9323 Hamilton Drive Mentor, Ohio 44060 USA Tel:+1-440-357-1400 Fax:+1-440-357-1416

Scientific Solutions ^®Inc.,

BaseBoard ^® / ISA

Product Description

The BaseBoard provides flexible, programmable digital input/output for the PC. 96 lines of TTL compatible Digital I/O (in sets of 24) are distributed on four 40-pin header connectors across one full size PC board. The BaseBoard has hardware interrupt capability when handshaking configurations are enabled. Optional plug in opto-isolation boards provide both over-voltage protection to +2500V and buffer/driver capability to +30V and +80mA.

Our Solution Includes

• BaseBoard Digital I/O card for your computer
  
• BaseBoard Handbook
• Test software and example programs

Key Features

• 96 lines of TTL compatible input/output
• I/O lines programmable in sets (ports) of 8
• Eight ports can be used with two-wire handshaking
• Four ports can be used as bi-directional I/O with four-wire handshaking
• Supports hardware interrupts
• Optional plug-in opto-isolation modules

Applications

• Energy Management
• Social-Psychological Research
• Physiological Experimentation
• Test and Measurement
• Process Automation
• Relay Control
• Switch On/Off Detection
• BCD Data Transfer
• Programmable Controller
• Stepper Motor Control

Functional Description

The BaseBoard is an ISA board that installs internally into an expansion slot of a PC. Four 8255A Peripheral Port Interface (PPI) chips provide 96 lines of digital I/O. Each 8255A has a separate 40-pin header connector to carry the 24 digital I/O lines plus ground and power lines. This arrangement allows up to four plug-in opto-isolation boards to be used. Ribbon cables or screw terminal boards with cables are also available to ease interfacing to external signals.

Digital Input/Output (DIO)

The Digital I/O signals of the BaseBoard are addressed in groups of 24 lines and can be programmed for a number of different configurations:

• 24-Input
• 24-Output
• 8-Input / 16-Output
• 16-Input / 8-Output
• l2-Input / 12-Output
• 16-Input with strobes and handshaking
• 8-BiDirectional with strobes and handshaking / 8 Input or Output

All outputs are latched. Simple input is unlatched while strobed input is latched. The 24 bits of digital I/O are programmed through four locations. One location is a command register to configure the 24 lines. The three data locations are contiguous in the I/O space.

The BaseBoard / ISA fully supports the following Digital I/O modes:

• Mode 0 - Basic Digital Input and Output
• Mode 1 - Fully handshaked strobed Digital Input and Output
• Mode 2 - Fully handshaked strobed Bi-Directional Digital Input and Output

Signal Conditioning Modules

The BaseBoard / ISA can accommodate the same signal conditioning modules as used with the BaseBoard / PCI. These modules plug directly onto internal connectors of the BaseBoard / ISA card internal to the computer.  The BaseBoard / ISA allows you to customize your setup by adding up to 4 modules of your choice. An unlimited array of modules can be created by the user including relay control, SCR, voltage control, etc.

Scientific Solutions offers multiple module options which are described on the following link:

Interrupts

Hardware interrupts allow the computer's processor to react to special events when they occur. The BaseBoard provides eight software enabled sources for hardware interrupts using a handshake signal of the strobed or bi-directional I/O modes. An 8-position switch block connects any combination of the eight strobe sources to a DIP jumper, where the combined signal is connected to one of six hardware interrupt request lines (IRQ2 to IRQ7). Once the hardware is connected, an interrupt is enabled by writing a command to the PPI Control Port. Hardware interrupts require special software called Interrupt Service Routines to process the interrupt.

System Resources

The BaseBoard / ISA occupies a single full size ISA slot in the computer. The connection from the computer to the outside world is thru a four ribbon cables that connect directly to the card in the computer and pass thru the special card bracket that secures the cables and provides strain relief.

The BaseBoard / ISA occupies 16 locations in the I/O space of the computer. The address of the card is configured using on-board switch settings.

Besides the Base Address I/O space, the BaseBoard / ISA can also use Interrupt resources of you computer. These resources are enabled and selected using jumpers on the card.  Note that your software has to be written to use interrupts.

If you are migrating your applications from ISA to PCI based computer, then you should consider the BaseBoard / PCI product from Scientific Solutions.

The BaseBoard / PCI provides 100% compatibility with the original ISA version. It adds features, but is a much smaller size for today's slim low-profile computers. The following picture compares the size of the original BaseBoard / ISA to the new BaseBoard / PCI card.

Besides the size difference, a single BaseBoard / PCI card can accommodate from 96 up to 384 Digital I/O signals, has much higher electrical current sink/source handling capabilities, and incorporates Scientific Solutions exclusive Dynamic Digital Buffering (DDB ^TM) technology that assures maximum power in all operating modes!

Technical Specifications