Neousys PCIe-PoE-at Two and Four Port Gigabit 802.3at PoE+ Frame Grabber Cards

Machine vision and surveillance systems built around GigE cameras need a card that carries data and power on each cable, gives every camera its own port and behaves well when several cards share one motherboard. The Neousys PCIe-PoE-at series is a family of PoE+ frame grabber cards built for that, in two-port and four-port versions that share one controller family and feature set.

Both cards use an Intel I350 Gigabit Ethernet controller with checksum offloading, segmentation offloading and intelligent interrupt moderation to raise Ethernet performance and reduce CPU utilisation. Every port is an independent GigE link supporting 9.5 kB jumbo frames, teaming and IEEE 1588. The host interface is Gen2 PCI Express x4 with 2GB/s total bandwidth, and the single-bus, multi-port topology minimises compatibility issues with off-the-shelf motherboards when several cards are installed. Each port delivers up to 25.5 W under IEEE 802.3at-2009 with per-port PoE+ on/off control, and cable runs reach 100 metres over CAT-5e or CAT-6.

The PCIe-PoE354at has four ports on an Intel I350-AM4. It takes the 12 V for powered devices from either the PCI Express bus or an onboard 4-pin power connector, chosen by a user-configurable jumper, and draws a maximum of 1.2 A at 3.3 V and 5.5 A at 12 V. The PCIe-PoE352at has two ports on an Intel I350-AM2 and takes its PoE power directly from the PCI Express bus, so no external 12 V is needed; it draws a maximum of 0.9 A at 3.3 V and 4.8 A at 12 V.

Both cards operate from 0 to 55 °C and measure 168 x 111 mm, with a heat sink over the controller. The datasheet shows CE and FCC marks. Neousys names machine vision as the main application and notes that 25.5 W per port can power PTZ cameras for surveillance. We supply either card on its own or fit it to vision and surveillance systems we build, and can help size the PoE load against the chosen power source. The two-port build suits hosts where only bus power is available, while the four-port build suits hosts with a spare 4-pin supply.