CleanEye Camera Link cables

Oki Electric Cable Co., Ltd. (President: Masasuke Kishi, Head Office: Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa-ken, hereafter referred to as Oki Electric Cable) has developed the "CleanEye® Camera Link Cable" capable of transmitting high-definition images at 6Gbps over distance of up to 20m, almost tripling the conventional transmission range. Oki Electric Cable will commence sales of this product for the rapidly growing image inspection systems market in February 2014.

In recent years, the demand is growing for high-speed transmission capabilities to enable sending of higher-definition images in a shorter time in machine vision (*1) systems incorporated on image inspection equipment. Moreover, image inspection equipment such as LCD panels are being required to become capable of transmitting high-definition images over longer distances, as the sizes of inspection subjects become larger and larger. While Camera Link (*2), the mainstream standard for machine vision interfaces, is suitable for high-speed transmission of large-volume data, the wiring extension needed for longer-distance transmission causes attenuation of the transmission pulses. A repeater unit (*3) therefore needs to be connected to compensate for the attenuation. In such case, a repeater unit would be installed at an intermediate section of the cable, limiting the wiring freedom in the systems requiring long-distance wiring.

To overcome these challenges and enable longer distance transmissions, Oki Electric Cable has previously released Camera Link-compatible cables that utilize the proprietary equalizer technology for compensating signal waveforms. These products were well received among the customers. Developed recently based on the same know-how, the "CleanEye Camera Link Cable" has its proprietary "CleanEye" unit, incorporating a repeater function for extending the wiring length, positioned on the frame grabber (*4) instead of at an intermediate section of the cable. This enables 20m of wiring using only a single cable, significantly improving the degree of freedom in the equipment design and wiring. This product eliminates the worry of determining where to install the repeater unit, offering particularly higher design freedom in large-scale image inspection equipment and production lines where multiple cameras are used.

Furthermore, to support the Full configuration (*5)of the Camera Link standard having a transmission speed of 6Gbps, Oki Electric Cable has developed the "CleanEye Unit" for further extending the wiring length and "CleanEye Cable" for higher signal transmission precision to enable long-distance transmission of high-definition images and saving of labor in the designing of equipment.

In future, Oki Electric Cable will continue to develop new products that will enable long-distance transmission of higher definition images and broaden the freedom of equipment and wiring designs.

Main features

• This product significantly extends the wiring length of Camera Link cables (6Gbps). (Max. 20m when clock frequency is 85MHz)
• It significantly improves the degree of wiring freedom.
• It supports both the non-PoCL and PoCL (*6) power supply systems.
• The repeater unit is more compact and lighter than conventional products.

Main specifications

Item	Content
Transmission method	Full configuration (6Gbps)
Transmission distance	20m (when clock frequency is 85MHz)
Power consumption	1.3W (typ)
Power supply	Selectable between non-PoCL/PoCL
Operating environment	Temperature: 0 to 40 deg C, Humidity: 20 to 80% RH (No dew condensation)
Mass (Repeater unit)	Approx. 270 g
Profile (Repeater unit)	57 mm (W) x 18 mm (H) x 71 mm (D) (excluding protrusions)

Connection example

Sales plans

Sales start period: February 2014 (Planned)
Sales target: 50+ million yen in fiscal 2014

Production introduction page

Refer to the following link for details of Oki Electric Cable's machine vision interface products.
(http://www.okidensen.co.jp/en/prod/cable/interface/index.html)

Glossary of terms

• *1:Machine vision

  Machine vision systems are used in devices such as component mounting equipment and product label printers to check the product appearance and printing defects using one or more cameras, light source, image capture device, image processing equipment, etc.

• *2:Camera Link

  An interface standard set by AIA (Automated Imaging Association), the machine vision industry association in the United States in 2000. It is adopted by a large number of camera and board manufacturers and is the dominating digital interface for machine vision systems today.

• *3:Repeater unit

  A connection device incorporating a function for expanding the transmission range to be used when extending the wiring length.

• *4:Frame grabber

  An image capture board. It is used for controlling cameras and capturing image data.

• *5:Full configuration

  One of the Camera Link transmission methods offering the fastest transmission speed. This standard has three configurations (Base, Medium and Full), having an approximate transmission speed of 2Gbps, 4Gbps and 6Gbps, respectively.

• *6:PoCL (Power over Camera Link)

  A Camera Link standard with power supply capability.

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