Ethernet Evolution – 10 Gigabit Ethernet

Fancy Wang 12/31 2019

The following content comes from FLIR Systems Inc.John Phillips

The new standard in single-link interface speed, 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GigE), enables users to take full advantage of the latest generation of high-performance sensors with their higher resolution, frame rates, bit depth and dynamic range.

10 GigE cameras are also fast to set up. With the latest generation of consumer motherboards supporting 10 GigE, all you need is a camera and a cable. There’s no complicated link aggregation to set up, and unlike Camera Link or CoaXpress, there’s no need for frame grabbers or additional interface cards.

The 10 Gigabit Ethernet interface builds on proven GigE Vision technology to keep bandwidth and CPU usage low. In our tests, a free-running 10 GigE camera consumed only about 15% of the maximum load of an Intel i7-6700 CPU. 

Reliable

Image data is only useful once it arrives in host memory. 10 Gigabit Ethernet offers packet resend to prevent data loss by detecting and correcting errors in real-time. By contrast, Camera Link requires expensive cables to manage bit errors. 

Lower Cost

In addition to being faster and easier than single lane Camera Link and CXP-6 CoaXpress interfaces, 10 Gigabit Ethernet over CAT6A is much less expensive. By maintaining GigE Vision compatibility, 10 GigE cameras eliminate the need for expensive frame grabbers.

Camera Link, CoaXpress, and optical fiber installations require expensive premade cables. Using CAT6A cables with the familiar RJ45 connector allows for quick and easy field termination. With 10 GigE, you always get the perfect length of cable, so you only pay for the length you need. Inexpensive cabling reduces the lifecycle cost of CAT6A installations by lowering maintenance expenses compared to Camera Link, CoaXpress and SFP+/Fiber.

Low Latency

The superior speed of 10 Gigabit Ethernet delivers a significant reduction in latency compared to gigabit hardware, which includes IP forwarding steps that introduce 50-125 μs of latency. 10 Gigabit Ethernet reduces latency to just 5-50 μs, making it ideal for lag-free, real-time video applications such as motion-tracking, conferencing, and telemedicine. 

Efficient

10 Gigabit Ethernet leverages continual advancement in semiconductor manufacturing. Substantial and ongoing improvements in Physical Layer (PHY) power efficiency have been achieved as processes continue to shrink from greater than 60nm to 28nm, and ultimately to 14nm and lower.

10 Gigabit Ethernet auto-negotiation protocols can also scale power dynamically, based on cable length. With cables less than 7m long, the signal-to-noise ratio is high enough to disable some of the PHY’s signal processing features. This reduces power dissipation to as little as 1.5W per port—that’s just 1W more than SFP+ with the same length optical cable.

Widely Adopted

10GBASE-T has been widely adopted in the IT industry, and has proven every bit as reliable as the 1000BASE-T systems that came before. As this standard enters the consumer space, the install base is set to expand even faster. The 10GBASE-T platform used by 10 Gigabit Ethernet is a fully IEEE-compliant technology standard, ensuring interoperability between switches, motherboards, interface cards, cables, and cameras. This interoperability, combined with familiarity, ease of use, and low cost, has nurtured a healthy and growing ecosystem of standard-compliant 10GBASE-T products. 

Using technology developed to enable 10 Gigabit Ethernet, the NBASE-T alliance is now working with the IEEE to develop and standardize 2.5 and 5 Gigabit Ethernet over CAT5e cables. 10 GigE cameras will be fully compatible with these emerging technologies, offering even greater flexibility and potential cost savings.

Easy Setup

The latest generation of high-resolution sensors is pushing interface bandwidths to their limits. In response, some camera manufacturers have turned to complicated link aggregation systems, latency compression, and short, buffered bursts. The superior bandwidth of 10 Gigabit Ethernet eliminates the need for these workarounds, delivering high resolution, high dynamic range images at high frame rates and extremely low latency, all over a single cable. 

GigE Vision compliant

10 Gigabit Ethernet is fully compatible with GigE Vision hardware and software.

10 Gigabit Ethernet’s GenICam support gives out of box compatibility with third-party libraries. The GenICam standard accelerates vision application development by providing users with intuitive feature naming and guaranteed interoperability with other GenICam compliant products.

Cable Length up to 100m

CAT6A cabling allows for 10 GigE speeds at cable lengths up to 100m without repeaters, hubs or optical fiber extensions. By contrast, CXP-6 CoaXpress is limited to 68m, while Camera Link is limited to just 10m. CAT6A cables are also easily field terminated using shielded 10Gig connectors, simplifying large scale installations.

Backward Compatibility

10 Gigabit Ethernet devices on Gigabit Ethernet hardware will automatically step down to gigabit speed. This backward compatibility enables a simple upgrade path. The introduction of 2.5 and 5 Gigabit Ethernet over CAT5e will provide even greater flexibility in the upgrade path to 10 GigE. 

The Future of 10 GigE

For quality inspection systems, higher bandwidth interfaces are always an attractive prospect because they allow high resolution without sacrificing frame rate in the performance of precise inspection. Further, with an increased frame rate, a system becomes more cost-effective because inspection through-put is faster.

It is not surprising then to note that some of the highest data throughput cameras on the market today are those used in quality inspection systems. Predominately based on the Camera Link protocol, these cameras provide maximum throughput rates between 4.08 Gigabits per second (Gbps) and 6.12 Gbps, depending on whether Camera Link medium or full configurations are used.

With higher bit rates becoming the norm for inspection systems, 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GigE) is increasingly being considered as a means to keep pace of sensor technology. However, what are the implications of using 10 GigE?

Cost: Crunching the Numbers

When considering which video interface to select for new systems, cost is a key concern for any system designer. While the bandwidth of 10 GigE is appealing, is it a reasonable contender to other video interfacing technologies?

To answer this question, component pricing has been gathered to create a better understanding of a system’s overall costs. For illustration purposes, Figure 1 presents two design scenarios for a system that requires two Camera Link medium cameras and a PC that is 20 meters away from the system. In the left-hand column, the system has the two cameras connected to the PC using Camera Link; while in the right-hand column, the system employs 10 GigE technology.

The cabling and extenders required in a Camera Link system represent a substantial proportion of overall interface costs. However, these same costs can be averted by taking advantage of the greater bandwidth afforded by 10 GigE and the flexibility of the actual Ethernet cabling.

Further, the additional labor required for the cabling and extenders with Camera Link would add to costs. Therefore, although it might be a natural leap of logic to assume that 10 GigE represents a significant cost increase, crunching the numbers tells a different story: 10 GigE stands as a reasonably priced option.

Further, the exponential market growth for 10 GigE technology indicates that it will only become more and more cost-effective as time goes on. The price per port continues to drop over time from its original introductory price. In 2006, the price per port of 10 GigE technology began to drop rapidly and every indication suggests that this trend will continue, as witnessed with 1 GigE and 100 megabits per second (Mbps).

In fact, it is forecast that 10 GigE technology will likely be cost comparable with 1 GigE by the middle of this decade. Naturally, as cross-industry adoption of 10 GigE grows, costs will continue to decline, demand will accelerate and innovators will invest in further refining 10 GigE technology.

Figure 2: 10 GigE technology continues to drop in cost due to cross-industry adoption. Source: Pleora Technologies

Cabling: A Look at Practicalities

Cabling distance can either limit or broaden a system’s design options. As noted earlier, the high bit rate applications required in quality inspection systems lend themselves to medium or full Camera Link configurations. This means that each camera requires two Camera Link cables to carry data, and these cables are limited to 10 meters in length.

Any routing distance between cameras and processor that must exceed 10 meters requires Camera Link repeaters or extenders. These repeaters and extenders represent an extra cost in both materials and labor, but perhaps more importantly, they increase the cabling complexity and reduce reliability.

At the processing end of the system, the required Camera Link-specific frame grabbers and the length limitations of Camera Link cables often require processing hardware to be located near the inspection machine. A more desirable design would enable the computers to be housed in a separate cabinet or room, away from dangerous or harsh manufacturing environments-yet this is not generally feasible given the cabling limitations described.

The capacity to combine the video streams, as is possible with 10 GigE, eliminates these types of nagging challenges related to cabling distance. For instance, Camera Link cables can be shortened to the distance between camera and converter, while a single copper or fiber connection carries the video data of up to four cables-two Camera Link medium/full, or 4 Camera Link base cameras-to processors located in a protective cabinet or other room.

Fiber is extremely flexible and easy to route and can be literally run for kilometers, opening up exciting new design possibilities. But further, 10 GigE technology can be used to dramatically transform how the design of these systems is approached because rather than trying to design a PC into the system, a compact 10 GigE IP engine device can be used. Once 10 GigE cameras become widely available, the converter device can be removed from the system design.

Figure 3: With 10 GigE technologies, system designers no longer need to embed a PC into their system. Source: Pleora Technologies

Next Generation Innovations

Of the market’s available video interfaces, 10 GigE is the only one to enable high value, next generation innovations, such as distributed inspection systems, made possible through networked video. This capacity lengthens the life span of a system, and therefore increases the operator’s return on investment-a key value proposition.

System cost and complexity can be reduced via networking video since it reduces the hardware required per camera. It also broadens design and implementation options: designers can take advantage of different topologies, including traditional point-to-point, and topologies such as point-to-multipoint and multipoint-to-multipoint video connectivity options over 10 GigE to allow more efficient image processing.

By distributing video over a 10 GigE network, designers can create distributed inspection systems. A distributed system allows each camera to send images to a bank of PCs, with each PC searching for a specific defect. This dramatically increases inspection speed and provides exceptional new value to manufacturers seeking to increase competitive advantage.

Additionally, the introduction of new inspection algorithms is greatly simplified. In this scenario, a second bank of PCs could be trained by providing real-time image data from the cameras, all while not interrupting the in-service system (bank of PCs).

Making the 10 GigE Choice

For quality inspection applications, a system designed using GigE Vision over 10 GigE provides unique advantages that are simply unavailable with other video interfacing technologies. Impossible to ignore is that this technology platform supports advanced new architectures with flexible video networking, while providing for significant cost savings over designs that employ only Camera Link cabling. As a high-bandwidth platform, 10 GigE best supports the high throughput requirements of today-and tomorrow. V&S

Tech Tips

Any routing distance between cameras and processor that must exceed 10 meters requires Camera Link repeaters or extenders.

Fiber is extremely flexible and easy to route and can be literally run for kilometers.

By distributing video over a 10 GigE network, designers can create distributed inspection systems.

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