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One of the major advantages of PCI Express cameras is the ability to interconnect with miscellaneous systems and form multi-camera setups.
This allows the creation of Embedded vision systems of exceptionally compact form factor and synchronize a high number of cameras in the most precise way.
For this purpose, they can utilize a plethora of accessories with a variety of connectors like:
PCIe Gen1, Gen2, Gen3 with x2, x4 or x8 lanes, iPass, MTP, Firefly, SFF-8644, Mini PCIe, M.2, flat flex ribbon USB cables, etc.
The portfolio of accessories serving as a means of aggregating different combinations of interfaces and camera models includes:
Adapter boards, Host adapters, converters, data, GPIO or power cables, Switches, carrier boards for NVIDIA Jetson GPU modules, etc.
Besides, being ideal for integration into miniature embedded platforms (UAV, SoC, etc.), the most popular applications contain 360 panorama layouts for area mapping or AR/VR purposes.
The cable length distances can reach up to 100m when using fiber optic options.
Here is a list of hyperlinks to product types mentioned in the connection examples section below:
1: PCIe Gen2 cameras - xiX line offers x2 and x4 lanes flex ribbon connection suitable for Embedded vision systems
2: PCIe Gen3 cameras - xiX-XL line and xiX-Xtreme offer x4 and x8 lanes connection for high resolution and fast speed applications
3: PCIe Flex line cables - x2 lanes and x4 lanes Flat ribbon cables with lengths from 10 to 50 cm
4: PCIe Adapters - Adapter boards overview of x2 and x4 lane options
5: iPass cables - PCIe Gen2 and PCIe Gen3 cables - copper type or fiber type of connection
6: Host Adapters - PCIe Gen2 and PCIe Gen3 bandwidth host adapters - copper type or fiber type of connection
7: Firefly cables - PCIe Gen3 x4 lanes flex ribbon copper cables
8: Fiber optic cables - MTP and SFF-8644 cables with Gen3 x4 or x8 lanes bandwidth
9: GPU carrier boards - NVIDIA Jetson module carriers for TX2, NX (Orin or Xavier) and overall support for AGX Xavier and Nano Dev Kits
10: xSwitch platform - Switch boards for aggregation of multiple cameras (various models) into a customizable setup
Note: All of the setup options below additionally require a Power supply and Power cable.
It helps with triggering and synchronization
Use the products from the above list, numbers: 1 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6
PCIe camera + flex cable + adapter board + iPass cable + host adapter
Use the products from the above list, numbers: 1 + 3 + 9
PCIe cameras + flex cables + NVIDIA Jetson carrier board
Use the products from the above list, numbers: 1 + 3 + 10
PCIe cameras + flex cables + xSwitch platform + iPass cable + host adapter
Use the products from the above list, numbers: 1 + 3
Flex ribbon cable + PCIe Gen2 x2 lanes camera - FL orientation
Flex ribbon cable + PCIe Gen2 x4 lanes camera - FV orientation
Use the products from the above list, numbers: 2 + 7 + 6
PCIe camera + Firefly cable + host adapter
Use the products from the above list, numbers: 2 + 8 + 6
PCIe camera + Backside adapter + IO Power cable + MTP cable + MTP host adapter
PCIe camera + Dongle adapter + MTP cable + MTP host adapter
Use the products from the above list, numbers: 2 + 8 + 6
PCIe camera + SFF-8644 cable + IO Power cable + SFF-8644 host adapter
PCIe / MX adapters datasheet
Flat ribbon cables datasheet
Diagram of connections
xSWITCH platform datasheet
xEC2 carrier board datasheet
MTP fiber optic cable datasheet
Firefly - How to connect cameras using copper cable (up to 3m) setup
MTP - How to connect cameras using fiber optic MTP cable (up to 100m) setup
SFF-8644 - How to connect cameras using fiber optic SFF-8644 cable (up to 100m) setup
