Chapter 1 Introduction
NI PXI-8184/8185 User Manual 1-4 ni.com
The NI PXI-8184/8185 consists of the following logic blocks on the
CPU module and the I/O (daughter card) module. The CPU module has
the following logic blocks:
• The Socket 370 CPU is the socket definition for the Intel Pentium III
processor families.
• The SO-DIMM block consists of a 64-bit SDRAM socket that can hold
up to 512 MB.
• The Chip Set GMCH connects to the CPU, SDRAM, and video.
• The SMB to PXI Trigger provides a routable connection of the
PXI triggers to/from the SMB on the front panel.
• The Watchdog Timer block consists of a watchdog timer that can reset
the controller or generate a trigger.
• The Chip Set ICH2 connects to the PCI bus USB, IDE, LPC, and
Ethernet ports.
• The USB Connector connects the chip set to the Universal Serial Bus
interface.
• The PXI Connector connects the NI PXI-8184/8185 to the
PXI/CompactPCI backplane.
• The Keyboard/Mouse block contains the PS/2 keyboard and mouse
interface.
• The Super I/O block represents the other peripherals supplied by the
NI PXI-8184/8185. The NI PXI-8184/8185 has up to two serial ports
and an ECP/EPP parallel port.
• The IDE block is dedicated PCI-IDE circuitry providing fast ATA-100
transfers to the internal hard drive. The IDE feature is built into the
chip set.
• The 10/100 Enet connects to either 10 Mbit or 100 Mbit Ethernet
interfaces.
• The 2.5 in. hard drive is 30 GB or larger.
National Instruments Software
National Instruments has developed several software kits you can use
with the NI PXI-8184/8185. The software is already installed on your
hard drive.
NI-DAQ has an extensive library of functions that you can call from your
application programming environment. These functions include routines
for analog input (A/D conversion), buffered data acquisition (high-speed