Video Adapters

BlueBird H.264 IP Adapter

Part Number: AS-ADP-H264-001-A

Features

  • 3G/HD-SDI to H.264 video over IP
  • 1080p60/30 video
  • 100 Ohm differential 3G/HD-SDI input
  • Single multi-way connector for all signals
  • Low latency H.264 RTP streaming
  • RTSP and ONVIF Profile S compatible
  • Recording to remote micro SD
  • Built-in webserver for setup and configuration
  • ONVIF server for control of video stream and camera
  • Remote update support
  • 2x serial ports for Device I/O
  • Compact size
  • Graphical overlay support
  • Evaluation board/kit available

The Bluebird H.264 IP Adapter (AS-ADP-H264-001-A) is a compact interface solution from Active Silicon’s BlueBird series of video adapter boards. It converts a 3G/HD-SDI video signal into a low latency ONVIF compatible Ethernet/IP output. The adapter board can also add graphical overlays to the video stream, which is controlled via the ONVIF Media service OSD feature.

The adapter contains a high-performance processor device that supports ONVIF and web page servers. The web server hosts a control web page that can be used to control the output of the adapter.

A single high density/performance multi-way mezzanine connector carries all signals to/from the board to enable quick and easy fitting/replacement in production and during field maintenance.

The Bluebird H.264 IP Adapter can be easily evaluated using the Bluebird H.264 IP Evaluation Kit. The Kit contains the Bluebird H.264 IP Evaluation Board; this board connects to the H.264 IP Adapter board and carries a 75 Ohm BNC input (for the 3G/HD-SDI input signal), a standard RJ45 socket (for Ethernet interface/video output), micro SD card socket, camera power/serial interface cable socket to drive a camera, and a USB-Serial converter for serial communications.

Sample application code for interfacing to the adapter board is available in the Harrier IP Software Development Kit (SDK).

Adapter specification

Video input

100Ω SMPTE differential video signals at SD (270Mbps), HD (1.485Gps) or 3G (2.97Gps) data rates.
Video resolution/rate

1080p 60/50/30 fps, 720p 60/50/30 fps, NTSC 720 x 480i @ 60Hz, 720 x 480i @ 59.94, PAL 720 x 576i @ 50Hz.
MIPI DSI output

LP/HS modes.
SD card

Up to 32GB, SDR25 / UHS I modes.
Serial control

ONVIF device service.
Protocol support

ONVIF (Profile S compatible), IPv4/v6, HTTP, HTTPS, RTSP, RTP, TCP, UDP, RTCP, ICMP, DHCP
Video compression

H.264
USB 2

OTG
Physical serial interface

2x 3.3V LVCMOS
RS-232 ports

Connector specification

Mezzanine Connector: 60-way (J1)

The BlueBird H.264 IP Adapter interfaces to external systems via a 60-way, 3mm height, hermaphroditic board to board mezzanine connector. Mating connectors can have heights from 2.5mm to 6mm giving mated stack height options of 5.5mm, 6mm, 7mm and 9mm (board-to-board distance).

Connector type: Samtec LSHM-130-03.0-L-DV-A-S-K-TR
Mating part: Samtec LSHM-130-0X.X-L-DV-A-S-K-TR

The pinouts for this connector are listed in the datasheet of the BlueBird H.264 IP Adapter, which is found under downloads.

Operation and features

Operation

When connected to a suitable carrier board the Bluebird H.264 IP Adapter will simply power up and start to scan the SDI input for a SMPTE compatible video signal. The board will detect and lock into the video signal; then it will begin to H.264 compress the video stream, convert it to RTP format, and transmit the video data from the Ethernet port. Any RTP/ONVIF compatible application (e.g. VLC player or GStreamer) can then receive and control the video. Once the board is connected to the network the ONVIF Device Manager (https://sourceforge.net/projects/onvifdm/) can be used to discover the IP address of the board/camera.

ONVIF services can be used to control the video and its H.264 parameters, they can also be used to send data to the serial ports on the board. The board can be assigned a fixed IP address, or can use DHCP to automatically obtain an IP address. A web page interface that is served from the IP address assigned to the board (at port: 8080, e.g. http://162.20.3.56:8080) can be used to control the board and change the board settings (e.g. fixed IP address).
Setting an IP address

An IP address can automatically be assigned using DCHP or a fixed IP address can be set using the ONVIF Device Management service or the BlueBird H.264 IP Adapter webpage.

SD Card Interface

The SD card interface will support all standard micro SD cards (up to 32GB) and operate them in SDR25 mode. The additional data pins available on UHS II cards are not supported and UHS II cards will operate in UHS I modes (lower data rate).
Booting from an external SD card

The BlueBird H.264 IP Adapter has internal fuse settings and 10k pull-down resistors on the BOOT_MODE signals to set the default boot source as the onboard flash memory.

The boot mode of the BlueBird H.264 IP Adapter can be set using the BOOT_MODE signals. These signals are pulled to ground by default (10k), connection to a 3V3 source will assert the signal to change the mode.

Signal asserted | Boot source
None | Default (on board flash)
BOOT_MODE_0 | 1. SD card, 2. USB (if no SD card)
BOOT_MODE_1 | Primary Boot Device (set on adapter)
BOOT_MODE_0 & 1 | Reserved – Do not use
Harrier IP SDK

The Harrier IP Software Development Kit contains sample application code for interfacing to the adapter board and controlling the video compression, serial ports and the adapter board platform.
ONVIF Services

The BlueBird H.264 IP Adapter implements the ONVIF Profile S standard. The main services are listed below.

  • Media service: enables control of the H.264 encoder and on screen displays (OSD).
  • DeviceIO service: provides direct communication to the serial ports (this enables VISCA communication with an attached camera to allow full control of the camera and all its features).
  • Device Management service: allows control of the platform (e.g. set time and date, etc.).

For detailed information on these services please see the ONVIF documentation; examples of how to use these services are included in Harrier IP SDK.
Status LED ("LED1")

This LED illuminates when the H.264 IP Adapter is powered, the color of the LED indicates the status of the adapter.

Solid Green: Adapter board is powered and working correctly.
Solid Red: The adapter board is powered but there is a fault/problem, e.g. no video data is being received, etc.
Evaluation Kit

An Evaluation Kit for the BlueBird H.264 IP Adapter is available, which allows fast and effective evaluation and testing of the BlueBird H.264 IP Adapter.  Please find more information on the Evaluation Kit for the BlueBird H.264 IP Adapter webpage.

Physical and environmental details

Dimensions

61mm x 42.5mm
Weight

15g (interface board only, no cables).
Power Supply

5V
Power Consumption

1.2-1.7W – Typical power at 1080p60, values will vary with video mode.

Storage Temperature

-20°C to +70°C
Operating Temperature

-5°C to +60°C (ambient environment).
Relative Humidity

10% to 90% non-condensing (operating and storage).

Conformance

SMPTE

Compliant with SMPTE 274M and SMPTE 296M.
ONVIF

Profile S compatible
Approvals

The BlueBird H.264 IP Adapter has been designed to meet EMC and FCC requirements when housed in a suitable enclosure:

CE
Compliant with the relevant EU directives as listed below.

RoHS
Conforms to RoHS3, the European Union’s Restriction on Use of Certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS) in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive 2015/863/EU.

EMC
Compliant with EN 55022:2010 (class A) and EN 55024:2010 in accordance with EU Directive 2014/30/EU Electromagnetic Compatibility.

REACH
Please contact Active Silicon for the latest formal REACH declaration (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals, EC 1907/2006, the European Union’s chemical substances regulatory framework for Substances of Very High Concern).

UL
All printed circuit boards used in this product are manufactured by UL recognized manufacturers and have a flammability rating of 94-V0.

FCC
Compliant with FCC Rules for Class A digital devices.
Download File Type File Size
Part number Description
AS-ADP-H264-001-A

BlueBird H.264 IP Adapter
(SDI to IP video with H.264 compression and serial ports).
AS-ADP-H264-001-EVAL-A

Evaluation Kit for the BlueBird H.264 IP Adapter.  Includes power supply, BlueBird H.264 IP Evaluation Board and cables.