Balluff - BVS CA-BN Technical Documentation
Relationship Between Driver, Firmware And SDK

In order to operate an BVS CA-BN, not only the hardware but also the corresponding software is required. This can be installed via the Impact Acquire package and consists of the following different parts.

  1. Firmware - runs on the camera and controls the hardware there. The camera must be ready for operation before or while the host is booting so that it can be found by the OS. The firmware required for this is therefore stored on the camera. If the firmware and driver do not match, an error message is displayed when attempting to use the camera with the request to update the firmware. The Balluff tool DeviceConfigure can be used for this. Only after that the camera can be used.
  2. Kernel Module - is used for communication between the HW and the OS. The module is specific for each OS and has to match the next layer, i.e. the GenICam™ GenTL Producer, see below
  3. GenICam™ GenTL Producer - provides the standardized GenTL interface and is specific for the BVS CA-BN series. All SDKs that have a corresponding GenTL consumer can communicate via this interface not only the Balluff Impact Acquire SDK. Also possible are for example HALCON, MIL, CVB, MATLAB and many other third party packages.
  4. Balluff GenICam™ GenTL Consumer - communicates with the camera via the GenTL interface and with the application via Impact Acquire functions.