Genie Monochrome Series-GigE Vision Camera
Network Overview & Tools
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Network Overview & Tools
Genie IP Configuration Mode Details
The following descriptions provide more information on the IP configuration modes supported by Genie. In general
automatic IP configuration assignment (LLA/DHCP) is sufficient for most Genie installations.
Please refer to the DALSA Network Imaging Package manual for information on the DALSA Network
Configuration tool and network optimization for GigE Vision cameras and devices.
Link-Local Address (LLA)
LLA is also known as Auto-IP. It is used for unmanaged networks including direct connections from a GigE
Vision device to a dedicated NIC.
A subnet configured with LLA cannot send packets across routers but only via Ethernet switches.
LLA is the recommended scheme when only one NIC is connected to GigE cameras. LLA is fully automatic
requiring no user input.
Ensure only one NIC is using LLA on your PC, otherwise IP conflicts will result.
The NIC will automatically assign a random IP address within the 169.254.x.x subnet. The LLA protocol
ensures there are no conflicts with other devices through an arbitration scheme.
The Windows NIC configuration must be set to DHCP (the typical default case) and no DHCP server must be
present on the network. Otherwise, an IP address gets assigned by the DHCP server. Windows will turn to LLA
when no DHCP server answers requests coming from the NIC.
Windows XP takes about 1 minute to obtain an LLA IP address – Windows Vista/7 will take about 6 seconds.
With Windows XP, with no DHCP server involved, the network adapter icon in the system tray (in Windows
XP) typically shows "limited or no connectivity".
This is normal (see Microsoft KB article #892896) and indicates that the network does not have connectivity
beyond routers.
Windows and Genie are still running the DHCP process in the background. If a DHCP server becomes
available on the network, the NIC will get a DHCP assigned IP address for the connected device but
connections on the LLA IP address will be lost. The DALSA Network Configuration Tool can enable the
DALSA DHCP server on the NIC used for the GigE Vision network.
Important: If the host system has multiple NIC devices configured with LLA, then the communication stack
cannot accurately resolve which NIC to forward an IP packet on the 169.254 segment. Limit the number of NIC
configured using LLA to one interface. It is preferable that the DALSA DHCP server is used instead of LLA
mode (see next section).
Use the DALSA Network Configuration Tool to change the Genie from the default DHCP/LLA mode to
Persistent IP mode when required, such as when there are multiple NIC devices with Genie connected to each.
Note that DALSA recommends DHCP/LLA as the mode of operation where a switch is used to connect
multiple Genie devices.
