Spyder3 SC-34 Color Camera User's Manual
63
Teledyne DALSA
03-032-20116-01
Appendix A
Camera Link™ Reference, Timing, and
Configuration Table
Cam era Link is a com m u nication interface for vision ap p lications. It p rovid es a connectivity stand ard
betw een cam eras and fram e grabbers. A stand ard cable connection w ill red u ce m anu factu rers‘ su p p ort
tim e and greatly red u ce the level of com p lexity and tim e need ed for cu stom ers to su ccessfu lly integrate
high sp eed cam eras w ith fram e grabbers. This is p articu larly relevant as signal and d ata transm issions
increase both in com p lexity and throu ghp u t. A stand ard cable/ connector assem bly w ill also enable
cu stom ers to take ad vantage of volu m e p ricing, thu s red u cing costs.
The cam era link stand ard is intend ed to be extrem ely flexible in ord er to m eet the need s of d ifferent
cam era and fram e grabber m anu factu rers.
The DALSA Cam era Link Im p lem entation Road Map (available at from http :/ / m v.d alsa.com ) d etails
how DALSA stand ard izes its u se of the Cam era Link interface.
LVDS Technical Description
Low Voltage Differential Signaling (LVDS) is a high sp eed , low p ow er, general p u rp ose interface
stand ard . The stand ard , know n as AN SI/ TIA/ EIA -644, w as ap p roved in March 1996. LVDS u ses
d ifferential signaling, w ith a nom inal signal sw ing of 350m V d ifferential. The low signal sw ing d ecreases
rise and fall tim es to achieve a theoretical m axim u m transm ission rate of 1.923 Gbp s into a loss -less
m ed iu m . The low signal sw ing also m eans that the stand ard is not d ep end ent on a p articu lar su p p ly
voltage. LVDS u ses cu rrent-m od e d rivers, w hich lim it p ow er consu m p tion. The d ifferential signals are
im m u ne to ±1 V com m on volt noise.
Camera Signal Requirements
This section p rovid es d efinitions for the signals u sed in the Cam era Link interface. The stand ard Cam era
Link cable p rovid es cam era control signals, serial com m u nication, and vid eo d ata.
Video Data
The Channel Link tech nology is integral to the transm ission of vid eo d ata. Im age d ata and im age enable
signals are transm itted on the Channel Link bu s. Fou r enable signals are d efined as:
• FVAL—Frame Valid (FVAL) is d efined HIGH for valid lines.
• LVAL—Line Valid (LVAL) is d efined HIGH for valid pixels.
• DVAL—Data Valid (DVAL) is d efined HIGH w hen d ata is valid .
• Spare— A sp are has been d efined for future use.
