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ChipCenter's Alex Mendelsohn Says ...

ADLINK Introduces Its New 32 Channel PhotoMOS Relay Output Card! The PCI-7258 is suitable to be applied to ATE, instrumentation, telecommunications and medical equipment where high speed and reliable switching is required. Adlink Technology Inc., a leader in design and manufacture of open-platform PC-based industrial computers of test & measurement, automation, and communications, announces its new 32 channel PhotoMOS relay output card, the PCI-7258. The PCI-7258 features 32 channels with PhotoMOS form A type relays (SPST), capable of switching up to 350 VAC or 350 VDC with a continuous load current 0.12 A and is designed with a 1500 VAC isolated I/O voltage protection circuit to prevent it from being damaged from high voltage surges. Unlike armature relays which are relatively slow during switching, they also have a limited life span. PhotoMOS relays have much faster switching time and can have a much longer life expectancy. The PhotoMOS relay has LED inputs and MOSFET outputs, hence providing good input-output isolation. When a signal current flows into the LED input pin, light emitted from the LED is detected by the photoelectric element (solar cell) which is mounted adjacent to the LED. The photoelectric element converts the received light source to a voltage signal which in turn charges the MOSFET gate on the output side. When the voltage reaches a preset voltage level, the MOSFET begins to conduct and turns the load on. The PhotoMOS relay incorporates the advantages of both a semiconductor and an electro-mechanical relay. The PhotoMOS relay utilizes the MOSFET as a switch instead of the mechanical contact, thus the contact resistance remains stable through the life of the relay. Furthermore, relay bouncing problems are eliminated. In addition to the PhotoMOS relay, the PCI-7258 also features 2 isolated digital channels, each capable of up to 2500 Vrms isolation (channel to system) and can act as an interrupt source input. This allows the PCI-7258 to be triggered by an external source or event such as alarm. Also with onboard LEDs, it provides more convenience to users with a visual indication of the current status of each relay, (whether energized or not). With all the advantages listed, the PCI-7258 would be very suitable to be applied to ATE (Automatic Test Equipment), instrumentation, telecommunications and medical equipment where high speed and constant switching is required. For more information, please contact our worldwide offices nearest your region. Adlink Technology Inc., Headquarters 9F, 166 Jian Yi Road, Chungho City, Taipei, Taiwan 235. Phone: +886-2-82265877. Fax: +886-2-82265717. Web: http://www.adlinktech.com. Email: service@adlinktech.com Adlink Technology America, Inc., 15279 Alton Pkwy., Suite 400 Irvine, CA 92618. Phone (866)-4-ADLINK. Fax: (949) 727-2099. Email: usa@adlinktech.com

As a plug-in on a 32-bit PCI bus, Adlink Technology's Model PCI-7258 board, with its 32 optically isolated actuators and pair of 10-mA opto-isolated digital inputs, is suitable for constant on/off control applications. However, there's a bit more to it than that. Key to this register-based product's utility is the fact that it can handle both AC and DC loads---without modification. Moreover, the board's dual-channel isolated digital inputs can be used to generate interrupts in a PC-hosted test-and-measurement/control environment. Another nifty feature is its price. At $330, you get a lot of control bang for the buck. In fact, that seems to be true for many of the company's board-level test and data-acq products. Read on. I think you'll agree that the PCI-7258 is a window into Adlink's world of cost-effective products, especially support software. We'll get to software in a moment, but first let's look at the card's hardware. Fast SPST Switching Not mentioned in the press release is the fact that the PCI-7258's solid-state relays are quite fast. They exhibit typical turn-on times of 0.23 ms, and turn-off times of 0.04 ms. That kind of speed can boost throughput in automated testing applications. The board is reasonably power-stingy, too. With all of its virtual relays energized, it pulls less than half an ampere (about 380 mA) from your 5-V source. For I/O, all switched and sensed signals are routed across a 68-pin SCSI connector. However, Adlink has an optional termination board, too. Its Model DIN-68S/1S is a general-purpose 68-pin screw-terminal strip assembly with a DIN socket. The product comes with a SCSI cable to connect to the PCI-7258. Register-Based In operation, 16-bit registers serve as the controls for the card's relays, as well as revealing the status of the isolated inputs. Bits on these registers control the individual relays, permitting you to open or close any SPST virtual contact. The status of any optical relay can also be read back from a readback register. Adlink also has a function library that provides straightforward functions to handle interrupts. Using these functions, you don't need to know anything about the interrupt architecture and function of the PLX Technology Type PCI-9030 chip that's on-board. However, the PCI-9030 gives you a clue to the advanced nature of Adlink's product. The 3.3-V chip is nothing less than a PCI v2.2-compliant IC that handles burst transfers as fast as 132 Mbytes/s. Let There Be Light Not mentioned in Adlink's press release is the fact that these boards also include an array of 32 LEDs. These are used to indicate the status of each solid-state relay. To its credit, Adlink designed-in LED connectors. With these, you can route any or all of the LED signals to outboard indicators, or perhaps other signal lines. Each external LED also has a 3.3-kohm current limiting resistor in series with the 5-V feed, so no LED limiting resistors are needed on your outboard hardware. Multiple Boards Another good feature is that you can socket up to 16 of these boards, thanks to built-in identification addressing. The IDs are set via DIP switches, permitting you to rapidly assign an ID address to a specific card and then access that card through software. Speaking of software, Adlink supports this product with a variety of drivers. You can call up DLL libraries for Windows-based systems, as well as drivers for popular engineering software such as LabVIEW, Hewlett-Packard/Agilent VEE, InTouch, InControl, and ISaGRAF. If you roll your own code, Adlink provides a number of function libraries for different operating systems and high-level languages. These include DOS, Borland C and C++, and Microsoft C++. Adlink's free PCIS-DASK package includes device drivers for Windows 98, Windows NT, and Windows 2000. Any applications you develop with PCIS-DASK are compatible across Windows 98, Windows NT and Windows 2000, and you can work in VisualBASIC, Visual C++, Delphi, BC5, or any Windows programming language that supports DLL calls. Adlink's free PCIS-LVIEW bits---for Windows 95, Windows, 98, Windows NT, and Windows 2000---comprise the National Instruments (NI) LabVIEW driver suite. This package includes the so-called Virtual Instruments (VIs) that interface with NI's LabVIEW software. Analogous is Adlink's PCIS-VEE. It's the H-P/AgilentVEE driver package that provides the user objects to interface with VEE. Like PCIS-DASK, it also supports the various commonly used flavors of Windows. Then there's Adlink's freebie PCIS-DDE. It's a DDE (dynamic data exchange) Server. The DDE server can be used in conjunction with any DDE client under Windows. If you work with ActiveX Controls and VisualBASIC or Visual C, Adlink supplies its optional PCIS-OCX ActiveX control components library. Friendly Human Interfacing Adlink also has full-bodied 32-bit ActiveX control software, especially tailored for measurement and industrial automation applications. Dubbed DAQBench, it lets you develop those nifty custom user interfaces everyone loves for displaying and analyzing data. Although the PCI-7258 is a simple plug-in, DAQBench works with other Adlink hardware, too, as a specialized ActiveX controls package for measurement and SCADA applications that use various plug-ins. The product's reliance on Microsoft's ActiveX technology also ensures code interchangeability under Windows. Using DAQBench, you can work in ActiveX control containers such as VisualBASIC or Visual C++, Delphi, or C++ Builder to build your applications. ActiveX lets you craft user-friendly property page interfaces for interactive configuration of the PCI plug-in (and lots of other Adlink hardware products). Click for large-size Windows screen image Using DAQBench created code, your control screens can tout virtual meters, knobs and switches, analog-like slider pots, and LEDs and 7-segment displays. The package also lets you craft nifty graphs and charts. Analysis library hooks also let you generate statistics and matrices, as well as run fast Fourier transforms (FFTs). It's worth mentioning that many popular measurement and control devices from industrial suppliers such as Allen-Bradley, Omron, Modicon, National Instruments and others, come with OPC (OLE for Process Control) server or DDE server functions---and DAQBench can be an OPC or DDE client. In fact, every DAQBench User Interface control has DDE client capability that can link to a DDE server. DAQBench OPC Client control can connect to any measurement or automation device that comes with an OPC DA (Data Access) server. By taking advantage of the networking capability of NetDDE or OPC, DAQBench applications are capable of controlling remote devices like the PCI-7258 relay card through a network. Exporting Data DAQBench also packs an executable called ExcelLinker control. As the name suggests, it lets you export acquired data into Excel spreadsheets. Beyond that nicety, DAQBench's DatabaseAccess controls also permit you to directly access databases from your developed application. Your databases can be Microsoft Access, SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase, or almost any other that uses the industry-standard ODBC driver spec. To whet your appetite, Adlink puts a free 4-hour eval spin of DAQBench on its CD-ROM that comes with the PCI-7258 relay card. A full-tilt version of DAQBench will set you back about $500. Not quite as expensive, costing $30, is Adlink's ISaGRAF Workbench. It's an IEC1131-3 SoftPLC control development environment. The optional PCIS-ISG bits include drivers for ISaGRAF under Windows NT. Adlink also supports its PCI-7258 PCI plug-in with an optional product called PCIS-OPC. As its name implies, it's an OPC Server that can be used to link with other OPC clients. PCIS-OPC supports Windows 98, Windows NT, and Windows 2000. Cost is a modest $50. For more details on the PCI-7258 and the battery of supporting software for it, contact Adlink marketing manager Jim Lin at (949) 727-2077, Ext. 114.