NileCAM21 Datasheet 24-Mar-2021

e-con Systems India Pvt Ltd

th
7 Floor, RR Tower–IV,

Super A-16 & A-17, Thiru-Vi-Ka Industrial Estate,

Guindy, Chennai - 600032.

www.e-consystems.com

NileCAM21

Module Datasheet

Revision 1.1
th
24 March 2021

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NileCAM21 Datasheet 24-Mar-2021

Contents
1 Revision History ....................................................................................................................... 3

2 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 4

3 Disclaimer ................................................................................................................................. 4

4 Description................................................................................................................................ 4

4.1 Features ........................................................................................................................... 5

4.2 CMOS Image Sensor Features ........................................................................................ 6

4.3 Maximum Frame Rate Supported .................................................................................... 6

5 Power over Coax (PoC) ........................................................................................................... 6

5.1 Power and Signal Flow in PoC ......................................................................................... 6

5.2 PoC Filter Design ............................................................................................................. 7

5.3 PCB Layout Guidelines for PoC ....................................................................................... 8

6 Connector Pinouts .................................................................................................................... 8

7 Connector Part Numbers.......................................................................................................... 9

8 Electrical Specification ............................................................................................................. 9

8.1 Recommended Operating Condition ................................................................................ 9

8.2 Operating Temperature Range ...................................................................................... 10

9 Mechanical Specifications ...................................................................................................... 10

9.1 Camera Module Board Dimensions ............................................................................... 11

9.2 NileCAM21 Serializer Board Dimensions ...................................................................... 12

9.3 Lens Holder Dimensions ................................................................................................ 13

Support .......................................................................................................................................... 14

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NileCAM21 Datasheet 24-Mar-2021

1 Revision History
Rev Date Description Author
1.0 22-Oct-2020 Initial draft Camera Team
1.1 24-Mar-2021 Lens operating temperature updated Camera Team

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NileCAM21 Datasheet 24-Mar-2021

2 Introduction
NileCAM21 is a family of NileCAM cameras from e-con Systems with high-speed
unified serial interface that carries video data, control data and power in a single
coaxial cable. It uses serializer-deserializer (SerDes) technology that allows single
coaxial cable interface for the camera. With coaxial cable lengths of up to 15m,
NileCAM21 offers greater flexibility for the system architects to place the cameras in
mechanically challenging designs of new generation embedded, automotive and
autonomous driving applications. The flexibility of coaxial cable and the ability to
carry video data, control data and power in a single cable makes NileCAM21 fast
(low latency), flexible and yet reliable.
NileCAM21 uses Maxim’s Gigabit Multimedia Serial Link (GMSL) interface
technology for the serial interface to the camera. This serial interface uses coaxial
cable that carries high-speed video data from the camera, bidirectional control data
between the camera and host controller, and power supply for the camera. The
power to the camera is supplied from the host processor through this coaxial cable.
NileCAM21 embeds the Maxim’s serializer which serializes the high-speed image
data and transmits over coaxial cable. The serializer also supports the bidirectional
control data communication between the camera and host controller. The on-board
electronics of NileCAM21 recovers the power supplied from the host controller
without contaminating the data transfers.
NileCAM21 is a 2 MP GMSL camera contains a 1/2.5" AR0233AT CMOS image
sensor from ON Semiconductor® along with on-board ISP. The coaxial cable is
connected to Serializer Board through a rugged FAKRA connector. NileCAM21 can
be interfaced with MAX9296A, MAX9296B and MAX96712 GMSL2 deserializers IC
from Maxim’s and also backward compatible with GMSL1 chips.
This document describes about the features of NileCAM21 board including the
mechanical diagram.

3 Disclaimer
The specifications and features of NileCAM21 camera board are provided here as
reference only and e-con Systems reserve the right to edit/modify this document
without any prior intimation of whatsoever.

4 Description
NileCAM21 is a two-board solution. The first board is the standard NileCAM21
camera module that has 1/2.5" AR0230AT image sensor with an electronic rolling
shutter from ON Semiconductor® along with Image Signal Processor (ISP) and the
second board is GMSL2 serializer board.

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NileCAM21 Datasheet 24-Mar-2021

The following figure shows the various PCBs of NileCAM21.

Figure 1: NileCAM21 Module

The camera board is based on AR0233, a 2 MP 1/2.5" CMOS image sensor from
ON Semiconductor® along with ISP. The camera is available with M12 metal lens
holder allowing customers to choose the lens as per their requirements. The
serializer board is based on Maxim GMSL2 serializer chip and has all the circuitry
required for bidirectional data communication, power and data separation. The
FAKRA connector is used for the coaxial cable interface.

4.1 Features
The features of NileCAM21 are as follows:

 Two-board solution of size 30mm x 30mm

 Shielded coaxial cable for transmission of both power and data for long
distance (up to 15m)
 1/2.5" Optical form factor, 2 MP camera module
 Uncompressed UYVY format and compressed MJPEG format
 Capable of high frame rate uncompressed video
o VGA (640x480) at 60fps
o QHD (960 x540) at 58fps
o HD (1280x720) at 45 fps
o FHD (1920x1080) at 30 fps
 Lightweight, versatile, and portable design
 Operating voltage- 5 to 15V with +/- 5% tolerance.
 Typical power consumption: 2.196W
 Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) compliant

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NileCAM21 Datasheet 24-Mar-2021

4.2 CMOS Image Sensor Features

The following table lists the key specifications of NileCAM21.

Sensor Specification
Type / Optical Size 1/2.5” Optical format CMOS Image sensor
Resolution 2MP
Sensor Type 24-Bit RGB Bayer
Pixel Size 3.0 µm x 3.0 µm
Sensor Active Area 2048H x 1280V
Responsivity 30.4 Ke−/lux−sec
Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) >43.1 dB
Dynamic Range Max up to 140 dB

Table 1: CMOS Image Sensor Features

4.3 Maximum Frame Rate Supported

The following table lists the maximum frame rate supported by the camera module.

% Crop in FOV
Resolution Frame Rate (Uncompressed UYVY)
Horizontal Vertical
640 x 480 60 fps 66.67% 55.55%
960 x 540 58 fps 50.00% 50.00%
1280 x 720 45 fps 33.33% 33.33%
1920 x 1080 30 fps 0.00% 0.00%

Table 2: Maximum Frame Rate Supported

5 Power over Coax (PoC)

The NileCAM21 module contains a camera module board (with AR0233AT image
sensor and ISP) and a Serializer board. The power for these pair of boards is
supplied from the Deserializer through PoC.

5.1 Power and Signal Flow in PoC

The NileCAM21_CUXVR Serializer and Deserializer communicate using PoC
technology. The PoC channel transmits serialized video channel from Serializer to
Deserializer (forward channel) and a lower frequency control channel from
Deserializer to Serializer (reverse/back channel) along with DC power.

The camera module and Serializer board are powered from Electronic Control Unit
(ECU) containing Deserializer and processor. The filter on the ECU side is used to
merge DC power with the video and communication data, while the filter on the
camera side is to separate the DC power from the video and communication data
and powers its internal circuitry.

The following figure shows the power and signal flow in the PoC.

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NileCAM21 Datasheet 24-Mar-2021

Figure 2: Typical PoC Power and Signal Flow

As a single coaxial cable transmits data with three different frequencies, a filter must
be added on both sides of the communication link. Ideally the POC filter must have
low impedance for DC signals and high impedance for back channel and forward
channel signals. Hence, inductors are used for the PoC low pass filter construction.

e-con Systems recommends 5V to15V as standard voltage for NileCAM21 POC

line.

5.2 PoC Filter Design

The PoC filter must have high impedance at back and forward channel frequencies
to filter the DC power from the coaxial data. As 50Ω termination is used for data
channels, a 20x increase in impedance (1KΩ) is required to filter the high frequency
content. Every inductor has parasitic capacitance that causes self-resonance and a
corresponding drop in impedance at high frequencies. The inductors of different
sizes are chosen to filter all the frequency bands of interest.

The following figure shows the series of inductors which are used to filter the high
frequencies.

Figure 3: PoC Filter

As the PoC channel also contains required high frequency data, an AC coupling cap
is placed near the NileCAM21 serializer to extract the data (filtering out DC).

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5.3 PCB Layout Guidelines for PoC

The PCB layout guidelines for PoC are listed as follows:

 Route the coaxial trace to a FAKRA connector as a 50Ω single ended trace, with
tight impedance control. If the trace is not 50Ω and laid out cleanly, performance
issues can arise.
 Place the AC coupling capacitors close to the Serializer/Deserializer.
 Route high speed coaxial trace from the FAKRA connector with the most direct
route and minimum trace length as possible. Also, the components on the path of
this high-speed trace must be placed, to minimize the stub length seen by the
transmission line.
 Ensure the coaxial trace can carry PoC current without temperature rise.
 Routing highest to lowest SRF inductor on the GMSL line is critical. Highest
being positioned directly on the GMSL RF line followed by the next highest and
so on.
 Minimize the distance between IC, PoC, and connector
 Cut out the ground on open coil inductors where the coil is exposed

Note: Reference Deserializer board schematics and PCB files can be shared based
on request.

6 Connector Pinouts
The following sections describe the pins descriptions of NileCAM21 connector.
NileCAM21 has a high frequency FAKRA straight plug (CN1) with neutral coding, to
mate with coaxial cable. The same FAKRA straight plug and pinouts are used in the
Deserializer board. The connector on NileCAM21 is shown below,

Figure 4: Connectors on Serializer Board

The following table lists the pin-outs details of FAKRA plug.

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NileCAM21 Datasheet 24-Mar-2021

Pin No Signal Pin Type Description

Coaxial signal that carries both
1 Coax Input / Output
power and bidirectional data
2 GND Ground
3 GND Ground
Power
4 GND Ground
5 GND Ground

Table 3: FAKRA Plug Pin-out Details

7 Connector Part Numbers

The following table lists the connectors used in the NileCAM21 camera board and
its compatible mating connectors.

Connector Manufacturer Part Number

Coax Connector (CN1) Rosenberger 59S10H-400T5-Z

Table 4: Connectors Part Numbers

As the NileCAM21 boards are available as two board solution, screws and spacers
are used for holding the boards, at different points.
The following table lists the description of the part numbers.

Part No Description Manufacturer

e-HSK-MB-004 Metal standoff designed by econ Econ systems
1250388 Screws M2 Phillips Pan Head Stainless steel Bossard
1241397 Nut Hex Bossard

Table 5: Spacers and Screws Part Numbers

Note: The above mechanical parts are verified for mechanical clearance with
nearby components.
Warning: e-con Systems does not recommend using new mechanical screws and
allied parts with the product. If new mechanical parts are to be used, care should be
taken to avoid interference with nearby components.

8 Electrical Specification
This section lists the electrical specification and recommended operating conditions
of NileCAM21.

8.1 Recommended Operating Condition

The current consumption values are measured for an ambient level of 128 lux. The
following table lists the recommended operating condition of NileCAM21.

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NileCAM21 Datasheet 24-Mar-2021

Typical Operating Current Typical Power

Parameter
Voltage (mA) Consumption (W)
Idle condition (Lock obtained, but
68 0.78
camera not streaming)
12V ± 250mV
Streaming maximum power at 1920
183 2.196
X 1080 at 30fps

Table 6: Recommended Operating Condition

Note:

 These values are measured in e-con Systems lab and this can be used as
reference only. The current measurements are typical values and are subject to
change for different camera boards under different conditions. However, these
values can be taken as a reference for power estimation and power supply
design.
 The above current measured are for continuous device streaming.

8.2 Operating Temperature Range

The following table lists the operating temperature range of NileCAM21.

Parameter Description Temperature Range

Operating temperature range -40°C to 85°C
Stable Image Temperature Range -40°C to 70°C

Table 7: Operating Temperature Range

1
This is the maximum temperature range up to which the camera sensor can be
operated.

Note: The default lens supplied with this camera has an operating range of -20°C to
85°C. Customers can choose wider operating temperature lens as per their
requirements.

9 Mechanical Specifications
NileCAM21 is a two-board solution. The module and serializer boards have 30 mm x
30 mm form-factor and the stack-up height between these boards is 6 mm. The
height of the S-mount metal lens holder is 13 mm and the actual height of the
module above the PCB depends on the selected lens.

The board dimensions are shown in the below sections:

 Camera Module Board Dimensions

 Serializer Board Dimensions
 Lens Holder Dimensions

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NileCAM21 Datasheet 24-Mar-2021

9.1 Camera Module Board Dimensions

The front and rear views of NileCAM21 camera board mechanical details are shown
in the following figures.

Figure 5: Front View of NileCAM21 Camera Module Board

Figure 6: Rear View of NileCAM21 Camera Module Board

Note: All dimensions are in mm.

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NileCAM21 Datasheet 24-Mar-2021

9.2 NileCAM21 Serializer Board Dimensions

The front and rear views of NileCAM21 Serializer board mechanical details are
shown in the following figures.

Figure 7: Front View of NileCAM21 Serializer Board

Figure 8: Rear View of NileCAM21 Serializer Board

Note: All dimensions are in mm.

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NileCAM21 Datasheet 24-Mar-2021

9.3 Lens Holder Dimensions

The following figure shows the dimension details of S-Mount metal lens holder.

Figure 9: S-Mount Metal Lens Holder Outline Dimension

Note: All dimensions are in mm.

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NileCAM21 Datasheet 24-Mar-2021

Support
Contact Us

If you need any support on NileCAM21 product, please contact us using the Live
Chat option available on our website - https://www.e-consystems.com/

Creating a Ticket

If you need to create a ticket for any type of issue, please visit the ticketing page on
our website - https://www.e-consystems.com/create-ticket.asp

RMA

To know about our Return Material Authorization (RMA) policy, please visit the RMA
Policy page on our website - https://www.e-consystems.com/RMA-Policy.asp

General Product Warranty Terms

To know about our General Product Warranty Terms, please visit the General
Warranty Terms page on our website - https://www.e-consystems.com/warranty.asp

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