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Five Trends Set to Define Machine Vision Heading Into 2027

CoaXPress v3.0 preliminary

WOBURN, MA, SEPTEMBER 16, 2026 — BitFlow, Inc., a business unit of Advantech and a premier manufacturer of high-performance frame grabbers, today outlined five trends set to shape machine vision as the industry moves into 2027. The company also detailed how its flagship CoaXPress (CXP) and Camera Link solutions are positioned to power the next generation of AI-optimized inspection systems. These systems span critical sectors including semiconductors, EV battery manufacturing, automotive, pharmaceuticals, and food processing.

The outlook follows a milestone year for the company: the full production release of BitFlow’s Claxon CXP-12 lineup — five models spanning the single-link Claxon CXP1 through the quad-link Claxon CXP4 and long-reach Claxon Fiber — purpose-built to feed NVIDIA GPU-accelerated inference pipelines at full CoaXPress 2.0 throughput. With that foundation now in full deployment, BitFlow is turning its attention to the next wave of standards and workloads set to arrive in 2027.

“We’re watching a fundamental shift in how manufacturers approach quality control, and it’s only accelerating as we head into next year,” said Donal Waide, Director of Business Development, iSystems, Advantech. “Traditional rule-based vision cannot deliver the defects-per-million rates modern production demands. BitFlow frame grabbers provide the zero-latency, zero-frame-loss image acquisition infrastructure that will make Industrial Vision AI the operating standard in 2027.”

Here are the five trends

1. Industrial Vision AI Becomes the New Quality Standard

As manufacturers push toward near-zero defect rates going into 2027, deep learning and adaptive AI models are set to replace conventional inspection methods at scale. BitFlow’s ultra-reliable, high-bandwidth architecture feeds massive multi-camera, high-resolution image streams directly to AI accelerators without bottlenecks. This is a critical capability for automated optical inspection (AOI) in electronics and precision manufacturing. Advantech Vision AI deployments already show real-time defect detection meeting the world’s strictest quality standards in 2026, and adoption is on track to accelerate further next year.

2. CoaXPress v3.0 Arrives to Reset the Performance Bar

CoaXPress 2.0 remains today’s performance leader, delivering up to 12.5 Gbps per link (CXP-12) with power, triggering, and control over a single coaxial cable. Link aggregation scales to 50 Gbps across four links and beyond. BitFlow offers one of the industry’s most comprehensive CXP-12 portfolios, from compact low-profile designs to multi-link systems supporting aggregate bandwidths exceeding 100 Gbps.

But the headline for 2027 is CoaXPress v3.0. The CoaXPress technical committee has been finalizing the new specification since late 2025, with release still expected before year-end 2026 though an official date has not yet been announced. The headline numbers are already locked in: a nominal 25 Gbps per link (CXP-25), full integration of CoaXPress over Fiber into the core standard rather than an add-on, an expanded uplink for faster triggering, and support for forward error correction. That means systems designed today should be built with a clear runway to next-generation speeds, not a forklift upgrade next year.

BitFlow is already there: its Claxon Fiber series and QFi copper-to-fiber converter use QSFP+ transceivers to deliver long-distance transmission over hundreds of meters and complete EMI immunity today, on an architecture built to carry forward into v3.0 fiber-native deployments.

“We’re already positioning products to support next-generation CoaXPress v3.0 speeds and fiber-native architectures,” Waide noted. “Customers building on our platform now will be ready the day v3.0 hardware ships in 2027.”

3. Edge AI Demands Sub-5 Microsecond Latency

In high-speed production lines, latency directly impacts throughput. BitFlow’s edge-native architecture eliminates bottlenecks through:

· Direct GPU transfers (GPUDirect RDMA for NVIDIA, DirectGMA for AMD) bypassing the CPU for sub-5 µs host-to-GPU latency

· FPGA-based pre-processing pipelines executing debayering, flat-field correction, LUTs, and ROI extraction at full pixel clock rates

· Up to 128 independent DMA streams for complex multi-camera and region-of-interest configurations

This deterministic, high-speed acquisition lets AI models focus purely on inference. This capability is driving explosive growth in inline EV battery inspection and high-speed sorting applications, and one BitFlow has already demonstrated in production: its Claxon Fiber-over-CoaXPress frame grabber has been integrated with an Advantech AI inference edge computer and NVIDIA TensorRT for real-time pose-estimation workloads, underscoring the same low-latency pipeline now being applied to industrial inspection.

4. 3D Vision and Robotics Integration Accelerates

Demand for precision 3D inspection using stereo vision, time-of-flight, and laser triangulation is surging in battery electrode metrology, robotic bin-picking, and assembly verification. It is projected to intensify further in 2027. BitFlow’s high-bandwidth CXP interfaces deliver synchronized multi-view data flows essential for 3D reconstruction and AI pose-estimation algorithms. This directly supports the collaborative robot (cobot) and autonomous mobile robot (AMR) boom, where real-time object recognition and human-robot collaboration require rock-solid image pipelines for Industry 5.0-style manufacturing.

5. Extreme Resolution Meets Deterministic Performance

As cameras push toward higher resolutions, faster frame rates, and event-based sensors, BitFlow’s latest solutions, including the QFi for remote CXP deployments, are built to handle extreme specifications without compromise heading into 2027, supporting long cable runs, precision encoder-based triggering, and error-free transmission in harsh industrial environments.

The BitFlow-Advantech Advantage

“As part of Advantech, we deliver complete end-to-end solutions: world-class frame grabbers integrated with powerful edge servers, AI software stacks, and modular architectures,” Waide stated. “Since 1993, BitFlow’s focus has remained constant: providing deterministic, high-throughput image acquisition that makes advanced vision possible.”

Whether manufacturers are scaling Vision AI for defect-free production, transitioning to fiber for extended reach, or powering autonomous inspection systems, BitFlow frame grabbers deliver reliable performance, every frame, every time.

“As companies become more familiar with the advantages of AI based systems, it’s always good to know that Advantech is an Elite partner of NVIDIA and have been planning this technology breakthrough for some time now. “When the customer is ready, we will be waiting, ” cites Waide.

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BitFlow Axion-CL Frame Grabber Powers High-Speed Badminton Tracking Research

Axion 2xE selected for real-time image acquisition in dual-camera system tracking shuttlecocks at speeds up to 400 km/h

WOBURN, MA, AUGUST 14, 2026 —  BitFlow, Inc., a division of Advantech, today highlighted the use of its Axion 2xE (PCIE-1122-AE) frame grabber in a peer-reviewed badminton recognition and tracking system developed by researchers Zhihao Cui (Pingdingshan University) and Ting Zheng (Lishui University), published in the International Journal of Pattern Recognition and Artificial Intelligence.

Badminton presents a tough challenge for vision researchers: a shuttlecock reaches speeds up to 400 km/h (250 mph), creating motion blur blending it into the background and masking its sharp contours. Also, compared to a basketball or soccer ball, the shuttlecock occupies very few pixels on the camera sensor, making it prone to feature loss over distance.

For these reasons, Cui and Zheng deployed two 2-megapixel high-speed cameras streaming at 250 frames-per-second (fps). To move that volume of image data off the sensors and into real-time processing without dropping a frame, the researchers built their acquisition pipeline around BitFlow’s Axion 2xE, a high-performance interface board featuring a half-size x4 PCI Express Gen 2.0 bus, StreamSync DMA engine, and support for up to two independent or synchronized Camera Link cameras.

The acquisition layer fed two novel detection methods the researchers developed on top of it. The first, a corner-point detector that locates the four corners of the court using contour and histogram analysis within a defined sensing area, achieved more than 10 times the detection accuracy of traditional corner detectors. The second, an elliptical detector for locating the shuttlecock’s center point — built to select the correct ellipse from four candidate contours — reduced positioning error by approximately 3mm compared to conventional circular detectors.

In addition, the proposed vision system enhanced tracking accuracy under complex indoor conditions, minimizing detection failures caused by swift overhead lighting changes, court background noise, and physical player occlusions. Coaches and players can utilize the resulting positional and flight tracking logs to break down tactical play patterns and evaluate physical fitness optimization during training loops.

“High-speed sports tracking lives or dies on the acquisition layer,” said Donal Waide, Director of Business Development, iSystems, Advantech “You can build the most precise detection algorithm in the world, but if the frame grabber can’t sustain a 250 fps dual-camera feed in real time, none of that downstream accuracy is possible. That’s exactly the kind of demanding, latency-intolerant application the Axion 2xE was engineered for.”

The Axion 2xE is part of BitFlow’s sixth-generation Axion family of Camera Link frame grabbers, built on a PCIe Gen 2 interface with the company’s StreamSync DMA engine for high-throughput, low-latency image capture — the same class of performance increasingly demanded by sports analytics, robotics, and other real-time computer vision applications.

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BitFlow’s Axion 1xE-DS9T Frame Grabber Brings Uncompromising Reliability to Space-Constrained Machine Vision Systems

WOBURN, MA, JULY 20, 2026 — BitFlow, Inc., a division of Advantech, offers the Axion 1xE-DS9T, a Camera Link 2.0 compliant frame grabber engineered for systems where board space is at a premium but image acquisition performance is non-negotiable. It is another example of the customer driven versatility and adaptability that BitFlow has been delivering for decades.

The Axion 1xE-DS9T takes the proven BitFlow Axion architecture and reworks its I/O to fit through a single 9-pin connector mounted directly on the board bracket with no external I/O cable required. It’s a purpose-built option for OEMs and system integrators designing compact enclosures, multi-camera arrays, or panel-mount installations where BitFlow’s standard CONN-DEV-C62 I/O Cable simply won’t fit, and where the full breadth of its I/O options isn’t needed in the first place.

“Not all applications require every I/O pin of the CONN-DEV-C62,” noted Donal Waide, Director of Business Development, iSystems, Advantech. “The Axion 1xE-DS9T has the same Camera Link 2.0 acquisition performance BitFlow customers rely on, in a physical footprint that fits where the full I/O breakout can’t. It’s the right tool for the job when space is the constraint, not capability.”

The Axion 1xE-DS9T connects over the PCIe x4 Gen 2 interface, giving machine vision systems the bandwidth and low-latency data path needed for demanding acquisition tasks. It supports a single Base, Medium, Full, or 80-bit (10-tap) Camera Link camera at clock speeds up to 85 MHz, covering the vast majority of Camera Link camera configurations in the field today. Power over Camera Link (PoCL) is fully supported, including dual-connector PoCL configurations, alongside standard non-PoCL cameras, giving integrators flexibility in camera selection without added external power hardware.

Where standard Axion 1xE frame grabbers route its full I/O set through the CONN-DEV-C62 cable for multi-camera triggering, encoder inputs, and general-purpose I/O, the DS9T condenses this down to a 9-pin connector on the board bracket itself. The tradeoff is a limited, purpose-fit I/O set: single-ended TTL encoder support only. For applications that don’t require differential encoder inputs or the full breakout’s channel count, this is a feature, not a compromise — fewer cables, less enclosure space, and a cleaner install.

Under the hood, the Axion 1xE-DS9T runs on BitFlow’s proprietary StreamSync and FlowThru technologies. StreamSync keeps image acquisition tightly synchronized with system timing, while FlowThru manages DMA channel efficiency without requiring on-board frame memory, moving image data straight to host memory for lower latency and simpler system design.

The Axion 1xE-DS9T is fully supported under both Windows and Linux with native driver support for the software environments engineers already use, including MATLAB, LabVIEW, HALCON, and VisionPro. Existing Axion-based applications can move to the Axion 1xE-DS9T with minimal integration overhead.

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DDR-Free Architecture Keeps BitFlow Frame Grabbers Available Amid Global Memory Crisis

As the global DRAM shortage enters a critical phase, driven by insatiable AI data center demand consuming upwards of 70% of worldwide memory production, frame grabber manufacturers dependent on onboard DDR4 memory are facing lead times exceeding 20–30 weeks, allocation rationing, and, in many cases, complete product unavailability. BitFlow, Inc., a division of Advantech, is not one of them.

BitFlow’s entire product line, including the Axion, Aon, Claxon, and Cyton series, is shipping now. The reason: BitFlow never relied on DDR memory in the first place.

“When BitFlow adopted scatter-gather DMA for our frame grabbers, the goals were to use zero CPU cycles and guarantee the absolute minimum latency between when a pixel leaves the camera and when the user’s program can begin processing it. The fact that it also means we have no DDR dependency is paying dividends right now,” noted Donal Waide, Director of Business Development, iSystems, Advantech. “Our competitors that built their frame grabbers around commodity DRAM are on backorder. We’re not. BitFlow customers can order today and receive product.”

SUPPLY CHAIN DELAYS INTO 2027

Hyperscalers and AI infrastructure builders have locked in production capacity at Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron, redirecting wafer capacity to high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI GPUs at a rate that consumes 3–4 times more silicon per gigabyte than standard DDR. The result: DDR4 production is being phased out, DDR5 supply is constrained, and the manufacturers building frame grabbers around onboard DRAM buffers are caught in the crossfire.

Supply chain conditions as of June 2026:

  • DDR4 and DDR5 lead times: 20–30+ weeks in many regions
  • DRAM supply growth running below 16% YoY while AI demand outpaces it
  • Allocation rationing is standard; some retailers are limiting purchase quantities
  • Competitors relying on onboard DDR for frame buffering are facing product availability constraints 

BITFLOW’S ANSWER: NO DDR

While other frame grabber manufacturers use DRAM/SDRAM to buffer entire images and frames, BitFlow took a fundamentally different engineering path. Rather than staging image data on expensive, supply-constrained memory chips, BitFlow’s boards move data directly to where it belongs: the host PC’s system RAM.

Waide commented, “BitFlow’s original technology for this was known as Flow Thru’ technology, and about a decade ago we created a new design called StreamSync acquisition.”

BitFlow relies on three precisely engineered components:

  • Scatter/Gather DMA Engine: A highly optimized DMA controller streams image data at full sustained throughput directly into user-allocated buffers in the PC’s system or GPU memory. Zero staging. Zero redundant copies.
  • Small FIFO Buffers: Compact, purpose-built buffers handle the asynchronous nature of the PCIe bus and manage transient data flow — not frame storage.
  • SRAM for Control Tables: Static SRAM holds VCTAB/HCTAB configuration: video timing parameters and camera control signals. This is configuration logic, not image memory, and it requires no DDR whatsoever. 

As a result, latency is eliminated, CPU overhead is slashed, and the BitFlow frame grabbers ship today, not six months from now.

BitFlow’s direct-DMA architecture supports sustained high data rates that match the demands of modern high-speed imaging interfaces including Camera Link, CoaXPress, and others. For machine vision, semiconductor inspection, life sciences, and defense applications where throughput and determinism are non-negotiable, the BitFlow design delivers:

  • Sustained high-bandwidth data transfers directly to host system memory
  • Eliminated frame transfer latency versus onboard-buffer designs
  • Reduced CPU overhead through hardware-managed DMA
  • Native compatibility with GPU-direct workflows where applicable.

AVAILABLE NOW

BitFlow frame grabbers are in production and available for immediate order.

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AI-Driven Machine Vision Systems with NVIDIA GPU Performance

CXP Family

BitFlow Claxon Frame Grabbers accelerate AI-Driven machine vision systems with NVIDIA GPU performance. Full CoaXPress 2.0 throughput and direct GPU integration put real-time AI Inference within reach of vision engineers.

BitFlow, a world leading manufacturer of industrial frame grabbers and a division of Advantech, has announced the full production availability of its Claxon CXP-12 frame grabbers purpose-built for high-speed machine vision systems integrating NVIDIA GPU-accelerated AI inference. The Claxon lineup spans five models — from the single-link Claxon CXP1 and quad-link Claxon CXP4 to the long-reach Claxon Fiber — giving system designers flexible solutions for every deployment scenario.

Artificial intelligence vision pipelines running on NVIDIA GPUs can deliver hundreds to thousands of TOPS in low-precision inference, enabling hundreds of images per second on real-time models like YOLO, with somewhat lower throughput on models like RetinaNet depending on the specific GPU and optimizations. Yet even the fastest GPU will sit idle if image data cannot reach it quickly enough. Standard GigE Vision is limited to ~1 Gbps, while 10 GigE Vision tops out at 10 Gbps. USB3 Vision offers only a fraction of that. CoaXPress 2.0 (CXP-12), by contrast, delivers 12.5 Gbps per link over standard coaxial cable, with link aggregation scaling to 50 Gbps across four links — five times the throughput of 10 GigE Vision and without the variable latency and overhead of Ethernet network stacks.

BitFlow’s Claxon frame grabbers are built on the CXP-12 standard from the ground up. Each board implements the full CoaXPress 2.0 specification, not a subset, which means system designers gain access to every capability the standard offers: simultaneous multi-camera capture, Power Over CoaXPress (13W per link), a 41.6 Mbps low-speed uplink for camera control, and full GenICam support for standardized camera configuration. The result is a deterministic, high-bandwidth data path that feeds GPU memory at the rate modern AI models demand.

“A machine vision system designer can only experience the full potential of CXP 2.0 by having access to all its capabilities,” Donal Waide, Director of Business Development – iService, BitFlow. “With the Claxon family paired to an NVIDIA GPU platform, the image data path finally matches the inference engine’s appetite. There is no artificial ceiling on throughput.”

One Architecture. Every Application.

The BitFlow Claxon family’s half-size, low-profile x8 PCIe Gen 3 form factor slots directly into standard workstations, compact industrial PCs, and NVIDIA GPU platforms. In addition, Advantech offers several AI inference systems and industrial computers that are designed to be compatible with BitFlow frame grabbers, particularly for high-speed machine vision applications. Several Advantech AI inference systems and industrial computers feature NVIDIA GPUs or support NVIDIA GPU expansion for processing.

Engineers selecting a Claxon board choose the channel count that matches their camera configuration, not a board constrained by arbitrary feature cuts:

Claxon CXP1 — Single-link CXP-12 at 12.5 Gbps. The right choice for high-resolution single-camera inspection cells where PCIe slot count is at a premium.

Claxon CXP2 — Dual-link CXP-12 supporting two single-link cameras simultaneously at 12.5 Gbps each, or one dual-link camera at a combined 25 Gbps. Ideal for stereo vision, dual-angle inspection, and 3D reconstruction workloads.

Claxon CXP4 — Quad-link CXP-12 supporting four single-link cameras (12.5 Gbps each), two dual-link cameras (25 Gbps each), or one quad-link camera at 50 Gbps aggregate. With four cables and four CXP-12 cameras active, the maximum data transfer rate reaches 5 GB/s — the highest single-board acquisition rate in the industry. This board is available in two options to accommodate current demand. Both options, while identical in format, make use of an Altera and a Xilinx FPGA design.

Claxon CXP4-V — Architecturally identical to the CXP4 but equipped with active ventilation to manage FPGA thermal output in small-form-factor, fanless industrial computers where natural airflow is insufficient. A field-proven design for embedded AI vision nodes deployed in harsh environments.

Claxon Fiber (CoF) — Extends CoaXPress over QSFP+ fiber cable assemblies, supporting one quad-link, two dual-link, or four single-link CoF cameras at distances exceeding one mile. Fiber is immune to electromagnetic interference, making the Claxon Fiber the preferred choice for vision systems operating near high-voltage equipment, in broadcast facilities, or within large-scale factory floors where coaxial cable runs are impractical.

From Camera to CUDA: Closing the Loop on AI Inference Latency

Claxon frame grabbers are engineered to integrate directly with NVIDIA GPU platforms, including systems built on the NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin. In a validated reference design with Advantech’s MIC-733-AO AI edge computer, the Claxon CXP4 and Claxon Fiber boards connect to an optional PCIe x8 iModule that slots directly into the NVIDIA Jetson carrier, placing frame-accurate image data on the GPU memory bus with minimal CPU intervention. NVIDIA TensorRT inference pipelines then operate on live image buffers without the memory-copy overhead that plagues USB or GigE-based designs.

For data center-class GPU workstations running NVIDIA RTX or Data Center GPU families, the Claxon’s PCIe Gen 3 x8 bus interface feeds image data directly into GPU-accessible system memory via BitFlow’s SDK, which supports buffer management APIs in C, C++, C#, and Python. Computer vision engineers can pipe raw image buffers into CUDA processing kernels, PyTorch data loaders, or TensorRT execution engines with minimal latency added at the acquisition stage.

Software That Doesn’t Make Integration a Second Job

The BitFlow SDK supports both Windows and Linux, covering the breadth of operating environments found in modern AI vision deployments. Drivers are available for leading third-party vision environments including HALCON, LabVIEW, VisionPro, and MATLAB. Full GenICam compliance means any GigE Vision-standard camera configuration tool works with Claxon-connected cameras out of the box. Critically, the Claxon’s architecture is a direct evolution of BitFlow’s prior-generation Cyton CXP platform — users migrating from CXP 1.1 systems can swap in Claxon boards and retain existing software without rewriting acquisition code or reconfiguring triggering logic.

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BitFlow Frame Grabber Selected by NASA for Space Radiation Testing of InGaAs Infrared Camera

BitFlow, Inc., a division of Advantech, today announced that its Axion-CL Camera Link frame grabber was selected by engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center as the ground-based interface device in a system-level Single Event Effects (SEE) test campaign. The work, conducted under a NASA Technical Memorandum and sponsored by the NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging (NEPP) Program, subjected a Princeton Infrared Technologies (PIRT) 1280MVCam InGaAs shortwave infrared (SWIR) camera to one of the most demanding radiation environments achievable on the ground.

Testing was executed at NASA’s Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The device under test was the PIRT 1280MVCam – a backside-illuminated, substrate-removed InGaAs focal plane array delivering 1280×1024 resolution with 12 μm pixel pitch and 14-bit analog-to-digital conversion. There, it was irradiated with high-energy heavy ion beams including iron (Fe), silver (Ag), and terbium (Tb) species at energies reaching 575 MeV/nucleon. The objective: qualify a COTS camera system as a candidate for space-based instrumentation in the Aerosol Radiometer for Global Observation of the Stratosphere (ARGOS) program. ARGOS is a compact NASA-supported instrument designed to measure stratospheric aerosols using limb scattering.

At the center of the test architecture, the BitFlow Axion-CL frame grabber served as the sole communication and data acquisition link between the irradiated camera system and the control computer. Installed in a host computer positioned adjacent to the beam port, the frame grabber interfaced with the PIRT 1280MVCam via the Camera Link standard, enabling continuous real-time image capture and system command transmission throughout each irradiation run, all while the device under test was exposed to ion flux. The Camera Link connection simultaneously carried both image frame data and serial command traffic, allowing NASA engineers to monitor Single Event Functional Interrupt signatures in captured pixel data and query system configuration registers pre- and post-irradiation in a single unified interface.

The technical demands of the test environment were exceptional. The camera system was positioned directly in the ion beam, with the BitFlow frame grabber and host computer located in an adjacent shielded cave and controlled remotely via 100-foot Ethernet cable runs and signal extenders. The Camera Link interface had to maintain data integrity across this extended topology while the device under test operated under continuous bombardment from ions with high linear energy transfer (LET) values at the device surfaces across three stacked printed circuit boards.

The Axion 1xE (PCIE-1121-AE) that was used in this project.

The test campaign generated actionable engineering intelligence: persistent SEFIs were detected at the lowest tested LET threshold, with system communication failures occurring within minimal fluence exposures, informing NASA’s component screening strategy for future ARGOS mission hardware. Throughout all seven irradiation runs, from the first iron-beam exposures through the final unrecoverable system failure event, the BitFlow frame grabber and Camera Link data path provided uninterrupted acquisition fidelity, enabling the full data set that underpins the published NASA Technical Memorandum.

ARGOS launched on March 15, 2025, aboard a SpaceX Transporter-13 rideshare mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

“When NASA engineers design a radiation test environment where every data packet counts and no failure of the acquisition chain is permissible, they turn to BitFlow. Being specified into NASA’s NEPP program test infrastructure is a powerful validation of the reliability and technical depth that BitFlow delivers at the system level.” – Donal Waide, Director of Business Development, iSystems, Advantech.

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BitFlow Alta Frame Grabbers Deliver 11 Years of Uninterrupted Performance in Atmospheric Research

Alta AN4 frame grabber

The legacy analog imaging technology continues to power cutting-edge aerosol particle analysis at ETH Zurich.

WOBURN, MA, Jan. 7, 2026 — BitFlow, Inc., a leading manufacturer of high-performance frame grabbers and a business unit of Advantech, is highlighting the exceptional longevity and reliability of its Alta-AN analog frame grabber series, with two boards operating continuously since 2014 in a critical atmospheric research application at ETH Zurich’s Institute for Atmospheric & Climate Science in Switzerland.

Dr. Ulrich Krieger and his research team have been utilizing two BitFlow Alta frame grabbers—the first purchased in 2008—to capture, control and measure single levitated particles suspended in an electrodynamic balance. The boards, paired with analog JAI cameras, recently transitioned seamlessly to a new Windows 11 PC platform, demonstrating remarkable forward compatibility despite the original hardware’s vintage.

Precision imaging for next-generation particle analysis

The ETH Zurich team is pioneering a novel methodology for analyzing two-dimensional angular light-scattering patterns of individual aerosol particles through advanced image processing techniques. This research requires the rock-solid stability and precise analog signal acquisition that the Alta-AN platform delivers—frame after frame, year after year.

A micron sized particle in an EDB illuminated with a 532 nm laser
A micron sized particle in an EDB illuminated with a 532 nm laser. (Credit: ETH Zurich)

Engineering excellence that endures

Introduced in 2007, the BitFlow Alta-AN represented the pinnacle of versatile analog frame grabber technology during its production run. Engineered to acquire from virtually any analog camera—from high-speed asynchronous-reset monochrome sensors to super high-resolution color HDTV cameras—the Alta series combined exceptional image quality with the flexibility demanded by scientific and industrial imaging applications.

Built on the PCI Express bus architecture and backed by comprehensive SDK support and drivers for major imaging software packages, Alta frame grabbers set the standard for reliable, high-quality analog video acquisition.

Strategic technology evolution

BitFlow discontinued the Alta product line in 2017 to focus resources on advancing CoaXPress technology and expanding its CameraLink interface card portfolio—strategic decisions that have positioned the company at the forefront of modern digital imaging interfaces.

“This installation exemplifies the build quality and engineering rigor that define BitFlow products,” said Donal Waide, director of Business Development, iSystems, Advantech. “When research teams depend on continuous operation for multi-year scientific studies, there’s no room for compromise—and Alta continues to prove its worth in the most demanding applications.”

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CoaXPress Interface Accelerates Video Streaming in Deep-Tissue Microscopy

BitFlow’s CXP frame grabber transfers image data at 500 frames per second– five times the standard speed

October 17th, 2025 – Within machine vision circles, CoaXPress (CXP) is recognized as the fastest, most reliable interface for transmission of video images from a camera to a host PC. Boasting data transfer speeds up to 12.5 Gigabits (Gbps) per second over a single coaxial cable–along with the necessary power, communication and control–CXP is unmatched in performance or simplicity. CXP’s high speeds and usage of standard coaxial cables has garnered interest outside of the industrial sector in applications as diverse as defense, broadcast, medical imaging and life sciences.

For instance, scientists at the Center for Physical Sciences and Technology (Vilnius, Lithuania) recently developed a new optical microscopy technique leveraging CXP that is a promising alternative to conventional OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography). Their new Dynamic Full-Field Optical Coherence Microscopy (d-FF-OCM) system achieves higher resolution, non-invasive imaging deep within body tissues, a capability that is critical to understanding basic biological processes and advancing clinical diagnoses. Along with a BitFlow CXP frame grabber, the d-FF-OCM system employs an extremely bright, incoherent laser-pumped white light source providing ample intensity to biological samples under inspection.

Light is delivered to the microscope by a multimode fiber and sent to an interferometer composed of a 50/50 beamsplitter and two 100x oil immersion objectives. Additional system components include a transitional stage with stepper motor, a reference mirror mounted on a piezo stack, an NI DAQ card and the microscope.

Data acquisition

Data transfer plays a pivotal role in system performance. Biological image data is captured by an Adimec 2-megapixel CMOS camera that is managed and transferred by a BitFlow Cyton-CXP4 PCIe CoaXPress frame grabber . When all four of the frame grabber’s links were connected to the camera by separate coax cables, the scientists found it possible to transfer data at 25 Gbps with virtually no latency. Driven by the BitFlow CXP frame grabber, the system acquires 1440 × 1440 resolution images at 500 frames-per-second (fps) with a field-of-view of 173 µm × 173 µm, instead of the typical 100 fps in similar scanning systems. This allows frequency analysis to be extended from the standard 30-50Hz to 250Hz.

Faster dynamic processes resulted in the generation of fluorescence-like contrasted d-FF-OCM images that better separated structures within the biological samples for analysis. Once sent to the PC, data was analyzed in a customized LabVIEW application in real time. Each pixel is colored according to its relative spectral content and stacked into layers to create an RGB image. Tests on ex vivo mouse tissue, including liver and small intestines, demonstrated deep tissue high-resolution imaging free from coherent artifacts. The superior results underscore the value of the CXP interface in achieving extremely fast transfer rates from camera to PC.

The scientists believe that the d-FF-OCM system is poised to play a growing role in advancing personalized medicine, enabling earlier and more precise diagnostics and facilitating a deeper understanding of disease mechanisms.

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BitFlow and Advantech Develop Systems to Improve Quality, Reduce Waste and Increase Yield

Axion 4xB

September 18, 2025 – In the relentless pursuit for near-zero defects per million (DPM), many manufacturers are turning to Industrial Vision AI for fully automating their inspection processes. Unlike traditional machine vision that relies on rigid, rule-based systems, Vision AI has the agility to learn, adapt and handle day-to-day variability. Using high-resolution imaging technologies, AI algorithms, and real-time processing, Vision AI achieves precise, reliable defect detection for meeting rigorous global standards.
 
One sector aggressively deploying Vision AI is semiconductor fabrication. Manufacturing semiconductors involves multiple steps like deposition, etching, doping, and lithography. During each step, Vision AI is used to identify imperfections that could lead to downstream issues. Along with pinpointing scratches, pattern errors, or particles on wafers, Vision AI inspects etched features at the nanometer scale, verifies uniformity in material deposition, and confirms perfect metallization. For chips requiring soldering or bonding, Vision AI precisely monitors alignment in die bonding, wire bonding, and solder joints. Because of this, Vision AI has proven to improve yield and minimize costly waste.
 

Optical inspection

For more than a decade, Advantech has driven innovation in Vision AI. Its advanced systems are supercharged by AI Edge servers featuring Intel Xeon scalable processors and leveraging multiple NVIDIA GPU cards to accelerate inspection without compromising performance.
 
In 2023, we  became part of the Advantech family. Its CoaXPress (CXP) and Camera Link interface frame grabbers are now being deployed in Advantech Vision AI, taking these industry-leading systems to the next level in image acquisition. BitFlow frame grabbers are making it possible for Advantech Vision AI to capture and analyze ultra high-resolution images without experiencing latency or frame loss, even in multi-camera setups. BitFlow’s diverse range of frame grabbers also enables the configuration of modular and scalable Advantech Vision AI systems customized to a manufacturer’s unique processes.
 
Working example
As an example, let’s explore an Advantech Vision AI solution integrated into an optical inspection machine in a semiconductor fabrication plant. Components include:  

  • AI AOI Edge Inference system: Advantech HPC-6240 2U 20” Short-Depth Edge Accelerator Server and ASMB-622V3 5th/4th Generation Intel™ Xeon™ Scalable Proprietary Board supporting 8 expansion slots. 
  • Frame Grabber Card: BitFlow Axion Camera Link half-size x4 PCI Express Gen 2.0 frame grabber connected to multiple high-resolution Camera Link cameras 
  • GPU Card: NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada high-end professional graphics cards handle complex AI computations in visual inspections. 
  • Cameras: Axion-CL frame grabbers support as many as four Camera Link cameras in base, medium, full or 80-bit formats. CL cameras can be synchronized or completely independent, operating at speeds up to 85 MHz.

Faster throughput is possible by substituting the Camera Link interface components for a BitFlow Aon, Cyton or Claxon CoaXPress (CXP) frame grabber capable of accelerating transmission speeds to 12.5 Gb/s per link, depending on the model. BitFlow CXP frame grabbers work seamlessly with the Advantech AIR-030 AI Inference System Box based on the NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin, or the Advantech MIC-770 Compact Fanless System, or several other Advantech IPC options. 
 
Industrial Vision AI is revolutionizing modern manufacturing by providing a powerful tool for enhancing product quality and operational efficiency. Frame grabbers are a lynchpin in Vision AI, especially in real-time applications requiring latency-free, reliable data transfer.

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Vision AI is Transforming Automated Optical Inspection

WOBURN, MA, AUGUST 13, 2025 — In the relentless pursuit for near-zero defects per million (DPM), many manufacturers are turning to Industrial Vision AI for fully automating their inspection processes. Unlike traditional machine vision that relies on rigid, rule-based systems, Vision AI has the agility to learn, adapt and handle day-to-day variability. Using high-resolution imaging technologies, AI algorithms, and real-time processing, Vision AI provides precise, reliable defect detection for meeting rigorous global standards.

One sector aggressively deploying Vision AI is semiconductor fabrication. Manufacturing semiconductors involves multiple steps like deposition, etching, doping, and lithography. During each step, Vision AI is used to identify imperfections that could lead to downstream issues. Along with pinpointing scratches, pattern errors, or particles on wafers, Vision AI inspects etched features at the nanometer scale, verifies uniformity in material deposition, and confirms perfect metallization. For chips requiring soldering or bonding, Vision AI precisely monitors alignment in die bonding, wire bonding, and solder joints. Because of this, Vision AI has proven to improve yield and minimize costly waste.

OPTICAL INSPECTION

For more than a decade, Advantech has driven innovation in Vision AI. Its advanced systems are supercharged by AI Edge servers featuring Intel Xeon scalable processors and leveraging multiple NVIDIA GPU cards to accelerate inspection without compromising performance.

In 2023, we became part of the Advantech family. Our CoaXPress (CXP) and Camera Link interface frame grabbers are now being deployed in Advantech Vision AI, taking these industry-leading systems to the next level in image acquisition. BitFlow frame grabbers are making it possible for Advantech Vision AI to capture and analyze ultra high-resolution images without experiencing latency or frame loss, even in multi-camera setups. Our diverse range of frame grabbers also enables the configuration of modular and scalable Advantech Vision AI systems customized to a manufacturer’s unique processes.

WORKING EXAMPLE

As an example, let’s explore an Advantech Vision AI solution integrated into an optical inspection machine in a semiconductor fabrication plant. Components include:  

  • AI AOI Edge Inference system: Advantech HPC-6240 2U 20” Short-Depth Edge Accelerator Server and ASMB-622V3 5th/4th Generation Intel™ Xeon™ Scalable Proprietary Board supporting 8 expansion slots. 
  • Frame Grabber Card: Axion 4xB Camera Link half-size x4 PCI Express Gen 2.0 frame grabber connected to multiple high-resolution Camera Link cameras 
  • GPU Card: NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada high-end professional graphics cards handle complex AI computations in visual inspections. 
  • Cameras: Axion-CL frame grabbers support as many as four Camera Link cameras in base, medium, full or 80-bit formats. CL cameras can be synchronized or completely independent, operating at speeds up to 85 MHz.

Faster throughput is possible by substituting the Camera Link interface components for a BitFlow Aon™, Cyton™ or Claxon™ CoaXPress (CXP) frame grabber capable of accelerating transmission speeds to 12.5 Gb/s per link, depending on the model. BitFlow CXP frame grabbers work seamlessly with the Advantech AIR-030 AI Inference System Box based on the NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin, or the Advantech MIC-770 Compact Fanless System, or several other Advantech IPC options. 

Industrial Vision AI is revolutionizing modern manufacturing by providing a powerful tool for enhancing product quality and operational efficiency. Frame grabbers are a lynchpin in Vision AI, especially in real-time applications requiring latency-free, reliable data transfer.