Matrox Solios eA, Installation And Hardware Reference, Page: 88 / 196

88 Chapter 4: Matrox Solios hardware reference
A video source can be connected directly to one of the four GigE-compliant
Ethernet ports, or can be connected over an Ethernet network. Each port can
receive data at a maximum rate of 1 Gbit/sec, for a total of 4 Gbits/sec
1
.
GigE Vision filter
The GigE Vision filter is responsible for receiving the Ethernet packets from the
Ethernet controllers and forwarding them to the Host through the Ethernet to
PCI-X bridge. As it does so, the GigE Vision filter snoops the packets and sends
the GigE Vision image packet information (data payload) to the image
reconstructor.
Image reconstructor
The image reconstructor receives the GigE Vision image packet information,
unpacks it, and writes it to an on-board buffer. The image reconstructor decides
where in a buffer to place the data, based on the packet identifier. The packets can
be received out of order and the image will still be written properly.
The image reconstructor has four image contexts, which in essence provide
4 independent acquisition paths.
Auxiliary I/O controller
Auxiliary signals
Matrox Solios GigE features an auxiliary I/O controller. The auxiliary I/O
controller is responsible for managing the auxiliary signals supported by the board.
These are configurable signals that can support one or several functions, one of
which is user-defined. The table in the next subsection identifies the functions to
which an auxiliary signal can be defined.
The auxiliary I/O controller is also responsible for implementing the functionality
to which the auxiliary signals can be defined. It is responsible for receiving data
from the auxiliary input signals and treating/routing it appropriately; the
controller is also responsible for generating appropriate signals and routing them
to the auxiliary output signals.
1. The bandwidth numbers assume the raw transfer of data from the video source to the Host. If a conversion is performed, the total
available bandwidth might be reduced (since the theoretical maximum bandwidth of the Host interface is limited to
800 Mbytes/sec.).