Common Vision Blox 14.1
USB3 Vision

Table of Contents

Introduction

USB3 Vision standard

USB3 Vision is a mere protocol or "on the wire" standard, based on USB3.0 standard using USB 3.0 ports. This means that only the data package layout and a bootstrap register map is defined. It ensures that a USB3 Vision device needs a certain "basic intelligence" without having to reload firmware. No manufacturer specific drivers will need to be installed on the host, provided that USB3 Vision compliant software is installed. USB3 Vision uses the GenICam GenApi device description for camera control.   USB3 Vision defines a transport layer for:

  •    Device detection
  •    Register access
  •    Streaming data
  •    Event handling

Furthermore USB3 Vision provides an interface to GenICam.

USB3 Vision performance

USB 3.0 operates at a bandwidth of 5 Gbit/s enabling net data rates of substantially more than 350 MBytes/s.

System Requirements

  • USB external or on-board Host controller card with USB 3.0 ports (usually marked  blue )
     
  • USB 3.0 cable (maximum length 5m, we highly recommend the use of machine vision validated USB cables, rather than the cheaper consumer cables)

  • On Windows 8 and newer USB3 host controllers run using a Microsoft driver.
    No vendor driver should be required.


Configuration

How to guide

1. Connect the Camera

First and foremost, please connect your camera to an available USB 3.0 port on your device. It is important to verify that the port you choose is indeed a USB 3.0 port, as certain cameras may encounter difficulties when connected to USB 2.0 ports.

2. Open Device Manager

Once you have opened the Device Manager, proceed to locate your camera within the list of devices. If you find that it is correctly recognized as “U3V Device via STEMMMER IMAGING GmbH using libusbK”, congratulations! You can skip the rest of this "HOW TO" guide and proceed with using your camera.

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3. Load Driver

If you do not see any driver listed or if you see a driver other than the Stemmer Imaging one, please proceed with the instructions provided to resolve the issue with your camera's driver.

a. There is no driver currently selected

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Browse to your CVB Install Path: %CVB%Hardware\StemmerImaging\siu3v

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b. There is an incorrect driver selected

To resolve this issue, you should begin by uninstalling the device along with its driver. Once you have done so, disconnect reconnect the device to your computer, and it should automatically select the best suitable driver available. This may be the Stemmer Imaging driver, a Windows one or a third-party driver. If the wrong driver is selected, repeat the procedure until the Stemmer Imaging driver is chosen. In the case that the driver is not found automatically, you will need to try the process outlined in step 3a.

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Correctly recognized USB3 Vision cameras are shown as available devices in GenICam Browser.


Hardware Compatibility

Some useful hardware performance information can be checked using lsual command line tool. Under Windows “lsual.exe”  is available in the folder %CVB%Hardware\StemmerImaging\Utilities. Call this in a console window (cmd.exe).


A typical output of lsual when a JAI USB GO is connected:
 


Here the camera is using super speed (USB 3.0 / USB 3.1 Gen1) visible by the "super speed" output after the ID.

USB3 Checklist

Hardware limitations and incompatibilities to be considered with USB3 Vision technology

  • USB3 ports are to be used, they are mostly marked blue and should be as near as possible to the mainboard (onboard).
  • Cable length is recommended no longer than than 5m.
  • When the cable is not plugged in completely it might be recognized as USB2 since not all pins are connected.
  • If an USB 3 adapter card with PCI Express 1x is used on a system which has PCI Express 1.0 slots then the maximum possible bandwidth is 250MB/s. But for cameras with higher bandwith a modern mainboard with a newer PCI Express version is needed.
  • Refer also the USB3 Vision System Requirements.

Installing the CVB USB3 Vision driver on a Windows based computer can require to uninstall other drivers

If you connect a USB 3 Vision Device  Windows is searching for the best fitting driver for this device. If CVB is installed and no other driver is available which supersedes the CVB ones then it is installed and the device should work. But if Windows choose the wrong driver we need to uninstall the other driver with the Windows Device Manager. Follow the steps in the How to guide to uninstall other drivers and use the Stemmer Imaging U3V Driver.

USB3 Drivers under Linux

Within Linux there is normally one USB3 Driver. And this driver should work for all. Otherwise there is no output from lsual.  

How can I get furher USB3 devices hardware information?

In the folder %CVB%Hardware\StemmerImaging\Utilities: Use “lsual –l” in a console window.

Device is detected, but it is not visible in the application?

The chipset driver might also be too old. Please install the newest available driver for your chipset. Refer USB3 Vision System Requirements.  

Camera show vital signs but image acquisition is not possible

For this camera an external power supply through the 12-pin Hirose connector is essential.