Product category:
Embedded Computing and Control
News Release from: Acces I/O Products | Subject: Model 104-DA12-8A
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 12 September 2005
Board embeds waveform generation
capabilities
The latest PC/104 board from Acces I/O Products combines eight independent 12bit DACs with broadly configurable arbitrary waveform generation capabilities.
Acces I/O Products announces its latest PC/104 board, Model 104-DA12-8A Featuring eight independent 12bit digital-to-analogue convertors (DACs) and broadly configurable arbitrary waveform generation (ARB) capabilities, the board is an ideal choice for PC/104 embedded system designers
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 24 Jun 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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Boards embed four or eight switchable serial ports
The 104-COM-8S and 104-COM-4S are the latest additions to the line of PC/104 boards from Acces I/O Products.
Four Es a jolly good acquisition system
The Model E4-DAS takes its name from being an easy to use, Ethernet enabled, embedded and environmentally adaptable PC/104-based data acquisition system.
Other convenient features include simultaneous 4-20mA outputs, counters for precise timing and fused general-purpose +5 and +12V power outputs.
The 104-DA12-8A can be used in an assortment of PC/104-based embedded applications including stimulus-response, test, simulation, industrial equipment control and waveform/audio synthesis.
Arbitrary waveform generation capability becomes increasingly necessary as CPUs are burdened with a greater abundance of complex tasks.
An arbitrary waveform is a user-defined set of digital values specified point by point over time.
These values are then clocked through a DAC to provide the analogue output signal.
Virtually any waveform can be created using the software tools provided by Acces and also by third-party software packages.
The ARB relieves some of the load placed on the CPU by handling the waveform generation at the hardware level using onboard memory and control logic.
This is especially useful in time-critical applications as outputs remain unaffected by latencies inherent in popular operating systems.
Acces I/O's ARB architecture allows for flexibility in allocating the onboard RAM across the channels depending on the complexity of the desired waveform.
It is even possible to use the ARB for selected channels while operating the remaining channels in the software driven mode.
The 104-DA12-8A is supported for use in most operating systems and includes a free DOS, Linux and Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003 compatible software package.
This contains sample programs and source code in C for DOS, and Visual Basic, Delphi, C++ Builder and Visual C++ for Windows.
Also incorporated is a graphical setup program and utilities to generate waveforms in Windows.
Third-party support includes a Windows standard DLL interface usable from most popular application programs.
Embedded OS support includes Windows XPe and CE.
Linux support consists of installation files and basic samples for programming from user level via an open-source kernel driver.
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