BitFlow's PCI Express Interface Does not use the Stratix GX
There has been quite a bit of buzz lately about boards that use the Altera Stratix GX FPGA for their PCI interface. Specifically the fact that this part has some issues which effect performance and compatibility. BitFlow is happy to report that none of our boards use this family of parts (although we do use other Altera parts). This means there is no need to worry about any of these issues if you use BitFlow's frame grabbers. Click here for more information on the Altera web site.
BitFlow introduce the first PCI Express board ~3 years ago. Since then we have released four families of boards on the PCIe bus.
The PCIe interface on all our products is implemented with an off the shelf Intel bridge, the i41210. This bridge has a x8 PCIe interface. It is one of the most advanced PCIe interfaces with all the "bells and whistles". It implements all the stages of the PCIe, including the PHY. We felt that because of the logical and electrical complexity of the PCI-E protocol, especially the x8 mode, we would not take a chance with our own implementation in an FPGA. We opted to get the PCIe interface from Intel, one of the main authors of the PCI Express Specification. The i41210 is used extensively in the industry and by the military community. The use by the military will assure a long product life.
BitFlow and MVTec announce 64-bit HALCON support
MVTec and BitFlow are proud to announce 64-bit operating system support for BitFlow's frame grabbers under MVTec's HALCON machine vision tools. BitFlow has had 64-bit drivers for it's frame grabbers since summer of 2006 (see below) and MVTEC has had a 64-bit version of HALCON for quite some time. However, the good news is that these two can now work together. The new 64-bit driver supports all of BitFlow's 64-bit boards (R64, Karbon, Neon) and supports all MVTec's products that run on 64-bit Windows operating systems. BitFlow is the first frame grabber supported under 64-bit HALCON.64-bit operating system support provides a number of advantages for machine vision applications. First and foremost is the ability to use almost unlimited amounts of memory for images. This is a big help for sequence capture, golden template storage, long line-scan image buffer, etc. 32-bit operating systems are limited to 4 GB of memory for images, applications, and the operating system. In addition, 64-bit processors offer speed improvements for some classes of image processing algorithms.
HALCON is the comprehensive standard software library with an integrated development environment (IDE) for machine vision that is used worldwide. For more information on HALCON and MVTec click here. Also, click here for the news item on MVTec's site and instructions on downloading the new driver. For more information on BitFlow's software development tools click here.
BitFlow announces Microsoft Windows Vista compatibility
BitFlow has tested their products with the very recently release Windows Vista from Microsoft. Vista was release last week, and BitFlow has been hard at work testing their drivers. While the testing will go on for the next few months, BitFlow has performed enough test to be confident of compatibility of their products with Windows Vista. The testing included BitFlow SDK 4.50 and all their modern frame grabbers. Testing so far has only been with the 32-bit version of Vista. Drivers for the 64-bit versions of Vista will be Q1 of 2007 (however, 64-bit drivers for Windows XP/2003 are available Click here for more information). All new SDK releases will be compatible with both the 32-bit versions of Vista and the 64-bit versions of Vista.
BitFlow appoints VGA for distribution in Spain and Portugal
In a move to further strengthen its presence in the European imaging market, BitFlow announces the appointment of VGA as an authorized distributor for its products in Spain and Portugal. VGA is a leading distributor of imaging products and solutions for industrial and scientific applications.
The agreement strengthens BitFlow's commitment to delivering innovative, high-quality analog, digital, and camera link frame grabbers and software products for Spanish and Portuguese advanced imaging users.
Click here to see the VGA press release.
For more information on VGA see their web site: www.vgaweb.com
Click here for complete contact information in your territory.
64-bit SDK Beta
At the Vision Show East BitFlow demonstrated the 64-bit version of its Software Developement Kit (SDK). Development and testing have proceeded according to schedule, and the 64-bit SDK and drivers are now available to Beta testers. If you are interested in testing this release send email to support@bitflow.com and request the 64-bit SDK Beta. For more information on the 64-bit operating system support see the announcement below.
BitFlow Announces ImageWarp OEM
BitFlow’s Scientific and Image Analysis tool now moves into the factory with our new OEM version. Develop your algorithms with ImageWarp’s powerful and easy to learn GUI environment, and deploy with our new runtime module. Access hundreds of ImageWarp functions directly in your application through COM-methods and properties. Pricing and Functionality set for the OEM customer.
Click here to see the ImageWarp OEM press release.
For more information on the ImageWarp click here
BitFlow Announces 64-Bit Windows Support
BitFlow announces support for 64-bit operating systems. Coming soon will be true 64-bit drivers and a complete application development kit for building application to run on the new 64-bit versions of Microsoft's operating systems. 64-bit operating systems can support an almost unlimited amount of memory (32-bit OSs are limited to 4 GB). Breaking the 4GB barrier means applications can record image sequences to RAM of unprecedented length while supporting the fastest cameras on the market. BitFlow demonstrated their 64-bit SDK at Vision East 2006 in Boston by acquiring an image sequence that was almost 8 GB long. The sequence was acquired from a camera running at 75 FPS, and the recording was almost 5 minutes long.
Click here to see the 64-bit SDK press release.
For more information on the the BitFlow SDK click here
BitFlow Announces the Karbon-CL
BitFlow is introducing the world's first four-camera PCI Express frame grabber, the Karbon-CL. It can acquire simultaneously from up to four Base CL cameras or two Full CL cameras (including 10-tap CL). Further, it is also built on top of BitFlow's FlowThru technology, which provides zero latency access to data, super low CPU usage, and unlimited DMA destination size. The Karbon-CL is the first member of BitFlow's Karbon family, which will provide a platform that can host a wide variety of virtual frame grabbers. These virtual frame grabbers can be customized to meet an OEM's specific needs.
Click here to see the Karbon-CL press release.
For more information on the Karbon-CL click here
Vision East 2006
BitFlow announces three new exciting products at Vision East 2006 in Boston. First is the worlds first four camera PCI Express Camera Link frame grabber. Second is frame grabber application development and driver support for 64-bit version of Microsoft's Windows operating systems. Third is the new run-time version of BitFlow's Image Analysis and Machine Vision software, ImageWarp OEM. See the other news items for more details.