NI PCIe-1429 User manual

NI Vision
NI PCIe-1429 User Manual
Base, Medium, and Full Configuration Camera Link Image Acquisition Device
NI PCIe-1429 User Manual
July 2006
372015A-01

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Determining FCC Class
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This equipment generates and uses radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in strict accordance with the instructions
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Conventions
The following conventions are used in this manual:
»The »symbol leads you through nested menu items and dialog box options
to a final action. The sequence File»Page Setup»Options directs you to
pull down the File menu, select the Page Setup item, and select Options
from the last dialog box.
This icon denotes a note, which alerts you to important information.
bold Bold text denotes items that you must select or click in the software, such
as menu items and dialog box options. Bold text also denotes parameter
names.
italic Italic text denotes variables, emphasis, a cross-reference, or an introduction
to a key concept. Italic text also denotes text that is a placeholder for a word
or value that you must supply.
monospace Text in this font denotes text or characters that you should enter from the
keyboard, sections of code, programming examples, and syntax examples.
This font is also used for the proper names of disk drives, paths, directories,
programs, subprograms, subroutines, device names, functions, operations,
variables, filenames, and extensions.

©National Instruments Corporation vii NI PCIe-1429 User Manual
Contents
Chapter 1
Introduction
Camera Link ..................................................................................................................1-2
Overview .........................................................................................................1-2
Software Overview ........................................................................................................1-3
NI-IMAQ Driver Software ..............................................................................1-3
National Instruments Application Software ....................................................1-4
Vision Builder for Automated Inspection.........................................1-4
Vision Development Module ............................................................1-4
Integration with DAQ and Motion Control .....................................................1-5
Chapter 2
Hardware Overview
Functional Overview......................................................................................................2-1
Camera Link and the NI 1429 .........................................................................2-2
Hardware Binarization.....................................................................................2-3
Multiple-Tap Data Formatter ..........................................................................2-4
Trigger Control and Mapping Circuitry ..........................................................2-4
Noise Filtering...................................................................................2-4
Quadrature Encoder Support ...........................................................................2-4
Noise Filtering...................................................................................2-5
High-Speed Timing .........................................................................................2-5
Acquisition and Region of Interest (ROI) .......................................................2-5
Acquisition Window Control ..........................................................................2-5
DMA Controllers.............................................................................................2-6
PCIe Interface..................................................................................................2-6
Start Conditions ...............................................................................................2-6
Serial Interface.................................................................................................2-7
Chapter 3
Signal Connections
Connectors .....................................................................................................................3-1
MDR 26-Pin Connector...................................................................................3-2
SMB Connector...............................................................................................3-2
Cabling ............................................................................................................3-2
Ordering Information ........................................................................3-3

Contents
NI PCIe-1429 User Manual viii ni.com
Appendix A
Technical Support and Professional Services
Glossary
Index

©National Instruments Corporation 1-1 NI PCIe-1429 User Manual
1
Introduction
The NI PCIe-1429 is a highly flexible image acquisition device that
supports Base, Medium, and Full configuration Camera Link-compatible
cameras. The NI 1429 acquires digital images in real time and transfers
them directly to system memory. Featuring a high-speed data path, the
NI 1429 is ideal for both industrial and scientific environments.
The NI 1429 is easy to install and configure. It ships with NI-IMAQ, the
National Instruments driver software that is used to directly control the
NI 1429 and other National Instruments image acquisition devices. With
NI-IMAQ, you can start your applications without having to program the
device at the register level. Refer to Getting Started with the NI PCIe-1429
and NI PCIe-1430 for information about installing the NI 1429.
Camera files configure the NI 1429 with information about the output
format of your camera. Camera files validated by National Instruments are
installed with the NI-IMAQ driver software. Additional camera files are
available for download from the National Instruments Industrial Camera
Advisor Web site at ni.com/camera.
The MDR 26-pin connectors on the NI 1429 provide the connection to
Camera Link-compatible cameras. For further configuration information,
refer to the Camera Link and the NI 1429 section of Chapter 2, Hardware
Overview.
The NI 1429 has one I/O line on its front panel. Additional I/O lines for
advanced triggering, pulse-train outputs, and isolated DIO are available
with the NI Camera Link I/O Extension Board. The I/O Extension Board
also can be used for interfacing to a quadrature encoder. Refer to the
NI Camera Link I/O Extension Board User Guide for information about the
I/O Extension Board.
For more advanced digital or analog system triggering or digital I/O lines,
you can use the NI 1429 and NI-IMAQ with the National Instruments Data
Acquisition (DAQ) or Motion Control product lines.
Synchronizing several functions to a common trigger or timing event can
be a challenge with image acquisition devices. The NI 1429 uses the
Real-Time System Integration (RTSI) bus to synchronize multiple devices,

Chapter 1 Introduction
NI PCIe-1429 User Manual 1-2 ni.com
such as data acquisition and motion control devices. The RTSI bus uses the
National Instrument RTSI bus interface and ribbon cable to route additional
timing and trigger signals between the NI 1429 and up to four National
Instruments DAQ, Motion Control, or Vision devices. The RTSI bus also
can synchronize multiple image acquisition devices to perform
simultaneous captures.
Refer to the Specifications section of Getting Started with the
NI PCIe-1429 and NI PCIe-1430 for detailed specifications of the NI 1429.
Camera Link
This section provides a brief overview of the Camera Link standard. Refer
to the Specifications of the Camera Link Interface Standard for Digital
Cameras and Frame Grabbers manual for more detailed information about
Camera Link specifications. This manual is available on several Web sites,
including the Automated Imaging Association site at
www.machinevisiononline.org.
Overview
Developed by a consortium of camera and image acquisition device
manufacturers, Camera Link is a standard for interfacing digital cameras
with image acquisition devices. Camera Link simplifies connectivity
between the image acquisition device and the camera by defining a single
standard connector for both. This standard ensures physical compatibility
of devices bearing the Camera Link logo.
The basis for the Camera Link standard is the National Semiconductor
Channel Link chipset, a data transmission method consisting of a
general-purpose transmitter/receiver pair. The Channel Link driver takes
28 bits of parallel digital data and a clock and serializes the stream to
four LVDS (EIA-644) data streams and an LVDS clock, providing
high-speed data transmission across 10 wires and over distances of up
to 10 m.

Chapter 1 Introduction
©National Instruments Corporation 1-3 NI PCIe-1429 User Manual
Software Overview
Programming the NI 1429 requires the NI-IMAQ driver software to control
the hardware. National Instruments also offers the following application
software packages for analyzing and processing your acquired images.
•NI Vision Builder for Automated Inspection—Allows you to
configure solutions to common inspection tasks.
•NI Vision Development Module—Provides customized control over
hardware and algorithms.
The following sections provide an overview of the driver and application
software. For detailed information about individual software packages,
refer to the documentation specific to each software package.
NI-IMAQ Driver Software
The NI 1429 ships with NI Vision Acquisition Software, which includes
the NI-IMAQ driver software. NI-IMAQ has an extensive library of
functions—such as routines for video configuration, continuous and single
shot image acquisition, memory buffer allocation, trigger control, and
device configuration—you can call from the application development
environment (ADE). NI-IMAQ handles many of the complex issues
between the computer and the image acquisition device, such as
programming interrupts and camera control.
NI-IMAQ performs all functions required for acquiring and saving images
but does not perform image analysis. Refer to the National Instruments
Application Software section for image analysis functionality.
NI-IMAQ also provides the interface between the NI 1429 and LabVIEW,
LabWindows™/CVI™, or a text-based programming environment. The
NI-IMAQ software kit includes a series of libraries for image acquisition
for LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, and Measurement Studio, which
contains libraries for Microsoft Visual Basic.
NI-IMAQ features both high-level and low-level functions. Examples
of high-level functions include the sequences to acquire images in
multi-buffer, single-shot, or continuous mode. An example of a low-level
function is configuring an image sequence, since it requires advanced
understanding of image acquisition.

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NI PCIe-1429 User Manual 1-4 ni.com
National Instruments Application Software
This section describes the National Instruments application software
packages you can use to analyze and process the images you acquire with
the NI 1429.
Vision Builder for Automated Inspection
NI Vision Builder for Automated Inspection (Vision Builder AI) is
configurable machine vision software that you can use to prototype,
benchmark, and deploy applications. Vision Builder AI does not require
programming, but is scalable to powerful programming environments.
Vision Builder AI allows you to easily configure and benchmark a
sequence of visual inspection steps, as well as deploy the visual inspection
system for automated inspection. With Vision Builder AI, you can perform
powerful visual inspection tasks and make decisions based on the results
of individual tasks. You also can migrate the configured inspection to
LabVIEW, extending the capabilities of the applications if necessary.
Vision Development Module
NI Vision Development Module, which consists of NI Vision and
NI Vision Assistant, is an image acquisition, processing, and analysis
library of more than 270 functions for the following common machine
vision tasks:
• Pattern matching
• Particle analysis
•Gauging
• Taking measurements
• Grayscale, color, and binary image display
You can use the Vision Development Module functions individually or
in combination. With the Vision Development Module, you can acquire,
display, and store images, as well as perform image analysis and
processing. Using the Vision Development Module, imaging novices and
experts can program the most basic or complicated image applications
without knowledge of particular algorithm implementations.
As a part of the Vision Development Module, NI Vision Assistant is an
interactive prototyping tool for machine vision and scientific imaging
developers. With Vision Assistant, you can prototype vision applications
quickly and test how various image processing functions work.

Chapter 1 Introduction
©National Instruments Corporation 1-5 NI PCIe-1429 User Manual
Vision Assistant generates a Builder file, which is a text description
containing a recipe of the machine vision and image processing functions.
This Builder file provides a guide you can use for developing applications
in any ADE, such as LabWindows/CVI or Visual Basic, using the Vision
Assistant machine vision and image processing libraries. Using the
LabVIEW VI creation wizard, Vision Assistant can create LabVIEW VIs
that perform the prototype you created in Vision Assistant. You can then
use LabVIEW to add functionality to the generated VI.
Integration with DAQ and Motion Control
Platforms that support NI-IMAQ also support NI-DAQ and a variety of
National Instruments data acquisition (DAQ) devices. This allows for
integration between image acquisition and DAQ devices.
Use National Instruments high-performance stepper and servo motion
control products with pattern matching software in inspection and guidance
applications, such as locating alignment markers on semiconductor wafers,
guiding robotic arms, inspecting the quality of manufactured parts, and
locating cells.

©National Instruments Corporation 2-1 NI PCIe-1429 User Manual
2
Hardware Overview
This chapter provides an overview of NI 1429 hardware functionality and
explains the operations of the functional units on the device.
Functional Overview
The NI 1429 features a flexible, high-speed data path optimized for
receiving and formatting video data from Camera Link cameras.
The following block diagram illustrates the key functional components of
the NI 1429.
Figure 2-1. NI 1429 Block Diagram
UART
Data
Enables
Pixel
Clock
Data
Enables
Pixel
Clock
Host Bus
Serial Control
Serial Control
Enables
Pixel
Clock
Medium
Configuration
Reciever
Full
Configuration
Reciever
Host
Interface
and
Scatter-Gather
DMA
Controllers
26-Pin MDR Connector
Enables
Pixel
Clock
Base
Configuration
Receiver
SMB
Trigger
Connector
Camera Control
Acquisition,
Region of
Interest, and
Triggering
50-Pin
I/O Extension
Board
Connector
34-Pin
RTSI
Connector
Advanced
Timing
26-Pin MDR Connector
Multiple Tap
Data Formatter
Data

Chapter 2 Hardware Overview
NI PCIe-1429 User Manual 2-2 ni.com
Camera Link and the NI 1429
The NI 1429 supports Camera Link Base, Medium, and Full
configurations.
The Camera Link specifications include up to 64 data bits, enable signals,
and asynchronous serial transmission, as well as four digital camera control
lines for controlling exposure time, frame rates, and other camera control
signals. The four control lines are configured in the camera file to generate
precise timing signals for controlling digital camera acquisition.
The Camera Link standard defines physical connections between image
acquisition devices and Camera Link cameras, and it allows for flexibility
of image format and data transfer protocols. The camera manufacturer
defines image parameters, such as image resolution and the number of bits
per pixel, and camera control parameters, such as frame-on-demand and
exposure control signals.
These variable parameters are defined on a per-camera basis in a camera
file (camera_model.icd) supplied by National Instruments. NI-IMAQ
uses the information in this camera file to program the NI 1429 to acquire
images from a specific camera. Without this camera file, the driver does not
have the information necessary to configure the NI 1429 to recognize the
image format of the particular camera you are using.
The three Camera Link configurations have the following bit allocations
and number of taps:
Table 2-1. Camera Link Bit Allocations and Taps
Base
Configuration
Medium
Configuration
Full
Configuration
Bit Allocation
and Taps
8-bit × 1, 2, or 3 taps
(pixels)
10-bit × 1 or 2 taps
12-bit × 1 or 2 taps
14-bit × 1 tap
16-bit × 1 tap
24-bit RGB
8-bit × 4 taps
10-bit × 3 or 4 taps
12-bit × 3 or 4 taps
30-bit RGB
36-bit RGB
8-bit × 8 taps

Chapter 2 Hardware Overview
©National Instruments Corporation 2-3 NI PCIe-1429 User Manual
Medium and Full configurations require using both connectors. These
configurations allow for more data throughput by offering multiple
synchronized data channels between the camera and the NI 1429.
Hardware Binarization
The NI 1429 supports binarization and inverse binarization. Binarization
and inverse binarization segment an image into two regions: a particle
region and a background region. Use binarization and inverse binarization
to isolate objects of interest in an image.
To separate objects under consideration from the background, select a pixel
value range. This pixel value range is known as the gray-level interval, or
the threshold interval. Binarization works by setting all image pixels that
fall within the threshold interval to the image white value and setting all
other image pixels to 0. Pixels inside the threshold interval are considered
part of the particle region. Pixels outside the threshold interval are
considered part of the background region.
Inverse binarization flips the assigned bit numbers of the particle region and
the background region. Thus, all pixels that belong in the threshold interval,
or the particle region, are set to 0, and all pixels outside the threshold
interval, or the background region, are set to the image white value.
The following figure illustrates binarization and inverse binarization.
Figure 2-2. Binarization and Inverse Binarization
NORMAL
Stored Value
Sampled Data
INVERSE
Stored Value
Sampled Data

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NI PCIe-1429 User Manual 2-4 ni.com
Multiple-Tap Data Formatter
Many digital cameras transfer multiple taps, or pixels, of data
simultaneously to increase the frame rate of the camera. However, the data
in each tap may not be transferred in the traditional top-left to bottom-right
direction. Also, the taps may not transfer data in the same direction.
The multiple-tap data formatting circuitry on the NI 1429 can reorder the
data from multiple taps. The data from each tap can be independently
scanned either from left-to-right or right-to-left and top-to-bottom or
bottom-to-top.
Note Data reformatting instructions for cameras have been preprogrammed into the
camera files.
Trigger Control and Mapping Circuitry
The trigger control and mapping circuitry routes, monitors, and drives the
external and RTSI bus trigger lines. You can configure each trigger line to
start an acquisition on a rising edge or a falling edge. You also can drive
each line asserted or unasserted as a digital I/O line. You can map pulses
from the high-speed timing circuitry or the NI 1429 status signals to these
trigger lines. Seven RTSI bus triggers and one external trigger—all of
which are programmable for polarity and direction—are available for
simultaneous use. Additional I/O is available with the NI Camera Link I/O
Extension Board.
Noise Filtering
Noise filtering is available for all TTL inputs and RTSI inputs. Refer to the
NI-IMAQ Function Reference Help for more information about noise
filtering.
Quadrature Encoder Support
The NI 1429 supports RS-422 and singled-ended phase signal decoding
from a quadrature encoder. The Phase A and Phase B outputs from the
quadrature encoder can be interfaced with the NI 1429 through the
NI Camera Link I/O Extension Board.
Refer to the Connecting to a Quadrature Encoder section of the NI Camera
Link I/O Extension Board User Guide for more information on connecting
to and using onboard quadrature counters.

Chapter 2 Hardware Overview
©National Instruments Corporation 2-5 NI PCIe-1429 User Manual
The NI 1429 provides a 64-bit counter to maintain a precise record of an
absolute position determined by the encoder inputs. To generate a pulse
train that is based on positional ticks, you can set a unique divide down
factor. This pulse train is commonly used as a trigger for a line scan camera
when performing a web inspection. The NI 1429 also supports querying the
absolute position counter value.
Noise Filtering
Noise filtering is available for the Phase A and Phase B encoder inputs.
Refer to the NI-IMAQ Function Reference Help for more information about
noise filtering.
High-Speed Timing
Built from high-speed counters, the timing circuitry on the NI 1429 can
generate precise real-time control signals for your camera. Map the output
of this circuitry to a trigger line to provide accurate pulses and pulse trains.
Use these control signals to control exposure time and frame rate.
Note The external control for cameras has been preprogrammed into the camera file. You
can use Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX) to specify the frequency and
duration of these signals in easy-to-use units.
Acquisition and Region of Interest (ROI)
The acquisition and ROI circuitry monitors incoming video signals and
routes the active pixels to the multiple-tap data formatter. The NI 1429 can
perform ROI acquisitions on all video lines and frames. In an ROI
acquisition, select an area within the acquisition window to transfer across
the host bus to system memory. If the area of the image you need is smaller
than the camera output that appears in the acquisition window, selecting an
ROI speeds up the transfer and processing times for the image.
Note You can use MAX to set the acquisition and ROI parameters.
Acquisition Window Control
You can configure the following parameters on the NI 1429 to control the
video acquisition window:
•Acquisition window—The NI 1429 allows you to specify a particular
region of active pixels and active lines within the incoming video data.
The active pixel region selects the starting pixel and number of pixels
to be acquired relative to the assertion edge of the horizontal (or line)

Chapter 2 Hardware Overview
NI PCIe-1429 User Manual 2-6 ni.com
enable signal from the camera. The active line region selects the
starting line and number of lines to be acquired relative to the assertion
edge of the vertical (or frame) enable signal.
•Region of interest—The NI 1429 uses a second level of active pixel
and active line regions for selecting a region of interest. Using the
region-of-interest circuitry, the device acquires only a selected subset
of the acquisition window.
DMA Controllers
The NI 1429 uses onboard direct memory access (DMA) controllers to
transfer data between the device and host memory. Each of these
controllers supports scatter-gather DMA, which allows the DMA controller
to reconfigure at runtime. The NI 1429 can perform continuous image
transfers directly to either contiguous or fragmented memory buffers. The
NI-IMAQ driver software efficiently programs the DMA engines while
providing an easy-to-use high-level interface.
PCIe Interface
The NI 1429 is compliant with PCI Express 1.0a specifications. The
NI 1429 is intended for a x4 PCIe slot. It does not fit properly into a x1
PCIe slot. However, the NI 1429 does fit into, and can be used in, a x8 or
x16 PCIe slot. Using a smaller width device in a larger width slot is called
up-plugging. When up-plugging, some motherboards only support plug-in
devices at the x1 data rate. If you plan to use the NI 1429 in an up-plugging
configuration, with a camera that produces data faster than 200 MB/s,
verify with your computer manufacturer that your motherboard supports a
x4 plug-in device at a x4 data rate in the PC expansion slot you plan to use.
Start Conditions
The NI 1429 can start acquisitions in the following ways:
•Software control—The NI 1429 supports software control of
acquisition start. You can configure the NI 1429 to capture a fixed
number of frames. Use this configuration for capturing a single frame
or a sequence of frames.
•Trigger control—You can start an acquisition by enabling external or
RTSI bus trigger lines. Each of these inputs can start a video
acquisition on a rising edge or a falling edge.

Chapter 2 Hardware Overview
©National Instruments Corporation 2-7 NI PCIe-1429 User Manual
Serial Interface
The NI 1429 provides serial communication to and from the camera
through two LVDS pairs in the Camera Link cable. All Camera Link serial
communication uses one start bit, one stop bit, no parity, and no hardware
handshaking.
The NI 1429 supports the following baud rates: 115200, 56000, 38400,
19200, 9600, 7200, 4800, 3600, 2400, 2000, 1800, 1200, 600, and 300 bps.
You can use the serial interface interactively with MAX, clsercon.exe,
or a manufacturer supplied camera control utility, or programmatically with
LabVIEW and C.
Interactively:
•MAX—Use MAX with a camera file containing preprogrammed
commands. When an acquisition is initiated, the commands are sent to
the camera.
•clsercon.exe—Use the National Instruments terminal emulator for
Camera Link, clsercon.exe, if a camera file with preprogrammed
serial commands does not exist for your camera. With
clsercon.exe, you can still communicate serially with your camera.
From the <NI-IMAQ>\bin directory, access clsercon.exe.
•Manufacturer Supplied Camera Control Utility—Camera
manufacturers who are compliant with the Camera Link 1.1 or later
specification provide a camera control utility which sends the
appropriate serial commands for configuring your camera through the
NI 1429 serial port.
Programmatically:
•LabVIEW—Use the serial interface programmatically, through calls
to the NI-IMAQ driver using the IMAQ Serial Write and IMAQ Serial
Read VIs. Access these files from the <LabVIEW>\vi.lib\vision\
driver\imaqll.llb directory.
•C—Use the serial interface programmatically, through calls to the
NI-IMAQ driver using the imgSessionSerialWrite and
imgSessionSerialRead functions.
Note clsercon.exe, IMAQ Serial Write, IMAQ Serial Read,
imgSessionSerialWrite, and imgSessionSerialRead are used for direct manual
access of the NI 1429 serial port and are not required for most users.

Chapter 2 Hardware Overview
NI PCIe-1429 User Manual 2-8 ni.com
National Instruments also fully supports the recommended serial API
described in the Specifications of the Camera Link Interface Standard for
Digital Cameras and Frame Grabbers manual. This manual is available on
several Web sites, including the Automated Imaging Association Web site
at www.machinevisiononline.org.