VIB::TriggerOverEthernet Class Reference

Inheritance diagram for VIB::TriggerOverEthernet:

Detailed Description

This class represents the TriggerOverEthernet (ToE) module which allows the generation of GigE Action Commands.

The GigE Vision v1.1 (GenICam SFNC v1.3) specifies the Action Command message (ACTION_CMD) which can be used to trigger cameras.
The Action Command messages are generated in the ToE hardware without any influence from the operating system. This means that the trigger signal is carried to the camera(s) over the network without the need of a separate cable. The resulting jitter caused by the switching network is acceptable for most applications.

The Action Command message is implemented using UDP broadcast packets. Therefore, it is possible to trigger multiple cameras at the same time. Furthermore, the Action Command message contains key and mask values to trigger only specific cameras connected on the same network.
The ToE hardware allows the user to define different Action Commands (use GetNumberOfCommands() to get the maximum number of different commands). Every Action Command gets broadcasted on all Ethernet ports supporting the ToE feature.

Follow these steps to use the Action Command feature:

1. Check that the used camera supports the GigE Action Command feature.
2. Configure the following camera registers: Action Device Key, Action Group Key and Action Group Mask. Use the API from your camera manufacturer.
3. Prepare the VisionBox module with the selected parameters by calling ConfigureActionCommand().
4. Select the trigger signal which is used to generate the Action Command with ConfigureTriggerSource(). The signals are delivered from the Multiplexer.
5. Configure the camera to use the specified Action Command as trigger source.

The GigE specification defines the following behavior about the parameters:
The device asserts the selected action signal only if:

• the Action Device Key is equal to the key in the action command packet
• the Action Group Key is equal to the key in the action command packet
• the logical AND-wise operation of the Action Group Mask with the mask in the action command packet is non-zero

Example code

This example uses the following setup: Three compatible GigE cameras are connected to the Smart NIC with ToE support One camera is triggered by the first digital input Two cameras are triggered simultaneous by the second digital input The cameras have to be configured to use GigE Action Command as trigger with the parameters listed below // DigitalInput[0] triggers CommandID[0] > camera 0 // camera parameters are: // // CAM0> DeviceKey: 0xABCD // GroupKey: 0x1 // GroupMask: 0x1 // // DigitalInput[1] triggers CommandID[1] > camera 1 and 2 // camera parameters are: // // CAM1> DeviceKey: 0xABCD // GroupKey: 0x2 // GroupMask: 0x1 // CAM2> DeviceKey: 0xABCD // GroupKey: 0x2 // GroupMask: 0x1 // VIB::Multiplexer multiplexer; VIB::TriggerOverEthernet triggerOverEth; // Open devices: Multiplexer and ToE multiplexer.Open(); triggerOverEth.Open(); // Multiplexer: connect two digital inputs to the line 0 and 1 multiplexer.ConnectOutput(0, VIB::Multiplexer::MUX_SRC_DIG_IN0); multiplexer.ConnectOutput(1, VIB::Multiplexer::MUX_SRC_DIG_IN1); // ToE: // CommandID[0] triggerOverEth.ConfigureActionCommand(0, 0xABCD, 0x1, 0x1); triggerOverEth.ConfigureTriggerSource(0, VIB::TriggerOverEthernet::TOE_SRC_MUX_OUT0, false); // CommandID[1] triggerOverEth.ConfigureActionCommand(1, 0xABCD, 0x2, 0x1); triggerOverEth.ConfigureTriggerSource(1, VIB::TriggerOverEthernet::TOE_SRC_MUX_OUT1, false); Please note that error checking was removed to keep the code as simple as possible.

Public Types
enum	TOE_ACTIONCOMMAND_SOURCE
	The source signal definitions for the Action Command trigger, used by ConfigureTriggerSource() More...

Public Member Functions
bool	ConfigureActionCommand (const unsigned int CommandID, const unsigned int DeviceKey, unsigned int GroupKey, unsigned int GroupMask)
	Configures the GigE Action Command parameters for the given command ID.
bool	ConfigureTriggerSource (const unsigned int CommandID, const VIB::TriggerOverEthernet::TOE_ACTIONCOMMAND_SOURCE src, const bool Invert)
	Selects the source signal for the Action Command for the given command ID.
bool	GetNumberOfCommands (unsigned int &NumberOfCommands)
	Returns the number of supported Action Commands.
bool	Reset ()
	Resets the device to default settings.
bool	ResetActionCommand (const unsigned int CommandID)
	Disables and clears the configuration for the given command ID.
	TriggerOverEthernet ()
	Default constructor for the device object.
Public Member Functions inherited from VIB::iDevice
bool	Close ()
	Closes a device.
	iDevice (const iDevice &device)
	The copy constructor makes a copy of the existing device object.
bool	isOpen (bool &state)
	Returns the open state of a device object.
bool	Open (unsigned int Index=0)
	Opens a device.
iDevice &	operator= (const iDevice &device)
	The assignment operator makes a copy of the existing device object.
virtual	~iDevice ()
	Deletes the device object.

Member Enumeration Documentation

TOE_ACTIONCOMMAND_SOURCE

enum VIB::TriggerOverEthernet::TOE_ACTIONCOMMAND_SOURCE

The source signal definitions for the Action Command trigger, used by ConfigureTriggerSource()

Enumerator
TOE_SRC_MUX_OUT0	Multiplexer Output 0.
TOE_SRC_MUX_OUT1	Multiplexer Output 1.
TOE_SRC_MUX_OUT2	Multiplexer Output 2.
TOE_SRC_MUX_OUT3	Multiplexer Output 3.
TOE_SRC_MUX_OUT4	Multiplexer Output 4.
TOE_SRC_MUX_OUT5	Multiplexer Output 5.
TOE_SRC_MUX_OUT6	Multiplexer Output 6.
TOE_SRC_MUX_OUT7	Multiplexer Output 7.
TOE_SRC_MUX_OUT8	Multiplexer Output 8.
TOE_SRC_MUX_OUT9	Multiplexer Output 9.
TOE_SRC_MUX_OUT10	Multiplexer Output 10.
TOE_SRC_MUX_OUT11	Multiplexer Output 11.
TOE_SRC_MUX_OUT12	Multiplexer Output 12.
TOE_SRC_MUX_OUT13	Multiplexer Output 13.
TOE_SRC_MUX_OUT14	Multiplexer Output 14.
TOE_SRC_MUX_OUT15	Multiplexer Output 15.

Constructor & Destructor Documentation

TriggerOverEthernet()

VIB::TriggerOverEthernet::TriggerOverEthernet

(

)

Default constructor for the device object.

The device must be opened with Open() before it can be used.

Member Function Documentation

ConfigureActionCommand()

bool VIB::TriggerOverEthernet::ConfigureActionCommand	(	const unsigned int	CommandID,
		const unsigned int	DeviceKey,
		unsigned int	GroupKey,
		unsigned int	GroupMask )

Configures the GigE Action Command parameters for the given command ID.

Parameters

CommandID	Index of the Action Command, 0 ... (GetNumberOfCommands() - 1)
DeviceKey	GigE Action Device Key
GroupKey	GigE Action Group Key
GroupMask	GigE Action Group Mask

Returns

true for success, use VIBSystem::GetLastErrorString() for an error description

ConfigureTriggerSource()

bool VIB::TriggerOverEthernet::ConfigureTriggerSource	(	const unsigned int	CommandID,
		const VIB::TriggerOverEthernet::TOE_ACTIONCOMMAND_SOURCE	src,
		const bool	Invert )

Selects the source signal for the Action Command for the given command ID.

Parameters

CommandID	Index of the Action Command, 0 ... (GetNumberOfCommands() - 1)
src	Source signal
Invert	Polarity of the trigger signal for the Action Command

Returns

true for success, use VIBSystem::GetLastErrorString() for an error description

GetNumberOfCommands()

bool VIB::TriggerOverEthernet::GetNumberOfCommands

(

unsigned int &

NumberOfCommands

)

Returns the number of supported Action Commands.

Parameters

NumberOfCommands

Number of different Action Commands

Returns

true for success, use VIBSystem::GetLastErrorString() for an error description

Reset()

bool VIB::TriggerOverEthernet::Reset

(

)

Resets the device to default settings.

All GigE Action Commands are deactivated and the trigger source is set to Multiplexer output 0.

Returns

true for success, use VIBSystem::GetLastErrorString() for an error description

ResetActionCommand()

bool VIB::TriggerOverEthernet::ResetActionCommand

(

const unsigned int

CommandID

)

Disables and clears the configuration for the given command ID.

Parameters

CommandID

Index of the Action Command, 0 ... (GetNumberOfCommands() - 1)

Returns

true for success, use VIBSystem::GetLastErrorString() for an error description