9-pin I/O variant delivers full-speed Camera Link 2.0 acquisition in a smaller connector footprint

WOBURN, MA, JULY 16, 2026 -- BitFlow, Inc., a division of Advantech, offers the Axion 1xE-DS9T, a Camera Link 2.0 compliant frame grabber engineered for systems where board space is at a premium but image acquisition performance is non-negotiable. It is another example of the customer driven versatility and adaptability that BitFlow has been delivering for decades.

The Axion 1xE-DS9T takes the proven BitFlow Axion architecture and reworks its I/O to fit through a single 9-pin connector mounted directly on the board bracket with no external I/O cable required. It's a purpose-built option for OEMs and system integrators designing compact enclosures, multi-camera arrays, or panel-mount installations where BitFlow's standard CONN-DEV-C62 I/O Cable simply won't fit, and where the full breadth of its I/O options isn't needed in the first place.

"Not all applications require every I/O pin of the CONN-DEV-C62," noted Donal Waide, Director of Business Development, iSystems, Advantech. "The Axion 1xE-DS9T has the same Camera Link 2.0 acquisition performance BitFlow customers rely on, in a physical footprint that fits where the full I/O breakout can't. It's the right tool for the job when space is the constraint, not capability."

The Axion 1xE-DS9T connects over the PCIe x4 Gen 2 interface, giving machine vision systems the bandwidth and low-latency data path needed for demanding acquisition tasks. It supports a single Base, Medium, Full, or 80-bit (10-tap) Camera Link camera at clock speeds up to 85 MHz, covering the vast majority of Camera Link camera configurations in the field today. Power over Camera Link (PoCL) is fully supported, including dual-connector PoCL configurations, alongside standard non-PoCL cameras, giving integrators flexibility in camera selection without added external power hardware.

Where standard Axion 1xE frame grabbers route its full I/O set through the CONN-DEV-C62 cable for multi-camera triggering, encoder inputs, and general-purpose I/O, the DS9T condenses this down to a 9-pin connector on the board bracket itself. The tradeoff is a limited, purpose-fit I/O set: single-ended TTL encoder support only. For applications that don't require differential encoder inputs or the full breakout's channel count, this is a feature, not a compromise — fewer cables, less enclosure space, and a cleaner install.

Under the hood, the Axion 1xE-DS9T runs on BitFlow's proprietary StreamSync and FlowThru technologies. StreamSync keeps image acquisition tightly synchronized with system timing, while FlowThru manages DMA channel efficiency without requiring on-board frame memory, moving image data straight to host memory for lower latency and simpler system design. 

The Axion 1xE-DS9T is fully supported under both Windows and Linux with native driver support for the software environments engineers already use, including MATLAB, LabVIEW, HALCON, and VisionPro. Existing Axion-based applications can move to the Axion 1xE-DS9T with minimal integration overhead.

About BitFlow

BitFlow has been developing reliable, high-performance Frame Grabbers for use in imaging applications since 1993. BitFlow is the leader in CoaXPress and Camera Link frame grabbers, building the fastest frame grabbers in the world, with the highest camera/frame grabber densities, triggering performance, and price. With thousands of boards installed throughout the world, into hundreds of imaging applications, BitFlow is dedicated to using this knowledge and experience to provide customers with the best possible image acquisition and application development solutions. BitFlow, located in Woburn, MA, has distributors and resellers located all over the world including Asia, the Americas, and Europe. BitFlow was acquired by Advantech in 2023.

About Advantech

Advantech’s corporate vision is to enable an intelligent planet. The company is a global leader in the fields of IoT intelligent systems and embedded platforms. To embrace the trends of IoT, big data, and artificial intelligence, Advantech promotes IoT hardware and software solutions with the Edge Intelligence WISE-PaaS core to assist business partners and clients in connecting their industrial chains. Advantech is also working with business partners to co-create business ecosystems that accelerate the goal of industrial intelligence.