Event Stream is a file format specification. It is meant as a standard for storing events streams, and can be used for transmitting events between electronic devices. The specification includes a versioning system, in order to allow massive changes while keeping backward compatibility. The recommended extension for Event Stream files is .es.
For a byte b, b[0] denotes the LSB (least significant bit) and b[7] denotes the MSB (most significant bit).
Every Event Stream file starts with a 15 bytes header:
| Position | Content |
|---|---|
| Bytes 0 to 11 | 0x45 0x76 0x65 0x6e 0x74 0x20 0x53 0x74 0x72 0x65 0x61 0x6d (Event Stream ASCII-encoded) |
| Byte 12 | Major version |
| Byte 13 | Minor version |
| Byte 14 | Patch version |
Version numbering follows the Semantic Versioning convention. Bytes 15 to the end are version dependent. The content description is given below.
The file can represent five types of streams: generic events, DVS events, ATIS events, Asynchronous & Modular Display events and color events. The type is stored in byte 15:
| Byte 15 | Stream type |
|---|---|
0x00 |
Generic events |
0x01 |
DVS events |
0x02 |
ATIS events |
0x03 |
Asynchronous & Modular Display events |
0x04 |
Color events |
Bytes 16 to the end can be any of reset, overflow, byte 0, size byte and data byte. The possible order of these bytes is given by the state machine:
The bytes encode the following data:
| Byte name | MSB | Bit 6 | Bit 5 | Bit 4 | Bit 3 | Bit 2 | Bit 1 | LSB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| reset | 1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| overflow | 1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| byte 0 | t[7] |
t[6] |
t[5] |
t[4] |
t[3] |
t[2] |
t[1] |
t[0] |
| size byte | s[6] |
s[5] |
s[4] |
s[3] |
s[2] |
s[1] |
s[0] |
is_last |
| data byte | d[7] |
d[6] |
d[5] |
d[4] |
d[3] |
d[2] |
d[1] |
d[0] |
reset is a special byte inserted when deemed necessary to correct state machine errors resulting from bit errors.
t encodes the time elapsed since the previous event in microseconds, and cannot be 0b11111110 nor 0b11111111. If this time is equal to or larger than 0b11111110 microseconds, one or several overflow bytes are inserted before the event. The actual time elapsed since the last event can be computed as the current event's timestamp plus 0b11111110 microseconds multiplied by the number of overflow bytes.
Each event's data payload starts with one or several size bytes, which encodes the number of data bytes to be read. The number n of data bytes to read is given by:
n = ∑ (s_i) << (7 * i)
where s_i, i ∈ [0, k - 1] denotes the (i + 1)th s value, and k the number of size bytes. The minimum number of size bytes depends on the number of data bytes. Events of the same stream can have different numbers of data bytes and different numbers of size bytes. n data bytes require at least Γlb(n + 1) / 7⅂ size bytes, where Γ…⅂ is the ceil function and lb(…) is the binary logarithm. Applications or devices generating generic events are encouraged to use this minimal number, though the Event Stream specification allows a larger number of size bytes.
is_last equals 0 for the last size byte before data bytes, and 1 otherwise.
d encodes user-provided data.
Bytes 16 to 19 encode the sensor's width and height:
| Byte name | MSB | Bit 6 | Bit 5 | Bit 4 | Bit 3 | Bit 2 | Bit 1 | LSB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| byte 16 | w[7] |
w[6] |
w[5] |
w[4] |
w[3] |
w[2] |
w[1] |
w[0] |
| byte 17 | w[15] |
w[14] |
w[13] |
w[12] |
w[11] |
w[10] |
w[9] |
w[8] |
| byte 18 | h[7] |
h[6] |
h[5] |
h[4] |
h[3] |
h[2] |
h[1] |
h[0] |
| byte 19 | h[15] |
h[14] |
h[13] |
h[12] |
h[11] |
h[10] |
h[9] |
h[8] |
w (respectively h) encodes the sensor's width (respectively height). An event's x (respectively y) coordinate must be in the integer range [0, w - 1] (respectively [0, h - 1]).
Bytes 20 to the end can be any of reset, overflow, byte 0, byte 1, byte 2, byte 3 and byte 4. The possible order of these bytes is given by the state machine:
The bytes encode the following data:
| Byte name | MSB | Bit 6 | Bit 5 | Bit 4 | Bit 3 | Bit 2 | Bit 1 | LSB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| reset | 1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| overflow | 1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| byte 0 | t[6] |
t[5] |
t[4] |
t[3] |
t[2] |
t[1] |
t[0] |
is_increase |
| byte 1 | x[7] |
x[6] |
x[5] |
x[4] |
x[3] |
x[2] |
x[1] |
x[0] |
| byte 2 | x[15] |
x[14] |
x[13] |
x[12] |
x[11] |
x[10] |
x[9] |
x[8] |
| byte 3 | y[7] |
y[6] |
y[5] |
y[4] |
y[3] |
y[2] |
y[1] |
y[0] |
| byte 4 | y[15] |
y[14] |
y[13] |
y[12] |
y[11] |
y[10] |
y[9] |
y[8] |
reset is a special event inserted when deemed necessary to correct state machine errors resulting from bit errors. reset bytes should be inserted five at a time, so that at least one byte is read while in idle state.
t encodes the time elapsed since the previous event in microseconds, and cannot be 0b1111111. If this time is equal or larger than 0b1111111 microseconds, one or several overflow bytes are inserted before the event. The actual time elapsed since the last event can be computed as the current event's timestamp plus 0b1111111 microseconds multiplied by the number of overflow bytes.
is_increase equals 1 for light increase events, and 0 otherwise.
x and y encode the pixel coordinates associated with the event.
Bytes 16 to 19 encode the sensor's width and height:
| Byte name | MSB | Bit 6 | Bit 5 | Bit 4 | Bit 3 | Bit 2 | Bit 1 | LSB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| byte 16 | w[7] |
w[6] |
w[5] |
w[4] |
w[3] |
w[2] |
w[1] |
w[0] |
| byte 17 | w[15] |
w[14] |
w[13] |
w[12] |
w[11] |
w[10] |
w[9] |
w[8] |
| byte 18 | h[7] |
h[6] |
h[5] |
h[4] |
h[3] |
h[2] |
h[1] |
h[0] |
| byte 19 | h[15] |
h[14] |
h[13] |
h[12] |
h[11] |
h[10] |
h[9] |
h[8] |
w (respectively h) encodes the sensor's width (respectively height). An event's x (respectively y) coordinate must be in the integer range [0, w - 1] (respectively [0, h - 1]).
Bytes 20 to the end can be any of reset, overflow, byte 0, byte 1, byte 2, byte 3 and byte 4. The possible order of these bytes is given by the state machine:
The bytes encode the following data:
| Byte name | MSB | Bit 6 | Bit 5 | Bit 4 | Bit 3 | Bit 2 | Bit 1 | LSB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| reset | 1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| overflow | 1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
overflow[1] |
overflow[0] |
| byte 0 | t[5] |
t[4] |
t[3] |
t[2] |
t[1] |
t[0] |
polarity |
is_tc |
| byte 1 | x[7] |
x[6] |
x[5] |
x[4] |
x[3] |
x[2] |
x[1] |
x[0] |
| byte 2 | x[15] |
x[14] |
x[13] |
x[12] |
x[11] |
x[10] |
x[9] |
x[8] |
| byte 3 | y[7] |
y[6] |
y[5] |
y[4] |
y[3] |
y[2] |
y[1] |
y[0] |
| byte 4 | y[15] |
y[14] |
y[13] |
y[12] |
y[11] |
y[10] |
y[9] |
y[8] |
reset is a special event inserted when deemed necessary to correct state machine errors resulting from bit errors. reset bytes should be inserted five at a time, so that at least one byte is read while in idle state.
t encodes the time elapsed since the previous event in microseconds, and cannot be 0b111111. If this time is equal or larger than 0b111111 microseconds, one or several overflow bytes are inserted before the event. The actual time elapsed since the last event can be computed as the current event's timestamp plus 0b111111 microseconds multiplied by the number encoded by overflow[0], overflow[1] for each overflow event.
is_tc equals 0 for a DVS event, and 1 for a threshold crossing (half an exposure measurement). polarity stores is_increase for a DVS event, and is_second for threshold crossing.
x and y encode the pixel coordinates associated with the event.
Bytes 16 to the end can be any of reset, overflow, byte 0, byte 1, byte 2 and byte_3. The possible order of these bytes is given by the state machine:
The bytes encode the following data:
| Byte name | MSB | Bit 6 | Bit 5 | Bit 4 | Bit 3 | Bit 2 | Bit 1 | LSB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| reset | 1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| overflow | 1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| byte 0 | t[7] |
t[6] |
t[5] |
t[4] |
t[3] |
t[2] |
t[1] |
t[0] |
| byte 1 | x[7] |
x[6] |
x[5] |
x[4] |
x[3] |
x[2] |
x[1] |
x[0] |
| byte 2 | y[7] |
y[6] |
y[5] |
y[4] |
y[3] |
y[2] |
y[1] |
y[0] |
| byte 3 | s[7] |
s[6] |
s[5] |
s[4] |
s[3] |
s[2] |
s[1] |
s[0] |
reset is a special event inserted when deemed necessary to correct state machine errors resulting from bit errors. reset bytes should be inserted four at a time, so that at least one byte is read while in idle state.
t encodes the time elapsed since the previous event in microseconds, and cannot be 0b11111110 nor 0b11111111. If this time is equal to or larger than 0b11111110 microseconds, one or several overflow bytes are inserted before the event. The actual time elapsed since the last event can be computed as the current event's timestamp plus 0b11111110 microseconds multiplied by the number of overflow bytes.
x and y encode the pixel coordinates associated with the event.
s encodes the current stage in the pyramid. Outside the display, its value should be 0b00000000 (see Asynchronous & modular display documentation for details).
Bytes 16 to 19 encode the sensor's width and height:
| Byte name | MSB | Bit 6 | Bit 5 | Bit 4 | Bit 3 | Bit 2 | Bit 1 | LSB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| byte 16 | w[7] |
w[6] |
w[5] |
w[4] |
w[3] |
w[2] |
w[1] |
w[0] |
| byte 17 | w[15] |
w[14] |
w[13] |
w[12] |
w[11] |
w[10] |
w[9] |
w[8] |
| byte 18 | h[7] |
h[6] |
h[5] |
h[4] |
h[3] |
h[2] |
h[1] |
h[0] |
| byte 19 | h[15] |
h[14] |
h[13] |
h[12] |
h[11] |
h[10] |
h[9] |
h[8] |
w (respectively h) encodes the sensor's width (respectively height). An event's x (respectively y) coordinate must be in the integer range [0, w - 1] (respectively [0, h - 1]).
Bytes 20 to the end can be any of reset, overflow, byte 0, byte 1, byte 2, byte 3, byte 4, byte 5, byte 6 and byte 7. The possible order of these bytes is given by the state machine:
The bytes encode the following data:
| Byte name | MSB | Bit 6 | Bit 5 | Bit 4 | Bit 3 | Bit 2 | Bit 1 | LSB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| reset | 1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| overflow | 1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| byte 0 | t[7] |
t[6] |
t[5] |
t[4] |
t[3] |
t[2] |
t[1] |
t[0] |
| byte 1 | x[7] |
x[6] |
x[5] |
x[4] |
x[3] |
x[2] |
x[1] |
x[0] |
| byte 2 | x[15] |
x[14] |
x[13] |
x[12] |
x[11] |
x[10] |
x[9] |
x[8] |
| byte 3 | y[7] |
y[6] |
y[5] |
y[4] |
y[3] |
y[2] |
y[1] |
y[0] |
| byte 4 | y[15] |
y[14] |
y[13] |
y[12] |
y[11] |
y[10] |
y[9] |
y[8] |
| byte 5 | r[7] |
r[6] |
r[5] |
r[4] |
r[3] |
r[2] |
r[1] |
r[0] |
| byte 6 | g[7] |
g[6] |
g[5] |
g[4] |
g[3] |
g[2] |
g[1] |
g[0] |
| byte 7 | b[7] |
b[6] |
b[5] |
b[4] |
b[3] |
b[2] |
b[1] |
b[0] |
reset is a special event inserted when deemed necessary to correct state machine errors resulting from bit errors. reset bytes should be inserted height at a time, so that at least one byte is read while in idle state.
t encodes the time elapsed since the previous event in microseconds, and cannot be 0b11111110 nor 0b11111111. If this time is equal to or larger than 0b11111110 microseconds, one or several overflow bytes are inserted before the event. The actual time elapsed since the last event can be computed as the current event's timestamp plus 0b11111110 microseconds multiplied by the number of overflow bytes.
x and y encode the pixel coordinates associated with the event.
r, g and b encode the red, green and blue color components.
See the LICENSE file for license rights and limitations (GNU GPLv3).