ebus SDK 3.0 General Availability (GA) Release Notes Introduction ebus SDK Release 3.0 is the latest software development kit (SDK) from Pleora Technologies. These release notes pertain to the General Availability (GA) release of the software, as of November 2012, and describe the changes since the Release 2.2.3 General Availability (GA) version. What s New in Release 3.0? Support for C#.NET and VB.NET languages, by means of exposing an interface that is compatible with.net. Version 4 of the.net Framework and Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 are required. Enhancement of the ebus Universal Pro driver that allows the driver to be used when transmitting images with the ebus SDK s Video Server API using the Windows operating system. Introduction of the ebus Universal Pro driver for image acquisition on the Linux operating system. Exposure of the SDK s internal thread priorities, providing greater tuning opportunities. Introduction of the ebpcaprecorder utility. This utility exports received packet data from the ebus SDK to a libpcap (.pcap) file, which is compatible with Wireshark. This utility is available from your Pleora support representative. Availability of select user interface sample applications and corresponding software code (for example, GEVPlayer) for the Linux operating system. Introduction of a sample application (for both the Windows and Linux operating system) that demonstrates how to stream images from a multi-channel device, such as the iport Analog-Pro IP engine and the iport CL-Ten Dual Medium IP engine. Ability to install and use the ebus SDK on the same computer as the Pleora Technologies legacy Vision SDK (regardless of the Vision SDK version). This improvement allows for easier migration of applications to the ebus SDK. Support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1. Removal of Windows Vista operating system support and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 support. Performance enhancements to the PvTransmitTiledImageSample. Streamlined code in the Video Server API sample applications. Support for the manual refresh of feature values in the GenICam node tree.
Simplified link recovery methodology in applicable sample applications. Compatibility of sample applications with OpenCV version 2.3.1 (Windows operating system) and 2.3.1a (Linux operating system). Upgraded to GenApi 2.2.0. Addition of counters for Local Problem, Unknown, and Packet Unavailable status codes. Removal of Video Server API packet size limits when using the Linux operating system (in ebus SDK 2.2, the packet size was limited to 8k). Removal of the legacy ebus Optimal and ebus Universal drivers. Fixed in Release 3.0.5 Fixed driver crash that occurred rarely when setting breakpoints during debugging. Modified IP address entry to disallow invalid IP addresses. Fixed in Release 3.0.4 Explicit merge module dependencies for the Visual C++ 8.0 and Visual C++ 10.0 runtimes have been removed from the ebus SDK merge modules to allow customers to create installers with more recent versions than those used to build the ebus SDK. Customers building an installer that includes the ebus SDK merge modules are now responsible for managing the Visual C++ 8.0 and Visual C++ 10.0 runtime dependencies. For this release, the earliest supported versions are 8.0.50727.4053 (Visual C++ 8.0) and 10.0.40219.1 (Visual C++ 10.0). For more information about creating a customized installation package using the ebus SDK merge modules, see the Creating a Customized Application Installation Package Application Note, available on the Pleora Support Center (http://www.pleora.com/support-center). Fixed in Release 3.0.3 Corrected an issue that could cause the ebus SDK to generate packet resend requests that contain incorrect information. Fixed in Release 3.0.2 Resolved minor issues in some samples. Mapped a generic error return value to a more specific value. Fixed the Unresolved External Symbol linker issue when using the GetPreemptiveResendTimeout() or SetPreemptiveResendTimeout() functions. Added support for conversion to GigE Vision RGB and BGR pixel types. ebus SDK 3.0 General Availability (GA) Release Notes 2
Fixed in Release 3.0.1 Changed the ebpcaprecorder utility to capture the configured number of packets (previously it captured more than the specified number of packets). Made a change that allows the Basler CCT+ software to use the Pleora Camera Link DLL (clserpte.dll) to connect to a Basler camera. Fixed in Release 3.0.0 Improved the GEVPlayer sample application with the following updates: The application now reports the correct throughput in all scenarios. Previously, it would report throughput over 1 Gbps on a GigE link in some scenarios. The application now starts with a larger buffer size to decrease the likelihood of BUFFER_TOO_SMALL reports. Users can also specify their own buffer size before image acquisition. The application now launches correctly, even when some environment variables are not present. PvPixelWinBGR24 and PvPixelWinRGB24 now correctly interpret the component byte order (BGR and RGB, respectively). Users should check each use of these constants to ensure that they are no longer relying on the previous, incorrect behavior. The 32-bit versions of these constants are not changed. Updated the Linux-based installation script to ensure that the correct files are installed for the target processor architecture (32-bit or 64-bit architecture). Added functions to access some previously-hidden statistics for a given instance of PvBuffer. Resolved an issue where the value of aoperationalresult (received by calling PvStreamBase::RetrieveBuffer() or PvPipeline::RetrieveNextBuffer()) may indicate success, but the return values of PvImage::GetHeight() and PvBuffer::GetImageSize() may be erroneous. Made SDK improvements to ensure that it is safe to call PvTransmitterRaw::SetPacketSize() during streaming without the potential for data corruption. Improved raw data transfer support. Made PvDevice::Connect() thread-safe. Updated PvTransmitterRaw::SetMaxPayloadThroughput() to take protocol overhead into account. Implemented other general reliability and performance enhancements. Known Issues and Limitations Function signatures for PvBuffer::GetBlockID(), PvBuffer::GetMissingPacketIds(), and PvDeviceEventSink::OnEvent() have been altered to allow for future compatibility with the extended ID feature of GigE Vision 2.0. For PvDevice::SetIPConfiguration() to work properly, you must pass all four arguments, even though two arguments are marked as optional. When you use Microsoft Visual Studio in Debug mode to compile applications that use MFC GUI controls from the ebus SDK, you may encounter some issues. ebus SDK 3.0 General Availability (GA) Release Notes 3
Packet size auto-negotiation defaults to 1476 bytes when the auto-negotiation process fails. This value may be too large in certain scenarios. If it is too large, image streaming between the SDK and a GigE Vision device may fail. The GEVPlayer sample application silently fails to save images when the selected directory does not exist. The ebus SDK cannot apply negative values passed to instances of the PvFilterRGB class in some instances. This issue also manifests itself in the Image Filtering dialog box of the GEVPlayer sample application. Images converted from Bayer to RGB (for example, to display) contain minor artifacts. To work around this issue, ebus SDK users can specify amaxnumberofthreads = 1 in the constructor of the PvBufferConverter method. A call to EbInstaller::Initialize() will block until all property pages for the specified NIC are closed. We recommend that users disable network filter drivers installed by anti-virus software packages (if possible). Some filter drivers have been known to cause a degradation of performance. For information about disabling network filter drivers, see the Configuring Your Computer and Network Adapters for Best Performance application note, available on the Pleora Technologies Support Center. With the Windows operating system, the maximum buffer size for an image is limited to the maximum driver I/O buffer size as defined by the operating system. On the Windows XP 32-bit operating system, the maximum buffer size is limited to 63.97 MB. On the Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems, the maximum buffer size is limited to 3.99 GB. After installation of the ebus SDK and drivers, you may need to reboot your computer before data can be received, even if the installation process did not prompt you to reboot your computer. The GenApi library does not support non-ascii characters. Using system paths with non-ascii characters may cause undefined behavior. If the ebus Universal Pro driver was installed on a removable NIC (that has since been removed from the computer), you must replace and enable the NIC in the computer when uninstalling the ebus Universal Pro driver. During the installation of some drivers, a Windows security alert dialog box may appear. To permanently accept Pleora s certificate, and ensure that the alert dialog box no longer appears, perform the following steps when the alert dialog box appears: 1. Click Pleora Technologies Inc. 2. Click Install Certificate. 3. Click Next. 4. Select Place all certificates in the following store. 5. In the Certificate store box, type Trusted Publishers. 6. Click Next. 7. Click Finish. 8. Click OK. When multiple identical NICs (that is, the same manufacturer and model) are installed in the same computer, they must use the same version of the manufacturer s NIC driver. An issue with the Intel 82572 chipset can degrade throughput. When using the Windows operating system, display issues have been reported with some entry-level ATI video cards. When using the Windows operating system, applications that use the Pleora PvGUI controls work better when they are used in an MFC application than when they are used in a standard Windows Libraries application. A persistence file is created when saving preferences in the GEVPlayer sample application. This file is not removed by the installer. In the Windows operating system, this file is C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Pleora\GEVPlayer.pvcfg. In the Linux operating system, this file is ~/.config/pleora/default.pvcfg. When you uninstall the ebus SDK, the license directory remains on your computer (it is not removed). ebus SDK 3.0 General Availability (GA) Release Notes 4
Known Issues Linux Disable the firewall when working with the ebus SDK. To maximize performance, we recommend that you increase the size of the socket buffers. For more information, see the Configuring Your Computer and Network Adapters for Best Performance application note, available on the Pleora Technologies Support Center. OpenGL acceleration is disabled by default, as it does not work as expected with all tested drivers. It can be manually enabled in the GEVPlayer Display Options dialog box. To find and configure the IP address of GigE Vision devices that are not currently on the same subnet, you must run the ebus SDK applications as the root user. The /dev/shm/sem.nic.ebus file is not deleted when all connections are closed. You must delete this file if image acquisitions are to be performed under a different user account than the original image acquisitions. Known Issues Video Server API We strongly recommend that you use the ebus Universal Pro driver when you are using the Video Server API on the Windows operating system. Doing so will avoid a bug in the drivers of some Intel NICs that cause dropped packets. The ebus Universal Pro driver cannot be installed on the loopback interface. When using the Linux operating system, instances of PvVirtualDevice are bound to all network interfaces, regardless of the parameters passed to PvVirtualDevice::StartListening(). As a result, only one instance of PvVirtualDevice can be created for each computer. With the Windows XP operating system, the Video Server API always sets the do not fragment bit of transmitted IP packets in unicast streams. This is a limitation of the Windows XP operating system. System Requirements The ebus SDK is compatible with the following: Microsoft Windows 7, 32-bit or 64-bit and Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (or later), 32-bit Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1, 32-bit or 64-bit The following development environments are supported: Visual Studio 8, Visual Studio 9, and Visual Studio 10. To develop.net applications, Visual Studio 10 and Version 4.0 of the.net Framework are required. GCC in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1 The following hardware is required: Network card 80 MB of space free on hard drive for SDK, documentation, and sample applications ebus SDK 3.0 General Availability (GA) Release Notes 5
GenICam and GigE Vision Support The following table lists the supported GenICam and GigE Vision versions. Table 1: GenICam and GigE Vision Support Component Supported version GenICam Version 2.2.0 GigE Vision Version 1.2 Driver Support ebus SDK Table 2: Driver Support Component Windows Linux Network Stack Supported Supported ebus Universal Pro Supported Supported for receive only, not for transmit ebus Universal ebus Optimal Not supported. These drivers are only available with version 2.2 (and earlier) of the ebus SDK. Not supported For More Information The following table specifies the location of the SDK documentation that is installed with the ebus SDK. Table 3: SDK Documentation Operating system SDK documentation location Windows Linux 32-bit operating system: C:\Program Files\Pleora Technologies Inc\eBUS SDK\Documentation 64-bit operating system: C:\Program Files (x86)\pleora Technologies Inc\eBUS SDK\Documentation /opt/pleora/ebus_sdk/share/doc/sdk Additional documentation is available on the Pleora Technologies Support Center (http://www.pleora.com/supportcenter), such as: GEVPlayer Quick Start Guide and GEVPlayer User Guide ebus SDK.NET Quick Start Guide Video Server API Quick Start Guide ebus SDK Programmer s Guide Vision SDK to ebus SDK Migration Guide ebus SDK 3.0 General Availability (GA) Release Notes 6
Copyright Information Copyright 2013 Pleora Technologies Inc. These products are not intended for use in life support appliances, devices, or systems where malfunction of these products can reasonably be expected to result in personal injury. Pleora Technologies Inc. (Pleora) customers using or selling these products for use in such applications do so at their own risk and agree to indemnify Pleora for any damages resulting from such improper use or sale. Trademarks PureGEV, ebus, iport, vdisplay, and all product logos are trademarks of Pleora Technologies. Third party copyrights and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Notice of Rights All information provided in this manual is believed to be accurate and reliable. No responsibility is assumed by Pleora for its use. Pleora reserves the right to make changes to this information without notice. Redistribution of this manual in whole or in part, by any means, is prohibited without obtaining prior permission from Pleora. Document Version EX008-017-0001 Version 7.0, January 2013 ebus SDK 3.0 General Availability (GA) Release Notes 7