Video Streaming and Device Control Over Ethernet Standard
version 2.0
(includes errata up to March 13, 2013)
900 Victors Way, Suite 140 • Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108 USA • www.visiononline.org
GigE Vision
®
Specification
version 2.0
V2.0.03 April 16, 2013 Page 2 of 427
GigE Vision Licensing and Logo Usage
GigE Vision is a widely adopted standard and is used on hundreds of products on the market
today.
The standard was designed so that users of the technology can quickly and easily identify
GigE Vision compliant products that will interoperate and “plug and play” with each other.
All commercial products developed using the GigE vision standard must license the standard
and qualify for the right to use the name and logo. To qualify, each product must have the
proper paperwork submitted to the AIA and must pass GigE Vision compliance testing.
More information on licensing GigE Vision can be found at
www.visiononline.org/standards
The GigE Vision logo may be used only in conjunction with licensed
products which have passed GigE Vision compliance testing.
Special Note
This version of the GigE Vision standard text includes all errata that have been identified in the main text
since the release 2.0 of the specification. These errata are highlighted using a light green background color.
A comprehensive list of the changes can be found in the Document History section at the end of the
document.
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, in an electronic retrieval system or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of the AIA.
© 2013 AIA All rights reserved
GigE Vision
®
Specification
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Table of Content
1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 22
1.1 Purpose ............................................................................................................................................ 22
1.2 Technical Committee ...................................................................................................................... 22
1.2.1 Version 2.0 .................................................................................................................................. 23
1.3 Definitions and Acronyms .............................................................................................................. 24
1.3.1 Definitions................................................................................................................................... 24
1.3.2 Requirements Terminology ........................................................................................................ 26
1.3.3 Acronyms .................................................................................................................................... 27
1.4 Reference Documents ..................................................................................................................... 29
1.5 Document Typographic Convention ............................................................................................... 31
1.6 Liability Disclaimer ........................................................................................................................ 32
1.7 System Overview ............................................................................................................................ 32
PART 1 – Device Discovery ................................................................................ 35
2 Device Discovery Summary ................................................................................................................... 36
2.1 Overview ......................................................................................................................................... 36
2.2 Goals ............................................................................................................................................... 37
2.3 Scope ............................................................................................................................................... 37
3 Physical Link Configuration ................................................................................................................... 38
3.1 Single Link Configuration .............................................................................................................. 39
3.2 Multiple Links Configuration ......................................................................................................... 39
3.2.1 Load Balancing Considerations .................................................................................................. 40
3.3 Link Aggregation Group Configuration ......................................................................................... 40
3.3.1 Network Interface ....................................................................................................................... 41
3.3.2 GVCP Impacts ............................................................................................................................ 41
3.3.3 GVSP Impacts ............................................................................................................................. 41
3.3.4 Static LAG vs Dynamic LAG ..................................................................................................... 42
3.3.5 Events for LAG ........................................................................................................................... 42
4 IP Configuration...................................................................................................................................... 44
4.1 Protocol Selection ........................................................................................................................... 44
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4.2 Persistent IP .................................................................................................................................... 46
4.3 DHCP .............................................................................................................................................. 48
4.3.1 DHCP Retransmission Strategy .................................................................................................. 49
4.3.2 DHCP Lease Expiration .............................................................................................................. 50
4.4 Link-Local Address ........................................................................................................................ 50
5 Device Enumeration................................................................................................................................ 52
5.1 GVCP Device Discovery ................................................................................................................ 52
5.1.1 Broadcast Device Discovery ....................................................................................................... 53
5.1.2 Unicast Device Discovery........................................................................................................... 53
5.1.3 Associating the Device to the Enumeration List ......................................................................... 53
5.2 Zeroconf Discovery ........................................................................................................................ 53
5.2.1 Multicast DNS (mDNS) .............................................................................................................. 55
5.2.2 DNS Service Discovery (DNS-SD) ............................................................................................ 56
6 Device Attachment and Removal ........................................................................................................... 60
6.1.1 Removal ...................................................................................................................................... 60
6.1.2 Attachment .................................................................................................................................. 60
PART 2 – GVCP ................................................................................................... 61
7 GVCP Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 62
7.1 Overview ......................................................................................................................................... 62
7.2 Goals ............................................................................................................................................... 62
7.3 Scope ............................................................................................................................................... 62
8 GVCP Transport Protocol Considerations .............................................................................................. 64
8.1 UDP................................................................................................................................................. 64
8.1.1 Fragmentation ............................................................................................................................. 64
8.1.2 Packet Size Requirements ........................................................................................................... 65
8.1.3 Reliability and Error Recovery ................................................................................................... 65
8.1.4 Flow Control ............................................................................................................................... 69
8.1.5 End-to-End Connection .............................................................................................................. 69
9 The Channel Concept .............................................................................................................................. 70
10 Control Channel ...................................................................................................................................... 73
10.1 Control Channel Privileges ............................................................................................................. 74
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10.2 Control Channel Registers .............................................................................................................. 78
10.3 Opening a Control Channel ............................................................................................................ 78
10.4 Closing a Control Channel .............................................................................................................. 79
10.5 Control Channel Heartbeat ............................................................................................................. 80
10.6 Controlling the Device .................................................................................................................... 81
10.7 Use of Pending Acknowledge ......................................................................................................... 82
11 Stream Channel ....................................................................................................................................... 86
11.1 Stream Channel Registers ............................................................................................................... 86
11.2 Tagging Data Block ........................................................................................................................ 87
11.3 Opening a Stream Channel ............................................................................................................. 89
11.4 Operation of the Stream Channel .................................................................................................... 89
11.5 Closing a Stream Channel ............................................................................................................... 89
11.6 Packet Size ...................................................................................................................................... 90
11.7 Multicasting .................................................................................................................................... 91
11.8 Impact of Multiple Network Interfaces ........................................................................................... 91
11.9 Traversing Firewalls or Network Address Translation Devices ..................................................... 91
11.10 Unconditional Streaming ................................................................................................................ 92
12 Message Channel .................................................................................................................................... 93
12.1 Message Channel Registers ............................................................................................................ 93
12.2 Opening the Message Channel........................................................................................................ 93
12.3 Operation of the Message Channel ................................................................................................. 94
12.4 Closing the Message Channel ......................................................................................................... 94
12.5 Asynchronous Events...................................................................................................................... 95
12.6 Multicasting .................................................................................................................................... 95
12.7 Traversing Firewalls or Network Address Translation Device ...................................................... 95
13 Device with Multiple Network Interfaces ............................................................................................... 97
13.1 Impact on Control Channel ............................................................................................................. 97
13.2 Impact on Stream Channels ............................................................................................................ 97
13.3 Impact on Message Channel ........................................................................................................... 97
14 Additional Concepts................................................................................................................................ 98
14.1 Retrieving the XML Device Description File ................................................................................. 98
14.1.1 Device Non-Volatile Memory ................................................................................................ 99
