AOP-8
8 Channel Analogue
Output Board
User Manual
AOP-8
User Manual
Document Part N°0127-1011
Document Reference 0127-1011.Doc
Document Issue Level 1.0
Manual covers PCBs identified AOP-8 Rev. B
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded or otherwise,
without the prior permission, in writing, from the publisher. For permission in the UK contact Blue Chip
Technology.
Information offered in this manual is correct at the time of printing. Blue Chip Technology accepts no
responsibility for any inaccuracies. This information is subject to change without notice.
All trademarks and registered names acknowledged.
Blue Chip Technology Ltd.,
Chowley Oak, Tattenhall
Chester, Cheshire
CH3 9EX.
Telephone : 01829 772000 Facsimile : 01829 772001.
Amendment History
Issue
Level Issue
Date Author Amendment Details
0.1 08.05.89 JSD First draft
1.0 12.09.97 SEJ Update window front cover and logo. See
ECN 98/084
Contents
Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271011.doc
OUTLINE DESCRIPTION ..................................................................1
1.0 SPECIFICATIONS .......................................................................2
1.1 Electrical Specification.............................................................2
1.2 Physical Specification ..............................................................2
Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC).............................................2
2.0 USER ADJUSTMENTS................................................................5
2.1 Selecting the Base Address......................................................5
2.2 Port Map..................................................................................6
3.0 ELECTRICAL OPTIONS..............................................................8
3.1 Output Connections..................................................................8
3.2 Connector Pin Details...............................................................9
4.0 OPERATING GUIDE..................................................................10
4.1 Using the Device....................................................................10
4.2 Programming Guide...............................................................10
4.3 User Options..........................................................................11
5.0 COMMERCIAL DATA ACQUISITION PACKAGES ...................12
5.1 Use of the AOP-8 Board with ASYST....................................12
APPENDIX A ...................................................................................13
APPENDIX B - PC MAPS.................................................................15
PC/XT/AT I/O Address Map .........................................................15
PC/XT Interrupt Map....................................................................16
PC/AT Interrupt Map....................................................................17
Outline Description Page 1
Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271011.doc Page 1
OUTLINE DESCRIPTION
This card provides 8 analogue outputs in the range 0-10V, at up to 10mA per
channel.
Page 2 Specifications
Page 201271011.doc Blue Chip Technology Ltd.
1.0 SPECIFICATIONS
1.1 Electrical Specification
Number of Outputs 8
Max Output Voltage 10.24V D.C.
Max Load Current 10mA D.C.
1.2 Physical Specification
Height 107mm
Width 15mm
Depth 132mm
Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC)
This product meets the requirements of the European EMC Directive
(89/336/EEC) and is eligible to bear the CE mark.
It has been assessed operating in a Blue Chip Technology Icon industrial PC.
However, because the board can be installed in a variety of computers, certain
conditions have to be applied to ensure that the compatibility is maintained. It
meets the requirements for an industrial environment (Class A product) subject
to those conditions.
• The board must be installed in a computer system which provides screening
suitable for the industrial environment.
• Any recommendations made by the computer system manufacturer/supplier
must be complied with regarding earthing and the installation of boards.
• The board must be installed with the backplate securely screwed to the
chassis of the computer to ensure good metal-to-metal (i.e. earth) contact.
Specifications Page 3
Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271011.doc Page 3
• Most EMC problems are caused by the external cabling to the board.
Analogue boards fitted with IDC ribbon cable connectors on the metal
mounting bracket require particularly careful installation of the external
cabling. It is imperative that any external cabling to the board is totally
screened, and that the screen of the cable connects to the metal end bracket
of the board and hence to earth. The cabling must be totally screened; the
type of ribbon cable which is rolled to a round form with a braided wire
screen is best. Standard ribbon cable will not be adequate unless it is
contained wholly within the cabinetry housing the industrial PC. Keep the
unscreened section as short as possible. The mounting bracket of the board
includes a captive nut as an screen earth point. Connect the screen of the
cable to this by the shortest possible wire.
• If difficulty with interference is experienced the cable should also be fitted
with a ferrite clamp as close possible to the connector. The preferred type is
the Chomerics clip-on style, type H8FE-1004-AS.
• It is recommended that cables are kept as short as possible, particularly
when dealing with low level signals.
• Ensure that the screen of the external cable is bonded to a good RF earth at
the remote end of the cable.
Failure to observe these recommendations may invalidate the EMC compliance.
Warning
This is a Class A product. In a domestic environment this
product may cause radio interference in which case the user may
be required to take adequate measures.
Page 4 Specifications
Page 401271011.doc Blue Chip Technology Ltd.
EMC Specification
A Blue Chip Technology Icon industrial PC fitted with this card meets the
following specification:
Emissions EN 55022:1995
RadiatedClass A
Conducted Class A & B
Immunity EN 50082-1:1992 incorporating:
Electrostatic Discharge IEC 801-2:1984
Performance Criteria B
Radio Frequency Susceptibility IEC 801-3:1984
Performance Criteria A
Fast Burst Transients IEC 801-4:1988
Performance Criteria B
User Adjustments Page 5
Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271011.doc Page 5
2.0 USER ADJUSTMENTS
2.1 Selecting the Base Address
The board may be located in any 62 pin slot in the PC motherboard but must be
set up to appear at a specified position (or ‘address’) in the port map. Available
positions are shown in the IBM-PC Technical Reference Guide. However, for
those who do not possess a copy of this document a good place is the location
normally allocated to the prototyping card as supplied by IBM. This address is
300 Hex or 768 decimal.
All Blue Chip Technology cards are preset to this address at the factory.
However, no two devices should be used while set to the same address since
contention will occur and neither board will work. If your machine contains a
card with conflicting address then another reasonably safe address is 200 to 21F
(Hex).
A set of links is provided on the board to set the base address of the board
within the IBM-PC port map. The address is in binary with the presence of a
link representing a 0 and the absence of a link representing a 1.
To set the base address to 768 Decimal (300 Hex) set the following pattern on
the links as indicated:
Page 6User Adjustments
Page 601271011.doc Blue Chip Technology Ltd.
Figure 1 - Selecting the Base Address
Note: View board with back panel on RHS.
Middle 6 Bits of port address on links.
40
10 20
LSB
200
80 100
MSB
More example addresses are shown in Appendix A.
Note: No two cards must occupy the same address.
2.2 Port Map
The AOP card has up to eight 12 bit analogue output channels. These are
arranged as up to eight pairs of 8 bit ports. One port holds the 8 low bits and
the other the 4 high bits of the desired 12 bit output value. This is shown
below:
Address Write Read
Base + 0 Channel 0 low 8 bits N/A
Base + 1 Channel 0 high 4 bits N/A
Base + 2 Channel 1 low 8 bits N/A
Base + 3 Channel 1 high 4 bits N/A
Base + 4 Channel 2 low 8 bits N/A
Base + 5 Channel 2 high 4 bits N/A
Base + 6 Channel 3 low 8 bits N/A
Base + 7 Channel 3 high 4 bits N/A
Base + 8 Channel 4 low 8 bits N/A
Base + 9 Channel 4 high 4 bits N/A
Base + 10 Channel 5 low 8 bits N/A
Base + 11 Channel 5 high bits N/A
Base + 12 Channel 6 low bits N/A
Base + 13 Channel 6 high bits N/A
Base + 14 Channel 7 low bits N/A
Base + 15 Channel 7 high 4 bits UPDATE
User Adjustments Page 7
Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271011.doc Page 7
For AOP-2, AOP-4 and AOP-6 all channels begin at 0 e.g. AOP-2 uses Base
+ 0 to Base + 3 other channels are unpopulated.
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
ADDRESS XX0H (W/O)
CHANNELS 0 DATA
(BITS 7-0)
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
ADDRESS XX1H (W/O)
CHANNELS 0 DATA
(BITS 11-8)
Page 8 Electrical Options
Page 801271011.doc Blue Chip Technology Ltd.
3.0 ELECTRICAL OPTIONS
3.1 Output Connections
A 50 way insulation displacement connector (IDC) is provided on the PC rear
panel of the board for output signal connection. If access to individual channels
is required, a 50 way IDC ribbon cable may be used to connect the outputs to a
50 way screw terminal block available from Blue Chip Technology as part
number ST-24.
The functions of the pins are shown in Section 3.2.
When the connector is viewed from the back of the system, odd numbered pins
are on the left and even numbered pins are on the right with pin 1 at the top of
the connector.
Pin Detail
Pin 1Ο Ο Pin 2
Pin 3Ο Ο Pin 4
Ο Ο Ο .
.Ο Ο .
. .
. .
. .
.Ο Ο .
.Ο Ο .
Pin 47 Ο Ο Pin 48
Pin 49 Ο Ο Pin 50
View with gold edge connectors downwards.
Electrical Options Page 9
Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271011.doc Page 9
3.2 Connector Pin Details
Function Pin Pin Function
Channel 0 + ve 1 o o 2 Analogue Ground
Channel 1 + ve 3 o o 4 Analogue Ground
Channel 2 + ve 5 o o 6 Analogue Ground
Channel 3 + ve 7 o o 8 Analogue Ground
Channel 4 + ve 9 o o 10 Analogue Ground
Channel 5 + ve 11 o o 12 Analogue Ground
Channel 6 + ve 13 o o 14 Analogue Ground
Channel 7 + ve 15 o o 16 Analogue Ground
Analogue Ground 17 o o 18 Analogue Ground
Analogue Ground 19 o o 20 Analogue Ground
Analogue Ground 21 o o 22 Analogue Ground
Analogue Ground 23 o o 24 Analogue Ground
Analogue Ground 25 o o 26 Analogue Ground
Analogue Ground 27 o o 28 Analogue Ground
Analogue Ground 29 o o 30 Analogue Ground
Analogue Ground 31 o o 32 Analogue Ground
Analogue Ground 33 o o 34 Analogue Ground
Analogue Ground 35 o o 36 Analogue Ground
Analogue Ground 37 o o 38 Analogue Ground
Analogue Ground 39 o o 40 Analogue Ground
Analogue Ground 41 o o 42 Analogue Ground
Analogue Ground 43 o o 44 6 Analogue Ground
Analogue Ground 45 o o 46 Analogue Ground
Analogue Ground 47 o o 48 Analogue Ground
0V 49 o o 50 0V
Page 10 Operating Guide
Page 10 01271011.doc Blue Chip Technology Ltd.
4.0 OPERATING GUIDE
4.1 Using the Device
The normal method of setting an output is:
1. Load data by writing to low byte port.
2. Load data on writing to high NIBL port.
3. Strobe data to output by reading UPDATE port.
The digital to analogue converters used on this board contain a buffer and the
data is initially written into this buffer without changing the output voltage.
The output voltages are not altered until the UPDATE command is performed
which transfers the data from all buffers to their respective output register
without altering the data in the buffers. Thus single channels may be updated
using an UPDATE command immediately after loading data for one channel, or
several output signals may be changed simultaneously by first loading data into
the relevant buffers and then issuing the UPDATE command.
The procedure for a single output is illustrated in the software example.
4.2 Programming Guide
The output signals may be set as shown in the following example using
Microsoft BASIC A or GW BASIC:
10 INPUT ″Enter voltage required″:V
20 BITS = V*400
30 TOP = INT(BITS/256)
40 BOT = INT (BITS-256xTOP)
50 OUT &H300,BOT ′Set bottom byte
60 OUT &H301, TOP ′Set top NIBL
70 A= INP (&H30F)
This example assumes a standard board set for 2.5mV/bit or 0-10.24V output
and sets only channel 0 as controlled by the ′OUT′ statements in lines
50 and 60.
Operating Guide Page 11
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4.3 User Options
a. Grounding
The analogue ground for the outputs can be linked to digital ground
using a link option (LKB). When the link is fitted the two grounds are
connected. Conversely with the link removed the grounds are allowed
to float at different voltages up to +/- 0.6V under the clamping action
of diodes D2 and D3.
b. Calibration
A 10V reference is generated for all channels from diode D1 and IC5.
This voltage may be trimmed using RV5 or completely re-scaled by
changing R1, R2 or D1. Individual channels can be trimmed by
trimpots as follows:
Channel Trimpot Ref.
0RV2
1RV1
2RV7
3RV6
4RV4
5RV3
6RV9
7RV8
Page 12 Commercial Data Acquisition Packages
Page 12 01271011.doc Blue Chip Technology Ltd.
5.0 COMMERCIAL DATA ACQUISITION PACKAGES
The Blue Chip Technology DOP-24 can be used with almost any data
acquisition or control package that can write information directly to a PC output
port.
5.1 Use of the AOP-8 Board with ASYST
The board has been tested with and is installable as an IO.PORT digital device
in the ASYST scientific software package by Macmillan Software Company.
For more details about this package and other PC data acquisition software,
please contact Blue Chip Technology.
Whilst every effort has been taken to ensure that the information provided is
accurate, Blue Chip Technology cannot assume responsibility for any errors in
this manual or their consequences. Should any errors be detected, the company
would greatly appreciate being informed of them. A policy of continuos product
development is operated, resulting in the contents of this document being
subject to change without notice.
Appendix A Page 13
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APPENDIX A
Note view board with back panel on RHS.
Address Settings for Port 300H
40
10 20
LSB
200
80 100
MSB
Address Settings for Port 200H
40
10 20
LSB
200
80 100
MSB
Address Settings for Port 210H
40
10 20
LSB
200
80 100
MSB
Page 14 Appendix A
Page 14 01271011.doc Blue Chip Technology Ltd.
Address Settings for Port 220H
40
10 20
LSB
200
80 100
MSB
Address Settings for Port 230H
40
LSB
10 20 200
80 100
MSB
Appendix B Page 15
Blue Chip Technology Ltd. 01271011.doc Page 15
APPENDIX B - PC MAPS
PC/XT/AT I/O Address Map
Address Allocated to:
000-01F DMA Controller 1 (8237A-5)
020-03F Interrupt Controller 1 (8259A)
040-05F Timer (8254)
060-06F Keyboard Controller (8742) Control Port B
070-07F RTC and CMOS RAM, NMI Mask (Write)
080-09F DMA Page Register (Memory Mapper)
0A0-0BF Interrupt Controller 2 (8259)
0F0 Clear NPX (80287) Busy
0F1 Reset NPX (80287)
0F8-0FF Numeric Processor Extension (80287)
1F0-1F8 Hard Disk Drive Controller
200-207 Reserved
278-27F Reserved for Parallel Printer Port 2
2F8-2FF Reserved for Serial Port 2
300-31F Reserved
360-36F Reserved
378-37F Parallel Printer Port 1
380-38F Reserved for SDLC Communications, Bisync 2
3A0-3AF Reserved for Bisync 1
3B0-3BF Reserved
3C0-3CF Reserved
3D0-3DF Display Controller
3F0-3F7 Diskette Drive Controller
3F8-3FF Serial Port 1
Page 16 Appendix B
Page 16 01271011.doc Blue Chip Technology Ltd.
PC/XT Interrupt Map
Number Allocated to:
NMI Parity
0Timer
1Keyboard
2Reserved
3Asynchronous Communications (Secondary)
SDLC Communications
4Asynchronous Communications (Primary)
SDLC Communications
5Fixed Disk
6Diskette
7Parallel Printer
Appendix B Page 17
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PC/AT Interrupt Map
Level Allocated to:
CPU NMI Parity or I/O Channel Check
CTLR 1 CTLR 2 (Interrupt Controllers)
IRQ 0 Timer Output 0
IRQ 1 Keyboard (Output Buffer Full)
IRQ 2 Interrupt from CTLR 2
IRQ 8 Real-time Clock Interrupt
IRQ 9 S/w Redirected to INT 0AH (IRQ 2)
IRQ 10 Reserved
IRQ 11 Reserved
IRQ 12 Reserved
IRQ 13 Co-processor
IRQ 14 Fixed Disk Controller
IRQ 15 Reserved
IRQ 3 Serial Port 2
IRQ 4 Serial Port 1
IRQ 5 Parallel Port 2
IRQ 6 Diskette Controller
IRQ 7 Parallel Port 1
Typical Methods of Interfacing from an AOP card to other Circuitry
HEATER
LM35
OUT
AOP
P1/1
0V
5V
TEMP'
SENSOR
The Analogue Output card can be used as a
voltage reference in a closed loop temperature
monitoring circuit
Voltage
to
frequency
FCLK
AOP
P1/1
Vin
The Analogue Output can be fed into
a voltage to frequency converter
