Basics & Configurator/ Electronics/
Interfacing the Computer
Controlling - Timing
- Buffering - Triggering
The tasks of the interface section are to
interact with the host computer, to control periphery if
needed (see periphery site for more details). As main function
with the host computer interaction the START pulse is generated
on the interface board, thus controlling the readout timing
of the detector array. Precise timimg is required because
the integration time influences directly the amount of signal
acquired. For 16 bit accuracy a timing accuracy of 0.15µs
(at 10ms integration time) has to be guaranteed. The other
important task is to buffer the data transfer to the RAM
of the host computer.
The following PC oriented interfaces are
supported by the tec5 Operating Electronics:
|
Type
|
Detectors
/ Spectral Sensors |
Advantages |
Disadvantages |
Products |
|
PCI
|
all
|
reasonably
fast, accurate timing |
permanently
installed |
PD-PCIV1
|
|
USB
|
all
|
high-speed
(2.0), fleexible, easy to use |
power
supply required |
PD-USB
|
|
RS-232
|
no CCDs
|
standard
interface |
old,
slow |
on demand |
|
RS-485
|
no CCDs
|
long
dfistance operation (up to 1km) |
old,
slow |
on demand
|
|
ISA
|
no CCDs
|
- |
old,
slow |
on demand
|
|
PC/104
|
all
|
compact |
interface
not perfectly specified |
on demand
|
The interfaces of all interface boards to
the Front End Electronics are all compatible electronically
(except for ISA).
The latest drivers can be downloaded from
the tec5
support site.
