GigE Vision, Camera Link, USB, and FireWire tradeoffs

Steve Scheiber, Contributing Technical Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 4/24/2007 5:50:00 AM

Test & Measurement World has devoted considerable space to examining the different communication standards for machine-vision cameras (see here, here, and here, for example). But don’t assume we have a corner on the analysis. A white paper from National Instruments provides another point of view, comparing the relative benefits and drawbacks of analog technologies, as well as GigE Vision, Camera Link, USB, and FireWire interfaces.

The paper takes a methodical approach, ranking the different alternatives on several criteria:

1. Throughput—the data speed across the bus.
2. Effective cost.
3. Maximum permissible cable length.
4. Level of scalability using plug-and-play and other interfacing techniques.
5. Whether the camera can get power and exchange data through the same cable
6. Range of conforming product choices
7. Sharing of the data transfer burden between camera CPU of the host computer
8. Camera synchronization with the system at the other end.

Although no analysis like this one can remain completely free from bias, the author’s intent is not to push the reader into selecting a particular standard but rather to show the relative value of each standard’s strengths in different applications. If the range of available conforming cameras were your primary selection criterion, for example, the relative “scores” would recommend an analog solution—not surprising since analog cameras have been around the longest. In contrast, if throughput and CPU usage were your priorities, the analysis would point to Camera Link. Camera Link, however, off-loads the CPU by requiring a frame grabber for transferring image data to computer memory, so it turns out to be the most expensive option.

Considering the own inspection environment for your particular application, then weighing the factors that the author describes should help you to select the best alternative to suit your unique needs. You can find the paper here.

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