PCI Digitizers ATS860, User Manual

Page 1: ...ATS860 User Manual 8 Bit 250 MS s Waveform Digitizer for PCI Bus Written for Hardware Version 1 0 July 2006 Edition Part Number 860 USR 1...

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Page 3: ...e documentation for ATS860 send e mail to support alazartech com Information required when contacting AlazarTech for technical support Owned by ___________________________ Serial Number ______________...

Page 4: ...be liable for any damages arising out of or related to this document or the information contained in it The latest user manual can be found on the AlazarTech Inc web page at www alazartech com support...

Page 5: ...R ERRORS ON THE PART OF THE USER OR APPLICATIONS DESIGNER ADVERSE FACTORS SUCH AS THESE ARE HEREAFTER COLLECTIVELY TERMED SYSTEM FAILURES ANY APPLICATION WHERE A SYSTEM FAILURE WOULD CREATE A RISK OF...

Page 6: ...iance mark Consult the FCC web site http www fcc gov for more information FCC DOC Warnings This equipment generates and uses radio frequency energy and if not installed and used in strict accordance w...

Page 7: ...the EU or where compliance is not required as for electrically benign apparatus or cables To obtain the DoC for this product click Declaration of Conformity at http www alazartech com support documen...

Page 8: ...to Allow Proper Operation of ATS Class Digitizers 27 Updating ATS860 Driver 29 CHAPTER 3 HARDWARE OVERVIEW 31 Input Connectors 32 Signal Connections 33 Analog Input 34 Pipelined ADC 35 Pre Trigger Mu...

Page 9: ...ATS860 User Manual vii AutoDMA for PRF Captures 55 Continuous Data Capture Using Dual Port Memory 56 CHAPTER 4 USING API PANEL SOFTWARE 57 APPENDIX A SPECIFICATIONS 66...

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Page 11: ...ATS860 User Manual 1 Chapter 1 Introduction This chapter describes the ATS860 and lists additional equipment...

Page 12: ...us card Analog trigger channel with software selectable level and slope Software selectable AC DC coupling and 1M 50 input impedance Software selectable bandwidth limit switch independent for each cha...

Page 13: ...inux operating systems For programming in C C or Visual BASIC you must purchase the ATS SDK software development kit that comes with sample programs and a reference manual describing the API For progr...

Page 14: ...top oscilloscope To launch the Scope Soft Front Panel select Start Programs AlazarTech API Panel The following screen will be displayed If you connect the input to a signal generator and click on Star...

Page 15: ...provides the exact same API that is used for writing API Panel software To help you get started ATS SDK comes with examples you can use or modify ATS VI LabVIEW VI ATS VI allows you to integrate the A...

Page 16: ...Linux for ATS860 can be used for programming the ATS860 under Linux operating system A binary driver is supplied that has been compiled for Kernel 2 6 running on an i386 platform Sample program is sup...

Page 17: ...sories for use with your ATS860 digitizer ATS860 Dual Port Memory Upgrade ATS860 External Clock Upgrade ATS860 Trigger Output Upgrade ATS860 Master Slave SyncBoard 2 position ATS860 Master Slave SyncB...

Page 18: ...8 ATS860 User Manual Chapter 2 Installation and Configuration This chapter describes how to unpack install and configure your ATS860...

Page 19: ...u Need to Get Started To set up and use your ATS860 you will need the following One or more ATS860 digitizers ATS860 Install Disk For Master Slave operation only SyncBoard of appropriate width SyncBoa...

Page 20: ...10 ATS860 User Manual SyncBoard 4X for up to 4 digitizers SyncBoard 8X for up to 8 digitizers...

Page 21: ...cautions Ground yourself via a grounding strap or by holding a grounded object Touch the antistatic package to a metal part of your computer chassis before removing the digitizer from the package Remo...

Page 22: ...ver when prompted by the operating system 3 Install API Panel software that allows you to setup the hardware acquire signals and view and archive them 4 Optionally install the ATS SDK software develop...

Page 23: ...one of the free PCI slots For best noise performance leave as much room as possible between your ATS860 and other hardware Always screw the digitizer bracket to the chassis in order to create a stable...

Page 24: ...that will be configured as a Master Slave system make sure that you insert all cards in adjacent slots The connector on the SyncBoard that is labeled as M Master must be inserted into the Master Slav...

Page 25: ...mum number of digitizers supported by your SyncBoard the unused SyncBoard connectors must be on the right hand side of the digitizers if you are facing the BNC connectors of the ATS860 digitizers Once...

Page 26: ...not covered here Installation of Multiple ATS860 Digitizers If you are installing multiple ATS860 digitizers the operating system will detect one card at a time and you will have to go through the dr...

Page 27: ...Display a list of the known drivers for this device so that I can choose a specific driver Click Next c Operating system will display the Hardware Type dialog box Select System devices d Operating sys...

Page 28: ...stem will display the Update Driver Warning This warning is meant to tell you that Windows does not recognize the hardware Click Yes h Operating system will display the Start Device Driver Installatio...

Page 29: ...display the Welcome to the Found New Hardware Wizard Click Next b Operating system will display the Install Hardware Device Driver dialog box Select the radio button next to the text Display a list o...

Page 30: ...sure the AlazarTech ATS860 PCI Digitizer is selected Then click Next h Operating system will display the Update Driver Warning This warning is meant to tell you that Windows does not recognize the ha...

Page 31: ...r a Operating System will display the Welcome to the Found New Hardware Wizard Click on the radio button next to the text Install from a list or specific location Advanced Click Next b Operating Syste...

Page 32: ...you want to install for this hardware dialog box again Make sure the AlazarTech ATS860 PCI Digitizer is selected highlighted Click Next g Operating system will display the Update Driver Warning This w...

Page 33: ...nel folder on the ATS860 Install Disk Run Setup exe program Follow the instructions on the screen If you are installing API Panel after having downloaded the installation file from AlazarTech web site...

Page 34: ...S860 Insert the ATS SDK or ATS VI CD Software installation will start automatically If for any reason installation does not start automatically run the SETUP EXE program Follow the instructions on the...

Page 35: ...ng drivers for their own Linux operating system To install Linux drivers in a Fedora Core 4 system follow the instructions listed below 1 Copy the supplied RPM file to the target machine 2 Double clic...

Page 36: ...irectory then add the following line to the bashrc declare x PLX_SDK_DIR HOME PlxLinux 4 To build the ATS860 driver type cd PlxLinux linux driver builddriver 860 This will create the file Pci9056 ATS8...

Page 37: ...e screen crash and a STOP Error Typically this error message is STOP 0x0000000A 0x00000016 0x0000001C 0x00000000 0x804E5DEB For more details on this problem with anti virus software packages refer to...

Page 38: ...Norton Anti Virus Make sure AlazarTech hardware and software are fully functional Re install Norton Anti Virus software AlazarTech PCI digitizer products are fully compatible with all internet securi...

Page 39: ...y opening Start Settings Control Panel b Open System Properties dialog box by selecting or double clicking on the System menu c Click on Hardware tab in the dialog box d Click on Device Manager button...

Page 40: ...9 To complete the installation follow the instructions provided in the section labeled a Installing ATS860 Driver in Windows 98SE Or b Installing ATS860 Driver in Windows 2000 Or c Installing ATS860...

Page 41: ...nit making up your ATS860 and describes the signal connections Following is a high level block diagram of ATS860 P C I B U S CH A Analog Front End CH B Analog Front End EXT Trig Analog Front End A D C...

Page 42: ...g input connections one standard BNC female connector for the TRIG IN External Trigger input and one standard BNC female connector for TRIG OUT output The following pictorial shows the various connect...

Page 43: ...at require an external clock Note that you must select the appropriate jumper as shown in section Selecting External Clock Impedance and Coupling for the type of External Clock you are injecting If Tr...

Page 44: ...rammable input range of 5 V or 1 V The CH A CH B and EXT inputs have a software programmable coupling selection between AC and DC Use AC coupling when your AC signal contains a large DC component With...

Page 45: ...to acquire both pre and post trigger data when acquiring more than one record in an acquisition session This feature can be very useful in lightning test power line monitoring and other applications...

Page 46: ...is allowed to set pretrigger depth for an acquisition session Same values are used for all records captured in that session Pretrigger depth can be a minimum of 0 points and can be specified with a 3...

Page 47: ...namic performance ATS860 allows the user to set and reset the Amplifier Bypass Option using on board DIP switches The user can bypass the amplifier on any one or both channels of ATS860 The following...

Page 48: ...always ON connected Thus the input signal travels through the input amplifier and attenuator circuitry before being digitized by the ADC IC To select Amplifier Bypass Mode the switch settings must be...

Page 49: ...r Manual 39 The default setting of all four of the DIP switches is shown below ON 1 2 The black square represents the plastic tab for the switch Note that the actual tab may not be black It may in fac...

Page 50: ...shown below To re insert the input amplifier in the signal path i e to remove Amplifier Bypass Option change the DIP Switch setting of the Near and Far switches for that particular channel to be the s...

Page 51: ...e is listed on the CALIBRATION sticker affixed to your ATS860 digitizer Externally recalibrate the ATS860 when this calibration interval has expired This requires three very simple steps 1 Verify whet...

Page 52: ...tter between master and slave digitizers The unique design of the ATS860 clock circuit provides a buffered copy of the Master digitizer s clock to itself and all the slave digitizers thereby maintaini...

Page 53: ...ave system Good Installation Bad Installation You must connect the appropriate SyncBoard to all of the ATS860 digitizers in your system Note that all SyncBoards are polarized so you cannot make a mist...

Page 54: ...mple programs supplied with ATS SDK or ATS VI or any custom software written using ATS SDK or ATS VI If you run API Panel or your own software that loads the ATSApi DLL after having installed a SyncBo...

Page 55: ...not like to allocate large data buffers This implies that a large data buffer will inevitably thrash to disk slowing down display processing Secondly standard Windows draw routines are not optimized f...

Page 56: ...re details There are two types of External Clock supported by ATS860 Fast External Clock Slow External Clock The following paragraphs describe the three types of External Clock input and outline the r...

Page 57: ...racked by the 250 MHz internal clock and a sample is taken on every rising or falling clock edge As such there will be a timing error of 0 to 4 nanoseconds For low bandwidth signals this error can be...

Page 58: ...Switch selectable on the ATS860 A 4 pin 2 position DIP switch located on the secondary side in the top right corner of the board allows you to select between AC and DC coupling and 50 and approximate...

Page 59: ...is DC Otherwise it is AC If Switch 2 is set External Clock input impedance is 50 Otherwise it is approximately 10 K ON 1 2 ON 1 2 The black square represents the plastic tab for the switch Note that...

Page 60: ...0 ATS860 User Manual Here are the possible settings for this DIP switch ON 1 2 ON 1 2 ON 1 2 ON 1 2 AC Coupling 10K impedance AC Coupling 50 impedance DC Coupling 10K impedance DC Coupling 50 impedanc...

Page 61: ...ds on the type of input signal being used for external clocking If the input is a zero centered sine wave you can use DC coupling but if it is a PECL or CMOS signal it is advisable to use AC coupling...

Page 62: ...ftware generated event This means that if software has to play any appreciable part in data transfer then the data throughput cannot be guaranteed as the operating system will have the last say as to...

Page 63: ...n impact the interrupt latency Answer Hardware platforms and the configuration of the associated drivers that use the hardware do impact response times Some of the common issues include Video cards so...

Page 64: ...acquisition memory you cannot capture into it and vice versa This requires a software handshake which is heavily dependent on the operating system response time ATS860 solves this problem by providing...

Page 65: ...ess software involvement Of course software still has to set up the DMA when one of the buffers fills up but that can be done fairly quickly and the on board memory of 8 Megasamples acts as a very dee...

Page 66: ...do continuous data capture to PC memory at typical rates up to 10 MS s on two channels Note that due to diverse nature of PCs and motherboards in the market AlazarTech cannot guarantee proper operatio...

Page 67: ...hing API Panel You can launch API Panel by the following two methods 1 By double clicking on the API Panel desktop icon 2 By running Start Programs AlazarTech API Panel You will hear the clicking of s...

Page 68: ...anel screen is divided into five sections 1 Data Display Area 2 Hardware Control Area 3 Display Control Area 4 Information Area 5 Menu Area Data Display Area Menu Area Hardware Control Area Display Co...

Page 69: ...op down selection allows the user to select between the internal clock oscillator and the optional ECLK input The Sample Rate field selects the specified sampling rate when Internal Clock is selected...

Page 70: ...full scale input range of 1V Further note that API Panel does not allow the user to set a vertical scale greater than 1 V div 4 V full scale if 50 input impedance is selected for Channel B External Tr...

Page 71: ...de is usually employed for capturing transient signals that occur repeatedly In Single Shot mode the trigger system waits indefinitely for one single record capture or more multiple record capture tri...

Page 72: ...points Pre Trigger Depth must not exceed Record Length 64 Number of Records to Capture must not exceed the lower of 1000 or 8 000 000 Record Length 16 or for the 8M version and lower of 1000 or 128 0...

Page 73: ...re field in the Acquisition Memory Control section This feature is very useful if you are capturing signals using One Shot trigger mode The minimum setting of the timebase depends on the sampling cloc...

Page 74: ...cluded in the system and whether they are ATS860 or another type of digitizer Users can also expand each digitizer to see how many input channels that digitizer provides When one of the channels is se...

Page 75: ...menu to terminate API Panel Preferences menu allows the user to select whether the individual points should be displayed as circles or they should be connected by a straight line A Find Trigger comman...

Page 76: ...PI Panel requires Internet Explorer 5 0 or higher Power Requirements 5V 2 5 A typical for ATS860 8M 3 0 A typical for ATS860 128M 5V voltage level must remain between the range of 4 75V to 5 20V at al...

Page 77: ...500mV 800mV 1V 2V 4V 5V 8V and 10V software selectable 50 20mV 40mV 50mV 80mV 100mV 200mV 400mV 500mV 800mV 1V 2V and 4V software selectable DC accuracy 2 of full scale in all input ranges Input coupl...

Page 78: ...s Internal Clock or External Clock Optional Internal Sample Rates 250 MS s 125 MS s 50 MS s 25 MS s 10 MS s 5 MS s 2 MS s 1 MS s 500 KS s 200 KS s 100KS s 50 KS s 20KS s 10KS s Internal Clock accuracy...

Page 79: ...Trigger Engine Combination OR AND XOR software selectable Trigger Engine Source CH A CH B EXT Software or None independently software selectable for each of the two Trigger Engines Hysteresis 5 of ful...

Page 80: ...ange 5V or 1V software selectable DC accuracy 10 of full scale input Input protection 28V DC peak AC without external attenuation Coupling AC or DC software selectable Certification and Compliances CE...

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