IIDC2--A new dawn for industrial digital video cameras

Updating IIDC

In 2009, the Japan Industrial Imaging Association (JIIA) and the 1394 TA initiated a development effort to update the IIDC 1.32 specification to a more "modern" standard which in contrast groups all elements of a feature into a contiguous register space that can be implemented in products with less effort (cost).  The IIDC2 standard was created to simplify the design of industrial video cameras and to make it easier for personal computers to detect the individual features of a particular digital video camera when connected to a PC. The IIDC2 specification is not backward compatible with the IIDC 1.32 specification.

In contrast, the IIDC2 specification has been established with a clear separation between camera control, status, function capabilities and transport media capabilities.  Digital video camera controls have been purposely isolated from the high-speed data transport mechanisms in order to allow alternative transport media to be utilized in the future.

The IIDC2 specification requires functions and capabilities to be organized in a standard structure organized in category blocks with fixed offsets in a common register format linked in a list, similar to the Open Host Controller Interface (OHCI) formats proven successful by the USB, SATA and 1394 specifications.  In addition, IIDC2 includes additional instructions, stream and stream transport, to streamline data transport.  The table below has been extracted from the IIDC2 specification and it shows a linked list of general purpose, identical in structure, category blocks that describe the capabilities, functions and status of an IIDC2 camera.

IIDC2 defines 31 basic category blocks that can be used to implement IIDC2 camera functions.  Examples of basic control blocks include device control and controls for the transport layer, image format, acquisition, luminance, and digital I/O.

Ratification of the IIDC2 specification by the JIIA and 1394 Trade Association came in March 2012, following the first IIDC2 prototype demonstrations at the November 2011 Vision Show in Stuttgart, Germany.  Additional demonstrations of IIDC2 products took place at the 2012 Korean Vision Show this past April.

IIDC2 products will first use the IEEE-1394 transport mechanism at 800MB/sec for data transport and power distribution.  Future implementations of IIDC2 digital video cameras may make use of Ethernet or USB transport mechanisms.

About the Author

David Thompson is a distinguished engineer in the Systems Applications engineering area at LSI Corporation. He has an MSEE from Stanford University, is a Senior member of IEEE and has been with Bell Laboratories and its inheritors for more than 32 years before becoming LSI Corporation. His group develops 1394, USB and other serial-bus technology standard products for LSI. He is serving in his 12th year as a member of the 1394 Trade Association’s Board of Directors.