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National Instruments Corporation 1-1 AT-MIO/AI E Series User Manual
Introduction
Chapter
1
This chapter describes the AT E Series boards, lists what you need to
get started, describes the optional software and optional equipment, and
explains how to unpack your AT E Series board.
About the AT E Series
Thank you for buying a National Instruments AT E Series board. The
AT E Series boards are the first completely Plug and Play-compatible
multifunction analog, digital, and timing I/O boards for the PC AT and
compatible computers. This family of boards features 12-bit and 16-bit
ADCs with 16 and 64 analog inputs, 12-bit and 16-bit DACs with
voltage outputs, eight and 32 lines of TTL-compatible digital I/O, and
two 24-bit counter/timers for timing I/O. Because the AT E Series
boards have no DIP switches, jumpers, or potentiometers, they are
easily configured and calibrated using software.
The AT E Series boards are the first completely switchless and
jumperless data acquisition boards. This feature is made possible by the
National Instruments DAQ-PnP bus interface chip that connects the
board to the AT I/O bus. The DAQ-PnP implements the Plug and Play
ISA Specification so that the DMA, interrupts, and base I/O addresses
are all software configurable. This allows you to easily change the
AT E Series board configuration without having to remove the board
from your computer. The DAQ-STC makes possible such applications
as buffered pulse generation, equivalent time sampling, and seamlessly
changing the sampling rate.
The AT E Series boards use the National Instruments DAQ-STC
system timing controller for time-related functions. The DAQ-STC
consists of three timing groups that control analog input, analog output,
and general-purpose counter/timer functions. These groups include a
total of seven 24-bit and three 16-bit counters and a maximum timing
resolution of 50 ns.
A common problem with DAQ boards is that you cannot easily
synchronize several measurement functions to a common trigger or