System information

Vicon MX Hardware System Reference 9-1
9
9MX Ultranet
This chapter describes the physical structure of the MX Ultranet,
including its connections to other Vicon MX components.
The MX Ultranet supplies power, synchronization, and
communications for up to eight connected MX cameras (or alternative
devices such as MX Control or MX Bridge units). The MX Ultranet is
the single box replacement for the independent MX Net and MX Link
units present in earlier Vicon MX systems (for further details on the
earlier MX units, see Chapter 6 MX Link and Chapter 7 MX Net).
The MX Ultranet offers a greater system scalability, allowing you to
add additional MX Ultranet units to your Vicon MX architecture to
meet your needs. Only one MX Ultranet in any system will be
connected to the Host PC. In this book, this unit is referred to as the
primary MX Ultranet. Additional MX Ultranet units connected to this
primary MX Ultranet are referred to as secondary MX Ultranet units.
In a system incorporating multiple MX Ultranet units, the primary
MX Ultranet can also connect to up to four additional secondary
MX Ultranet units which enables larger numbers of cameras to be
used. Gigabit Ethernet communication between the MX Ultranet units
in such a system ensures adequate data flow for high marker counts
in real time. The primary MX Ultranet routes all communication to and
from the host PC, and timing/synchronization signals to and from the
MX cameras connected to it, as well as any secondary MX Ultranet
units on the system and their connected cameras. Using a fully
populated primary MX Ultranet in conjunction with four fully
populated secondary MX Ultranet units enables a total of 40 cameras
and alternative devices to be connected.
The MX Ultranet also provides GPIO functionality without the need for
an MX Control, and offers access to this through integration with
MX Sync. For further details on these MX units, see
Chapter 4 MX Control and Chapter 8 MX Sync.
An MX Ultranet acts as the synchronization master if an MX Control
is not included in the Vicon MX system architecture.
T h e M X U l tr a n e t i s a 1 U u n i t t h a t c a n b e r a c k -, wa l l - , o r f l o o r - mo un t e d
and stacked either horizontally or vertically.
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