VXI VM4016 Computer Hardware User Manual


 
VXI Technology, Inc.
12 VM4016 Preparation for Use
Regardless of whether the VM4016 is configured with other VM4016 modules or with
other VMIPmodules, each group of 16 channels is treated as an independent instrument
in the VXIbus chassis and, as such, each group has its own FAIL and ACCESS light.
The FAIL LED is a Power/Fault indicator. When normal power up conditions exist, the
FAIL LED will illuminate green. When a power on fault condition occurs, the FAIL
LED will illuminate red. The ACC/ERR LED indicates communication status. When a
successful Access occurs, the LED will blink green during data transfer and
command/query operations. In the event of an unrecognized command, or other data
related error, the ACC/ERR LED will illuminate red. If there is no command/query
activity, and no errors, the ACC/ERR LED will be extinguished. The normal state of the
LEDs on a properly functioning idle instrument is for the FAIL LED to be green, and the
ACC/ERR LED to be off.
DESCRIPTION
The VM4016 is a high-performance Analog Comparator module with 16 input channels
per VMIP daughter module. Each input channel consists of a differential amplifier with
a gain of 1 or 0.1 giving an input range of ±10 volts or ±100 volts. Each input is
compared against a reference voltage derived from an independent 8-bit DAC.
Each input signal is digitally debounced for a programmed time ranging from
approximately 10
µ
s to 0.5 seconds. This prevents input signal noise from causing
undesired interrupts. After debounce, the signal may be programmatically inverted to
select the input transition edge of interest (rising or falling edge) and masked to prevent
unused channels from causing interrupts.
All of the masked inputs are OR’d together to produce a single interrupt signal. This
interrupt signal is used to generate a VXIbus interrupt as well as the front panel interrupt
outputs. All active input is recorded as a 1. Once the VXIbus interrupt is serviced by the
slot 0 controller, the First Latched Register will be cleared.
The state of each channel’s debounced input and the inverted and masked status may be
read directly in the user defined area of the VXIbus registers as can the First Latched
register. This information may also be retrieved using the message-based word serial
interface.
The block diagram of Figure 1-3 shows the overall functionality of the VM4016 Analog
Comparator instrument.
FIGURE 1-2: FRONT PANEL LAYOUT
bus
FAIL
ACC/
ERR
FAIL
ACC/
ERR
FAIL
ACC/
ERR
J200
J201
J202