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Chapter 1 Introduction
PXI-8461 or PXI-8460 and NI-CAN for Windows 98/95 1-2 www.natinst.com
PXI-8460 physical layer conforms to the ISO 11519-2 physical layer
specification for CAN and is also optically isolated to 500 V. CAN
interfacing is accomplished using the Intel 82527 CAN controller chip. The
PXI-8461 supports a wide variety of transfer rates up to 1 Mb/s. The
PXI-8460 supports rates up to 125 kb/s. The CAN physical layer on the
PXI-8461 and PXI-8460 can be powered either internally (from the board)
or externally (from the bus cable power). The power source for the CAN
physical layer for each port is configured with a jumper.
PXI-8461 boards are available with two physical connector types:
• DB-9 D-Sub
• Combicon-style pluggable screw terminals
PXI-8460 boards are available with DB-9 D-Sub connectors.
The PXI-8461 and PXI-8460 boards use the Intel 386EX embedded
processor to implement time-critical features provided by the NI-CAN
software. The PXI-8461 and PXI-8460 communicate with the NI-CAN
driver through on-board shared memory and an interrupt.
NI-CAN Software Overview
The NI-CAN software includes a native, 32-bit multitasking Windows
driver that is fully Plug and Play aware. The driver components are
dynamically loaded when Windows detects new hardware and dynamically
unloaded when Windows detects the removal of hardware.
The NI-CAN software is fully integrated into the Windows operating
system. You can configure it through the Windows Device Manager and
uninstall it through the Add/Remove Programs applet of the Control Panel.
The NI-CAN software supports the concurrent use of multiple CAN
boards. For example, you can use both a PXI-8461 and a PCMCIA-CAN
in the same system at the same time.
The NI-CAN software, along with the PXI hardware, transforms your
computer into a CAN interface with complete communications and bus
management capability. The NI-CAN software includes the following
components:
• Firmware (runs on embedded Intel 386EX)
• Device driver
• Diagnostic test utility