New Pleora software provides seamless migration path to GigE Vision™ compliance, maintains backward compatibility
- Allows both iPORT™ and GigE Vision connectivity protocols to run simultaneously in the same vision application
- Delivers unmatched user flexibility with no physical hardware changes to iPORT IP Engines
OTTAWA, CANADA, October 31, 2006: Pleora Technologies, the vision industry’s leading supplier of GigE (Gigabit Ethernet) connectivity products, today unveiled a new version of its iPORT software that provides iPORT IP Engine users with an elegant, low-risk, and immediate solution for GigE Vision and GenICam™ standards compliance, while maintaining full backwards compatibility with deployed iPORT products.
Working in concert with Pleora’s eBUS™ NIC (network interface card/chip) drivers, Release 2.3.0 of the iPORT SDK (Software Development Kit) allows users to operate GigE Vision compliant cameras in the same system – and even in same application – as GigE (Gigabit Ethernet) cameras based on the proven iPORT connectivity protocol. Moreover, with as little as a straightforward recompile, Release 2.3.0 allows applications built from previous versions of the SDK to be reused with any camera or system that incorporates a GigE Vision-compliant iPORT IP Engine.
“Release 2.3.0 rounds out Pleora’s end-to-end iPORT solution for GigE Vision, complementing our compliant IP engines, AutoGEV tool, and eBUS drivers,” said George Chamberlain, President of Pleora Technologies. “With this software in place, we are now accelerating roll out of the highest-performance, most flexible, and richly featured GigE Vision-compliant products in the industry.”
“Release 2.3.0 allows our customers to migrate at any time to GigE Vision with minimal disruption to their existing practices and applications. They simply upgrade the firmware in their IP engine – which can be done in the field over the GigE link – and select the SDK option for GigE Vision protocol connectivity. Everything else that needs to happen is completely transparent to them,” said Alain Rivard, Vice-President of R&D at Pleora.
Flexible camera control options
To comply with GigE Vision, camera vendors must provide users with an XML (extensible markup language) file that presents seven mandatory camera features in the syntax defined by the GenICam standard. The XML file allows features of all GigE Vision-compliant cameras to be controlled from the GenICam programming interface. The use of GenICam is not, however, mandated by the GigE Vision standard. (For more information about the two standards, see the attached Backgrounder).
Many vision applications require access to features and capabilities not available through GenICam. To ensure the needs of all applications are met, iPORT SDK Release 2.3.0 allows users to choose between two GigE Vision-compliant camera control methods, one based on GenICam, the other leveraging the rich iPORT SDK feature set. In addition, Release 2.3.0 – like all previous versions of the software – delivers full support for connectivity and camera control using Pleora’s proven high-performance iPORT protocol.
Enhanced usability, improved documentation
With iPORT SDK Release 2.3.0, Pleora is also introducing two key enhancements to improve the user experience. First, the GUI (graphic user interface) for Coyote, a sample application for camera configuration, image acquisition, triggering, and many other functions, is now more intuitive to access and use. Second, the iPORT documentation package has been restructured to make it faster and easier for users to get up to speed. Release 2.3.0 is available now, bundled with all iPORT IP Engines. Further details can be found in a comprehensive new white paper on the Pleora website at www.pleora.com.
About Pleora
Pleora Technologies is the world’s leading supplier of Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) imaging solutions. Pleora’s iPORT™ and eBUS™ products stream imaging data over low-cost GigE connections with very high performance, while at the same time giving vision systems long-distance reach, scaleable processing, flexible networking, and unmatched ease of use. Pleora is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada.
For more information, contact:
Julie Harrison
Corporate Communications
Pleora Technologies Inc.
Tel: +1-613-270-0625, ext 164
Email: julie.harrison@pleora.com
Web: www.pleora.com
GigE Vision and GenICam: A Backgrounder
In early 2003, soon after the first products for high-performance delivery of imaging data over GigE came on the market, a handful of vision industry executives led by George Chamberlain, President of Pleora, and Toshi Hori, President of GEViCAM (then President of Pulnix) formed a committee to standardize GigE for machine vision. The goal was to create a framework for camera-to-PC communications whereby hardware and software from different vendors could interoperate seamlessly over standard GigE connections. The committee’s work quickly drew the interest of the broader machine vision community and, in 2004, came under the stewardship of the AIA. Today, more than 45 companies are committee members. In May 2006, these companies ratified the first version of the standard.
It’s important to note that, from day one, the GigE Vision framework was designed to support a range of different performance levels and feature sets. This approach was taken on purpose by the committee so that vendors would have room to innovate and differentiate their products. It was also intended to give vision system designers and integrators the broadest possible selection of compliant products with which to work.
No performance guarantee
All users of GigE Vision-compliant products thus need to understand that compliance is not a performance guarantee. GigE Vision and GenICam define – by design – only a framework for exchanging imaging data and control signals over GigE. Compliance with the standards does not guarantee that a product will operate reliably, or even deliver a minimum level of performance. As with any other vision product, GigE Vision cameras and PC software must be assessed for reliability and quality of implementation.
GigE Vision Version 1.0 has four main elements:
• Device Discovery, which defines how compliant devices such as cameras obtain IP addresses and are identified on the network;
• GVCP (GigE Vision Control Protocol), which defines how to specify stream channels and control and configure compliant devices (i.e. cameras or conversion engines)
• GVSP (GigE Vision Stream Protocol), which defines how images are packetized and provides mechanisms for cameras to send image data and other information to host computers
• An XML (extensible mark-up language) description file, essentially a computer-readable datasheet that maps the high-level features of a compliant camera to its low-level internal registers. This XML file must describe seven mandatory features, and the descriptions must be presented in a syntax defined in the EMVA (European Machine Vision Association) GenICam standard.
The seven mandatory features were chosen by the GigE Vision committee because they were deemed the minimum feature set needed to support the continuous acquisition and display of images from the simplest possible GigE Vision-compliant camera. As long as they include the seven basic features, camera vendors may add as many other features to the XML file as they like and still comply fully with Version 1.0 of GigE Vision.
When adding other features, the GigE Vision standard recommends that camera vendors use feature names set out in a separate reference document called “Standard Features Naming Convention.” This will help avoid situations where, for example, three camera vendors offer a brightness feature, but one calls it ‘Brightness,’ another calls it ‘bRiGhtnessz,’ and yet another, “Briteness.’ Applications software cannot realistically accommodate all vendor naming scenarios. Standard feature names are thus critical to achieving end-to-end interoperability.
The GenICam initiative was launched in late 2004 and has proceeded in parallel to the work on GigE Vision. Its primary objective is to provide a generic camera control interface for all camera types, regardless of the interface technology they use (i.e. GigE, Camera Link™, 1394 DCAM, etc.) or the features they implement.
The first version of GenICam, released in September 2006, defines rules for how a generic XML camera description file must be formatted. The standard is supported by GenApi – a reference implementation of a dynamic API that uses the XML file to present camera parameters to end users or developers.
Interoperability benefits
GigE Vision and GenICam have the potential to make vision systems easier to implement, use, and maintain. If widely adopted, the standards will enable seamless interoperation among compliant cameras and PC software from different vendors. This would reduce the integration issues and support costs that today hamper many vision installations. These improvements, plus the ready availability and low cost of GigE equipment, have the potential to drive down the overall cost of vision systems and foster market growth.
