Xtium2-CL MX4 User's Manual
Overview
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DTE: Intelligent Data Transfer Engine
The Xtium2-CL MX4 intelligent Data Transfer Engine ensures fast image data transfers between the
board and the host computer with zero CPU usage. The DTE provides a high degree of data
integrity during continuous image acquisition in a non-real time operating system like Windows.
DTE consists of multiple independent DMA units, Tap Descriptor Tables, and Auto-loading Scatter-
Gather tables.
PCI Express x4 Gen3 Interface
The Xtium2-CL MX4 is a universal PCI Express x4 Gen3 board, compliant with the PCI Express 3.0
specification. The Xtium2-CL MX4 board achieves transfer rates up to 3.2 Gbytes/sec to host
memory, depending on the configuration selected. Note that performance can be lower depending
on PC and/or programmed configuration.
The Xtium2-CL MX4 board occupies one PCI Express x4 Gen3 expansion slot and one chassis
opening.
Important:
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To obtain maximum transfer rate to host memory, make sure the Xtium2-CL MX4 is in a Gen3
slot. Although the board will work in a Gen1/Gen2 slot, only half the performance is achieved.
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The system motherboard BIOS should allow setting the PCIe maximum payload size to 256 MB
or higher. Systems with fixed settings of 128 MB will limit performance for transfers to host
memory.
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If the computer only has a PCI Express x16 slot, test directly or review the computer
documentation to verify if the Xtium2-CL MX4 is supported since computer motherboards may
only support x16 graphic video board products in x16 slots.
Advanced Controls Overview
Visual Indicators
Xtium2-CL MX4 features 3 LED indicators to facilitate system installation and setup. These
indicators provide visual feedback on the board status and camera status.
External Event Synchronization
Trigger inputs and strobe signals precisely synchronize image captures with external events.
Camera Link Communications Ports
One PC independent communication port per camera input provides Camera Link camera
configuration. This port does not require addition PC resources like free interrupts or I/O address
space. Accessible via the board device driver, the communication port presents a seamless
interface to Windows-based standard communication applications like HyperTerminal, etc. The
communication port is accessible directly from the Camera Link connectors.
Quadrature Shaft Encoder
An important feature for web scanning applications, the Quadrature Shaft Encoder inputs allow
synchronized line captures from external web encoders. The Xtium2-CL MX4 provides an RS-422 or
TTL (mutually exclusive) input that supports a tick rate of up to 5 MHz.
