Configuring the Frame Grabber
The Silicon Software frame grabber families offer differing functionality.
Check which frame grabber family your frame grabber belongs to, and open the according documentation via the link below.
To configure the image processing FPGA of microEnable IV frame grabbers, you simply need to load the applet you want to use in microDisplay X.
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the frame grabber
offers
You can configure the FPGA with any of the applets that are available on partitions 1 to 7 of the frame grabber without re-flashing the board.
Which Applets are Available?
To see which applets are flashed onto the frame grabber:
- Start the tool microDiagnostics (e.g., directly out of the installation directory [runtime installation directory]/bin/microDiagnostics.exe).
In the microDiagnostics program window that opens:
- Select the the frame grabber device you want to install the applet(s) on.
- Click the button Manage Firmware/Applet(s).
In the lower part of the program window, the applet
List of applets available on the frame grabber
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Applet not Available? |
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If the applet you want to use for configuring the FPGA is not available on partitions 1 - 7, you need to flash this applet onto the frame grabber. Refer to section Installing an Applet on the Frame Grabber. |
The applets are marked as follows:
Symbol | Meaning |
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This is the currently active applet, i.e., the applet the frame grabber is configured with at the moment. |
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The frame grabber will be configured with this applet at system start (boot partition). 1 |
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This applet is available in the file system (in the same version). No newer version available in the file system. |
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This applet is not available in the file system (or in another version than the one that is flashed on the frame grabber). |
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This is the Safe Configuration. It's a fall back option. In case a problem occurs with the active configuration (i.e., during flashing) , the frame grabber uses this configuration. The Safe Configuration is always stored on partition 0. |
If you want to configure the FPGA on the frame grabber with another applet than the one market with (the currently active applet), proceed as follows:
- Right-click into the line listing the applet you want to use for FPGA configuration.
- From the context menu, select Activate Now.
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Crash Protection Feature |
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If you encounter problems during FPGA configuration, refer to Crash Protection. |
If your host PC supports live reconfiguration2 of the FPGA (see chipset lists below), you get one of the following messages (A, B or C):
A) Please restart all applications using the board.
You need to restart the applications:
- Close all applications of the Silicon Software runtime environment (microDisplay/microDisplay X, microDiagnostics, GenICam Explorer).
After re-opening the runtime programs, the programs will provide access to the applet you just defined to be the active one. You can continue with configuring the applet via microDisplay X (see Initial System Test) or via SDK.
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PCs supporting Live Reconfiguration, Behavior A |
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High-end mainboards with server level chipset support this behavior. The following chipsets are known to support FPGA live configuration without reboot in some mainboards:
We do not guarantee behaviour A with the aforementioned chipsets. |
B) You should reboot your computer for the changes to be completed.
Reboot your host PC for PCI performance:After selecting the new applet to be the active one, the PCI speed isreduced3. To get the full PCI bandwidth4when using this applet, you need to reboot your host PC.
- Reboot your host PC to get the full PCI bandwidth.
After re-boot, you get the full bandwidth on the PCI interface. The runtime programs will provide access to the applet. You can continue with configuring this applet via microDisplay X (see Initial System Test) or via SDK.
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PCs supporting Live Reconfiguration, Behavior B |
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High-end mainboards with server level chipset support this behavior. The following chipsets are known to support FPGA live configuration without reboot in some mainboards:
We do not guarantee behaviour B with the aforementioned chipsets. |
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Possible Effects of Activating a Partition |
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Activating a partition (i.e., reconfiguring the FPGA with a new applet) on the frame grabber board will result in the following system behavior if the Siso Generic Service (gs) is used to manage camera connections:
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To configure the FPGA of mE5 ironman boards with a new applet, you need to re-flash the frame grabber:
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Individual Applets |
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If you got an individual applet not in form of an installer, but as a single *.hap file from an external source: Make sure the applet has come to you in a *.zip archive. The applet file (*.hap) has to be transferred from the VisualApplet developers machine savely protected in a *.zip archive. Otherwise, it may get corrupted under way. microDiagnostics will tell you when the applet has become corrupted. In this case, get an uncorrupted version of the applet (*.hap) file you intend to use, and re-flash the frame grabber. |
Requirements
Before you can flashthe frame grabberwith an applet file (*.hap or *.dll), you need to have this file available in the file system of your host PC:
- Standard Acquisition Applets that come as part of the runtime (*.dll files) you have probably installed together with the runtime. They need to be stored in [runtime installation directory]/DLL.
- If you want to flash individual applets (*.hap files), copy them into [runtime installation directory]/Hardware Applets (as described in sectionAdding an Applet Manually).
To install an applet on the frame grabber:
- Close microDisplay if open and make sure no instance of microDisplay is open on your system.
- Start the tool microDiagnostics (e.g., directly out of the installation directory:
[runtime installation directory]/bin/microDiagnostics.exe
)
In the microDiagnostics program window that opens:
- Select the the frame grabber device you want to install the applet on:
- Click the button
Manage Firmware and Applets.
The applet that is currently flashed onto the board is displayed:
- To flash the board with another applet, click on the search button
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In the dialog Select new Firmware, all applets that are available for the board in your runtime installation are displayed:
- Select the applet you want to flash the board with, and click Open.
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Cannot See the Applet You Want to Flash? |
If you want to flash an applet (*.hap file) onto the frame grabber, you need to have it available in the file system of your host PC .
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The selected applet is now displayed in microDiagnostics. It is highlighed in yellow to show that it has been selected, but is not flashed yet.
To actually flash the applet to the SPI/BPI flash memory on the frame grabber:
- Click the Flash Now button
.
The Flash Dialog opens.
- Check if stated selected board and applet are the ones you intend to flash.
- Click on Flash.
The flashing Process is started now:
As soon as the flashing process is finished, you get the message Flashing is complete in the Flash Dialog:
- To complete flashing, follow the instructions the Flash Dialog displays:
The applet that has been flashed and is available now in the SPI/BPI flash memory of the frame grabber is displayed in microDiagnostics:
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Possible Effects of Flashing |
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Flashing on the frame grabber board will result in the following system behavior if the Siso Generic Service (gs) is used to manage camera connections:
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