FPGA-based mezzanine card adds CameraLink

The CAML-MOD3 is a CameraLink adapter module for Vmetro's high performance Xilinx Virtex II Pro based PMC-FPGA03 PMC module.

The CAML-MOD3 is a CameraLink adapter module for Vmetro's high performance Xilinx Virtex II Pro based PMC-FPGA03 PMC module.

Capable of capturing video from two base-mode cameras or one base, medium or full mode camera, the CAML-MOD3/PMC-FPGA03 combination opens up a new range of performance options for developers by merging data acquisition with the benefits of a local user programmable FPGA.

The FPGA can be used to implement functions such as edge detection, FFTs, digital filtering and correlation to benefit applications including target tracking, feature recognition or real-time filtering.

The CAML-MOD3 uses the rapidly emerging Mini CameraLink (MiniCL) HDR26 connector standard and is compatible with traditional CameraLink equipment employing the MDR26 connector.

In Base mode, up to two cameras can be attached via separate cables; in medium and full modes, a single camera connects via two cables.

The CAML-MOD3 supports the maximum CameraLink clock rate of 85MHz, allowing real-time transfer of sustained datarates up to 680Mbyte/s into the FPGA (Full mode).

With full-bandwidth video data streamed directly to a large user-programmable Xilinx Virtex II Pro XC2VP50 FPGA, real-time parallel processing of the video stream(s) is possible with minimal latency.

Fast QDR SRAM and deep DDR SDRAM memory devices attached directly to the FPGA provide the local storage required for image processing algorithms.

An efficient 64bit PCI interface supplies the bandwidth necessary to transfer processed or raw video to the PMC host carrier.

Example firmware and host software for capturing CameraLink data, provided in VHDL and C++ respectively, allows developers to concentrate on implementing their own proprietary processing algorithms.

Comprehensive PMC-FPGA03 library firmware for communicating with PMC-FPGA03 board resources, and host library software for implementing register and DMA-based board communication, simplify the development process further.

"The CAML-MOD3 enables our customers to capture high bandwidth data directly into FPGAs for application specific processing", comments Jeff Bateman, Senior Systems Engineer at Vmetro.

"The combination of the CAML-MOD3, PMC-FPGA03 and support firmware and software enables image acquisition functionality to be easily integrated into traditional signal processing and data recording applications that are acknowledged as Vmetro core competencies".

The CAML-MOD3 is shipping now with a single unit price of $995.

Back to top