Enter CoaXPress-over-Fiber (CoF), an extension of the CoaXPress 2.0 specification. CoF provides a means to run the unmodified CXP-12 protocol over standard Ethernet connections, including fiber optics, instead of coaxial cable. Besides offering a path to speeds of 100 or even 200 Gb/s, fiber optic cables are immune to EMI, which can cause data interference.

WOBURN, MA, MARCH 4, 2025 -- Since being introduced in 2011, the CoaXPress (CXP) interface has relied on coaxial cables for connectivity. As the machine vision industry's premier standard for high-speed serial data transfer, CXP over coaxial cable supports speeds up to 12.5 Gb/s per link. While unmatched by other interfaces today, such as GigE Vision or CameraLink, CXP over coaxial has run into a bandwidth ceiling that is preventing it from achieving even higher speeds.

Enter CoaXPress-over-Fiber (CoF), an extension of the CoaXPress 2.0 specification. CoF provides a means to run the unmodified CXP-12 protocol over standard Ethernet connections, including fiber optics, instead of coaxial cable. Besides offering a path to speeds of 100 or even 200 Gb/s, fiber optic cables are immune to EMI, which can cause data interference.

FUTURE-PROOFING MACHINE VISION
BitFlow, a brand of Advantech, is helping engineers navigate the transition from coaxial to fiber CXP with intelligent, flexible products that build on the company's innovative frame grabber portfolio. BitFlow CoF products emphasize the importance of future-proofing machine vision architectures to address the escalating demand for higher camera resolutions, greater throughput, and the adoption of Artificial Intelligence. BitFlow sees the immense opportunities CoF will bring to existing and new use cases, ranging from traditional machine vision inspection to the emerging Industrial IoT.

"I'm thrilled to announce the game changing CoF innovations BitFlow is bringing to market. BitFlow is making it possible to deploy CoaXPress over Fiber leveraging the Ethernet platform and using the low cost Ethernet cables, connectors and electronics that engineers are already familiar with," said Donal Waide, Director of Business Development for Advantech's Industrial Cloud & Video Group. "In addition to unprecedented speeds, CoF allows very long distances to be bridged with fiber optic cables for latency-free video transmission."

• BitFlow Claxon CoF frame grabber: Designed to extend the benefits of CoaXPress over fiber optic cables, the Claxon CoF is a quad CXP-12 PCIe Gen 3 frame grabber that supports all QFSP+ compatible fiber cable assemblies. Equipping the grabber with a QSFP+ module provides the flexibility of running single-mode fiber cables a maximum of 120 kilometers between cameras and the PC. The Claxon CoF can accommodate high-bandwidth applications ranging from multiple linescan cameras inspecting color print materials or semiconductor wafers, to area scan cameras deployed in 3D video scientific analysis or OLED defect detection. Fiber's immunity to electromagnetic interference also makes it an excellent choice for manufacturing or medical facilities subject to high levels of EMC.
• BitFlow QFi copper-to-fiber module: The QFi supports long-distance data transmission from a single-link CXP camera to a host PC over fiber optic cables. With link speeds up to 10 Gb/s, the BitFlow QFi module provides a cost-effective alternative to other methods of extending CXP transmission as far as 120 kilometers. A maximum of 4 QFi modules can be connected to a Claxon frame grabber, offering support for multicamera system configurations or a single multilink camera to deliver speeds up to 40 Gb/s.

The original CoaXPress standard combines excellent stability, low latency, and high bandwidth. These benefits are extended by CoaXPress-over-Fiber, which eliminates worries about EMI and cable length, plus opens a pathway to far higher speeds.

To learn more visit www.bitflow.com.