Windows XP or 2000 software A computer with at least 256M bytes of RAM A CD drive and a hard disk on which to install the FrameLink Express software Page 13 of 75 Inspecting the FrameLink Express package When you unpack your FrameLink Express package you should visually inspect all of its contents If something is missing or damaged contact your Imperx representative Package contents You should have received the following items e The FrameLink Express card e ACD with the FrameLink Express software suite e A Quick Start installation gui
53. s to appear the Player Control and Player Dialog windows These windows can be moved anywhere around the screen to suit your needs The Player Control window is used to select the pre recorded image or movie files that you wish to view Player Control Image Size Full Frame 1 2 Frame O 1 4 Frame Path Ci Documents and Settings J Files Determines the size of the Player Dialog window and the playback image Changing from one scale to another automatically updates the Player Dialog window and image size This text field allows you to enter the name of the folder or directory containing the image or movie files Clicking on the lt box will cause a Windows browse box to appear This box lists all of the image or movie files that are in the folder selected under Path Page 65 of 75 Rewind 3 Displays the first image in the series Step Displays the previous frame or image Use this button to back through Backwards individual frames of an AVI Movie Play must be paused for this button to work on AVI Movies Play Begins playing the AVI movie If you are viewing JPEG or BMP images clicking this button displays a series of images one after another starting from the current file selected in the Player Control dialog Step Displays the next frame or image Use this button to advance through Forward individual frames of an AVI Movie Play must be paused for this button to work on
54. scsescs 18 SOFTWARE UPGRADE FROM WEBSITE cid 22 FIRMWARE UPGRADE FROM WEB SITE s sities ee ie ee a t 23 CHAPTER 4 USING THE FRAMELINK EXPRESS cccccccccsccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccsccccccccoccees 24 RUNNING THE FRAMELINK EXPRESS APPLICATION cscscosceccsceccscecscecscscscscasescesescssescscscscasescasescnsescesescesascesess 25 NAT WV SEIN OW E cic A e e TEE 26 CAMERA PARAMETERS ATO Gs strc ares ete 31 CC CONTROL DIALO ua la 37 EAEE LENS A DSE E E E A E SEE ETE EI EE EE S E ape AE NSE ET E ST EE 40 CAPTURE SETTINGS DIALOG airera a A E E A E E A O EENEN 41 TERMINAL BD A E E PEES EEE NS E E EST A ETEA S E E T EEEE T E E 51 STATIS PIC STA OG oreo ect cca hee eects e e aati 52 EX PPE ADUIMIP WINDOW sid dle Noa 53 ENSTOGRAM WINDOW Siac sins esas e a e eae ane ts tea rea ee te se o 55 LOOKUP TABLE DIALOG miare recreate e ra te ao eal at O 63 POON IV EIN beset shes Nam caer a aa aerate ae ed e a Og al DO 64 GAY RON TIRE x a ete aerate eae ol eth aa tae cua e a Og al do 65 Yel DALO ae me e a a oe OL ET ere Betas e a ao o al O 67 CHAPTER 5 ELECTRICAL INTERFACES ceccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccecces 68 CAMBER AOMINK CONNECTOR Os A a A O ta cee saa eae 69 EXPRESS Ge CONNECTO Ra eo tn le iento 70 CHAPTER 6 SPECTETCATIONS adici n 71 APPENDIX A SERIAL COMMUNICATIONS ccccccccscccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc
55. sions Weight Electrical Characteristics Operating Environment Regulatory Specifications Camera Link interface Base configuration using a single 26 pin connector or Medium configuration using two 26 pin connectors Base modes supported 1x8 2x8 3x8 1x10 2x10 1x12 2x12 1x14 1x16 and RGB24 Medium modes supported 4x8 3x10 4x10 3x12 4x12 RGB30 and RGB36 Camera Link clock rates from 20 MHz to 85 MHz RS232 Serial interface per channel for configuring amp monitoring camera Four discrete camera control LVDS differential outputs per channel to camera CC1 to CC4 ExpressCard 54 108mm 4 281n x 54mm 2 lin x 18mm 7in 53 6 grams 1 91 oz Operating voltage 3 3V 5 Operating current SOOmA Operating temperature 0 C to 65 C Relative humidity 90 non condensing FCC 15 part B CE RoHS Page 71 of 75 Appencdiig O Clservce dll COM port emulation Serial Communications The FrameLink Express provides a Camera Link compliant serial communications channel This is an ASYNC interface operating at a user selectable BAUD rate set via the Camera Parameters dialog with 1 start bit 8 data bits 1 stop bit no parity and no handshake Any standard camera configuration software can access this serial interface by using theFrameLink Express s clservce dll file located in the c WINDOWS system32 folder for WinXP or c WINNT system32 folder for Win2
56. ther DMA over the ExpressCard interface e Provides a full duplex asynchronous interface UART to from an attached device on each Camera Link serial interface e Provides the host processor with the ability to configure the four discrete Camera Control signals on each Camera Link interface Camera Link interface The FrameLink Express provides two Camera Link interfaces that follow the base configuration as defined in the Camera Link standard requiring two 26 conductor connector cable refer to Figure 2 The base configuration consists of multiplexing 28 bits of video data into 4 LVDS data streams This data consists of 24 bits of pixel data along with 4 pixel qualifier signals line valid strobe frame valid strobe data valid strobe and a spare strobe for future use A phased locked transmit clock is transmitted in parallel with the data streams over a fifth LVDS link Additionally four RS 644 LVDS streams are included for general purpose camera control These camera control signals allow the frame grabber to manipulate discrete controls within an attached camera A bi directional asynchronous communications channel between the frame grabber and an attached camera is also provided by means of two RS 644 LVDS pairs ExpressCard interface The FrameLink Express card complies with the ExpressCard 54 package dimensions as defined in the ExpressCard Standard release 1 2 It includes a 30mm x 10mm extensi
57. this causes the entries made to the various fields to be rejected and then closes the Single Frame Settings dialog window Page 43 of 75 Series of Frames Select this option when you wish to record multiple frames Clicking on this button causes the Series of Frames Settings dialog to open Series of Frames Settings x File Hame PathFilename C Documents and Settings lab Desktops image El Append to filename f Date and Time 3 Digit Number 5 Digit Number 2 Digit Number 4 Digit Number 7 6 Digit Number Hours Minutes Seconds Capture event occurs Capture ewer oo joo foo Continuous Capture duration foreach event Limit capture time to foo oo joo Lindt number of frames to o Total capture Limit total capture time to no no Limit total number of frames to o gt Buffering Buffer frames to memory Display Freeze preview window while capturing Text Overlay Insert Date and Time Insert Timestamp Insert Test Message Fositiorr Top Left rea Path Filename This text field allows you to provide a path to a folder where the recorded image files will be saved to Clicking on the box will cause a Windows browse box to appear The user can then browse to a folder The filename will automatically be created based on the choice made in the Append to filename option The file
58. uk Crrl Fit to window Ctri 0 Zo Alt 4 aio Alk 2 w LOO Ctrl 1 e00 Ctri 2 4000 Ctrl 4 Causes the displayed image zoom to be increased The user can hit the Ctrl and keys or the icon from the icon bar as shortcuts Causes the displayed image zoom to be decreased The user can hit the Ctrl and keys or the icon from the icon bar as shortcuts Causes the displayed image to be scaled to fill the entire image window The user can change the image window by dragging 1s sides or corners Note that the Fit to Window function will maintain the aspect ratio of the original image Causes the displayed image to be 25 of the original image This scaling factor will also be applied to the saved image files Causes the displayed image to be 50 of the original image This scaling factor will also be applied to the saved image files Causes the displayed image to be 100 of the original image This scaling factor will also be applied to the saved image files Causes the displayed image to be 200 of the original image This scaling factor will also be applied to the saved image files Causes the displayed image to be 400 of the original image This scaling factor will also be applied to the saved image files Page 64 of 75 Image Size Path Files Player Control Clicking on the Play Files item under the File pull down menu at the top of the FrameLink Express main window causes two window
59. x 65535 Pulse period 0 O cycles Max 65535 Frequency Hz Pulse delay O m5 O cycles Max 65535 Pulse width D ns O cycles Max 65535 CCA Ce i va Master pulse Cel y Go y Master pulse C z Ce T a Master pulse 04 0 T ie Master pulse Inv master pulse Inv master pulse Inv master pulse Inv master pulse Slave pulse Slave pulse O Slave pulse Inv slave pulse Inv slave pulse Oc Master pulse OC Master pulse OC Inv master pulse Oc Inv master pulse oc Slave pulse oc Slave pulse Slave pulse Inv slave pulse OC Master pulse OC Inv master pulse Oc Slave pulse OC Inv slave pulse Inv slave pulse OC Master pulse Oc Inv master pulse oc Slave pulse OC Inv slave pulse OC Inv slave pulse OC Inv slave pulse SC Other channel Start This button toggles between Start and Stop Causes both Master and Slave pulse generators to start or stop ruming Number of Determines how often to send CC pulses pulses Continuous Configures the FrameLink Express to send a continuous stream of CC pulses Clicking on the Start button causes the pulses to begin Clicking on the Stop button causes the pulses to cease Page 37 of 75 Send only Configures the FrameLink Express to send a programmed number of pulses Clicking on the Start button

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