Pleora Partners with DALSA to Deliver Gigabit Ethernet
OTTAWA, CANADA, October 8, 2003 – Pleora Technologies today announced a partnership with DALSA Corp. of Waterloo, Ontario to deliver high-performance vision connectivity products based on industry-standard Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) technology.
The new products will allow DALSA cameras to exchange imaging and control data with
PCs over high-speed, economical, long-distance GigE links.
Under the partnership, Pleora is developing custom GigE connectivity products
for DALSA’s Vision for Machines digital imaging cameras. DALSA will offer the products
under the “NetLink” brand.
In traditional industrial vision systems, digital imaging cameras typically transmit
data to PCs through specialized protocols, cabling, and image capture PC boards. This
approach delivers the high speeds and low delays required for real-time imaging, but
usually over distances of only a few meters, and only in point-to-point connections.
With the NetLink products, DALSA cameras can now exchange imaging and
control data with PCs over significantly longer distances – up to 100 meters – and with
superior networking capabilities, processing flexibility, and ease of use. The Pleoradeveloped
DALSA products also allow users to eliminate the image capture boards
traditionally required within the PC. This advance is expected to speed design-in and
adoption cycles for DALSA cameras.
“Pleora has developed unique, custom products for DALSA that enable our
customers to rapidly and cost-effectively deploy Gigabit Ethernet functionality in vision
applications,” said Jim Roberts, Vice-President and General Manager, Vision for
Machines, DALSA. “Through this partnership, DALSA further strengthens its position as
a technology and market leader in the high-performance vision industry.”
“DALSA’s adoption of our vision connectivity products validates GigE as a newgeneration
camera-to-PC interface technology for high-performance imaging,” said Alain
Rivard, Co-Founder and Vice-President, R&D, Pleora Technologies. “Our products
leverage high-speed, industry-standard GigE equipment to extend the reach, improve
the flexibility, and cut the cost of vision systems.”
Industry-standard Ethernet platform
GigE is the newest version of Ethernet, the dominant global LAN (local-area
network) standard for carrying IP (Internet Protocol) traffic. Used in 95% of the world’s
LAN connections and, increasingly, in wide-area metro networks, Ethernet equipment
enjoys unmatched economies of scale, while delivering long-distance reach, superior
networking and processing flexibility, and straightforward implementations.
Until the introduction of GigE, Ethernet data rates have been too slow for most
high-performance vision systems. GigE removes that limitation, transporting data at up
to 1 Gb/s (gigabits per second), fast enough for roughly 90% of today’s industrial and
medical vision applications. The next Ethernet generation – 10GigE, which operates at
10 Gb/s – is already running over fiber, and expected to begin migrating to copper in
2004.
NetLink products build on GigE
DALSA’s NetLink Protocol Engines “frame-grab” imaging data, convert it to IP
packets, and transport it at GigE rates over 100 meters of inexpensive Cat-5 (Category
5) copper cable with no intervening equipment. The Cat-5 cable plugs into PCs using
standard RJ-45 GigE connectors, and the NetLink IP Device Driver transfers data to
memory using less than 1% of the PC’s CPU (central processing unit). The NetLink
Software Development Kit allows developers to develop new applications quickly and
easily, as well as migrate existing applications to GigE.
Low-cost GigE switches extend the reach of NetLink connections much further,
and allow vision systems architectures to expand beyond traditional point-to-point
connections. NetLink enables multiple cameras to be connected to one PC, one camera
to be connected to multiple PCs, or multiple cameras to be connected to multiple PCs.
These architectures provide users with unprecedented flexibility in vision system control,
video delivery, and image processing.
About Pleora Technologies
Pleora is a privately held company based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada that
develops and manufactures end-to-end vision connectivity solutions based on industrystandard
Gigabit Ethernet technology, under the iPORTTM brand. Pleora’s products
include IP engines for a comprehensive range of digital and analog image data formats,
as well as high-performance PC drivers and PC software for vision applications
development.
About DALSA Corporation
DALSA is an international high performance semiconductor and electronics company
that designs, develops, manufactures, and markets digital imaging products and
solutions, in addition to providing wafer foundry services. DALSA’s core competencies
are in specialized integrated circuit and electronics technology, and highly engineered
semiconductor wafer processing. Products include image sensor components; electronic
digital cameras; and semiconductor wafer foundry services for use in MEMS, power
semiconductors, image sensors and mixed-signal CMOS chips.
DALSA is a public company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol
“DSA”. Based in Waterloo, ON. Canada, the company has operations in Bromont, PQ;
Colorado Springs, CO; Tucson, AZ; Eindhoven, NL; Munich, Germany and Tokyo,
Japan.
Julie Harrision
Corporate Communications
Pleora Technologies Inc.
Tel: +1-613-270-0625, ext 164
Email: Julie.harrision@pleora.com
Web: www.pleora.com
