Chapter 2
Functional Overview
© National Instruments Corporation
2 - 3
VXIpc-850 Series User Manual
The VXIpc-850 consists of the following logic blocks:
• CPU Card
The modular architecture of the VXIpc-850 contains a plug-in CPU
card that can accommodate various Pen tium- class processors. This
card includes the CPU, chipset support that connects the CPU
subsystem to the PCI bus, and the system cache and RAM.
• Video
The video circuitry is a plug-in PCI card that has a 64- bi t data path to
up to 4 MB of EDO DRAM.
• System I/O
This block has the bridge between the PCI bus and the ISA bus. It
also has PCI bus arbitration logic and integrates PC- specific
hardware such as the DMA and interrupt controllers.
• PCI Expansion Slot
This is a general- purpose PCI slot . It can accommodate any standard
5 V, 32-bit PCI card with a modified mounting bracket.
• ISA Expansion Slot
This is a general-purpose ISA expansion slot. It can accommodate a
full-length XT-size card; however, the DRAM configuration may
mechanically interfere with a full-length card. Refer to Appendix E
for more information.
• SCSI
The SCSI circuitry uses a PCI-SCSI bridge to provide a flexible
SCSI-2 connection on the front panel, usable for such devices as
external hard disks and CD-ROM drives.
• IDE
This is a dedicated PCI-IDE chip providing fast ATA-2 transfers to
the internal hard drive.
• PCMCIA
This is a dedicated PCI-PCMCIA interface that supports two
independent PCMCIA cards. One socket can accommodate a T ype I,
II, or III card while the other accommodates a Type I or II card.
• VXI
This is the PCI-VXIbus interface circuitry . The MITE is a National
Instruments ASIC developed to efficiently manage data transfers
between the VXIbus and the processor (via the PCI bus). The
MANTIS ASIC (also developed by National Instruments) performs
VXIbus arbitration and manages interrupts and triggers. Also part of
the VXIbus interface are the SMB connectors, which you can use to
route triggers and the CLK10 signal to or from the VXIbus.
• Ethernet
This is an ISA- based Ethernet circuit that uses an RJ-45 connector for
access to an external Ethernet-based LAN.
• GPIB
This logic block represents the IEEE 488.2 port on the VXIpc-850. It
uses the National Instruments TNT4882 ASIC fo r maximum
performance as an ISA-based GPIB controller.
• PC Peripherals
These blocks represent the other peripherals supplied by the
VXIpc-850, including PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports, two miniature
serial ports, and ECP/EPP parallel port, speaker jack, reset button,
and a 1.44 MB, 3 .5 in. floppy drive.