CoaXPress Acquisition Based on MPSoC FPGA + NVIDIA Orin NX

1 Background Overview

The customer’s existing verification platform is built on Xilinx MPSoC ZU19EG equipped with NVIDIA Orin NX 8GB module. The customer plans to verify CoaXPress camera image acquisition and image processing functions on this platform.

System hardware connection block diagram (XCZU19EG MPSoC interconnected with Jetson Orin NX via PCIe Gen3 x4)

Relying on our self-developed JetKU-CXP1004 hardware and standard GenTL GenICam software ImgGrab, StarTest Electronics completed rapid function verification for the customer.

Figure 1-1 FMC-CXP-4R CoaXPress 2.0 Daughter Card FMC-CXP-4R 4-Channel CoaXPress FMC Daughter Card - Chongqing StarTest Electronics Technology Co., Ltd.

Figure 1-2 JetKU-CXP4001 Heterogeneous AI Development Platform JetKU-CXP1004 Embedded Jetson CoaXPress AI Computing Platform - Chongqing StarTest Electronics Technology Co., Ltd.

2 Hardware Preparation List

• ALINX Z19-M MPSoC + Orin NX 8GB Module
• FMC-CXP-4R Mezzanine Card from StarTest Electronics
• CoaXPress Software Suite developed by StarTest Electronics
• Mikrotron 25CXP+ High-Speed CMOS Industrial Camera
• Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
• ImgGrab V1.0.3 Download from Chongqing StarTest Electronics Official Channel

Physical assembly photo of main platform, FMC daughter card and industrial camera

3 Test Operation Procedures

1. Complete all hardware wiring before power-on: connect FMC-CXP-4R card and CoaXPress cameras, plug Ethernet cable into Jetson board, ensure Jetson and Windows PC are within the same LAN segment
2. Power on the device and boot into Jetson Ubuntu OS (Username: alinx, Password: root). Since the system boots from SD card, PCIe bus cannot be recognized correctly on the first startup; execute the reboot soft restart command to reinitialize PCIe hardware
3. Download and install HelloFPGARuntime installation package and ImgGrab client on Windows PC, official download link: https://img-grab.com/jszc
4. Run DDA-HelloFPGA-Proxy agent program on Jetson Linux system to enable cross-platform network communication
5. Launch ImgGrab software to auto-scan Jetson hardware and connected cameras. For technical inquiries, refer to the official manual at https://img-grab.com/productinfo/306297.html and ImgGrab user guide for reference

Screenshot 1 of ImgGrab host PC acquisition GUI

Screenshot 2 of ImgGrab host PC acquisition GUI

4 Platform Comparison Analysis

Compared with MPSoC + NVIDIA Orin NX scheme, the pure FPGA + NVIDIA Orin NX architecture delivers higher cost performance. MPSoC requires complicated PS processor configuration, while Jetson Orin NX already integrates full image processing computing capability, making MPSoC PS resources redundant and wasteful. However, MPSoC will be a reasonable choice if customers need MPSoC PS cores to handle additional real-time control tasks.

StarTest Electronics provides full-stack CoaXPress and Camera Link edge-side image acquisition & AI processing platforms, committed to delivering widely compatible plug-and-play hardware & software ecosystem for industrial users.

Heterogeneous architecture block diagram of Kintex-UltraScale XCKU5P-2 + Jetson Orin platform

Physical photo of JetKU-CXP1004 integrated computing platform

Physical photo  of JetKU-CL4001Camera Link integrated computing platform