Chapter 5
Functional Overview
5-4
www.ni.com
PCI or ISA Expansion
The VXIpc-872 motherboard can have an expansion slot for either one
full-length PCI expansion card or one 16-bit XT-height ISA bus card. You
can insert either one PCI or one ISA card, but not both at the same time.
Refer to Appendix D,
Modifying and Installing I/O Expansion Boards
, for
more information on using this expansion slot. The VXIpc-871 module
does not have this expansion slot.
IEEE 488.2/HS488 Interface
The VXIpc 870 Series uses the miniMITE and TNT4882 ASIC
(compatible with the National Instruments PCI-GPIB) to give full GPIB
control of external instruments via a front-panel connector. GPIB control
capability is fully IEEE 488.2 compatible. The GPIB interface on the
VXIpc 870 Series is fully compatible with the National Instruments
industry-standard NI-488.2 driver for a variety of operating systems.
Any software using NI-488.2 will run on the VXIpc 870 Series. Using the
high-speed HS488 protocol, the VXIpc 870 Series can transfer data at up
to 8 Mbytes/s.
PIIX4
The Intel PIIX4 is the bridge between the PCI bus and the ISA bus. It
features the basic PC counter/timers, interrupt controller, and DMA
controllers. It also connects to the USB port and to an Ultra DMA 33 IDE
interface. The Ultra DMA 33 interface is the fastest means to connect an
industry-standard IDE drive to the system.
Super IO
The Super IO block is the interface to standard PC functions, serial ports,
parallel port, floppy drive, and PS2 keyboard and mouse. The serial ports
can communicate at up to 460.8 kbits/s, and the parallel port supports all
modes of EPP and ECP standards.
NI WatchDOG
The NI WatchDOG is a general-purpose counter/timer that you can use to
monitor running applications and reset the embedded controller or assert a
signal should the system lock up. On a WatchDOG timeout, the
WatchDOG can assert any of the following:
•
Reset
•
VXI trigger line
