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National Instruments Corporation
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NI-DNET Hardware Overview
Types of Hardware
The National Instruments DeviceNet hardware includes the PCI-CAN,
PXI-8461, and PCMCIA-CAN.
The PCI-CAN is software configurable and compliant with the PCI Local
Bus Specification. It features the National Instruments MITE bus interface
chip that connects the card to the PCI I/O bus. With a PCI-CAN, you can
make your PC-compatible computer with PCI Local Bus slots
communicate with and control DeviceNet devices.
The PXI-8461 is software configurable and compliant with the
PXI
Specification
and
CompactPCI Specification
. It features the National
Instruments MITE bus interface chip that connects the card to the PXI or
CompactPCI I/O bus. With a PXI-8461 card, you can make your PXI or
CompactPCI chassis communicate with and control DeviceNet devices.
PCMCIA-CAN hardware is a 16-bit, Type II PC Card that is software
configurable and compliant with the PCMCIA standards for 16-bit PC
cards. With a PCMCIA-CAN card, you can make your PC-compatible
notebook with PCMCIA slots communicate with and control DeviceNet
devices.
The PCI-CAN, PXI-8461, or PCMCIA-CAN in your DeviceNet kit is fully
compliant with the DeviceNet Specification.
All of the DeviceNet hardware uses the Intel 386EX embedded processor
to implement time-critical features provided by the NI-DNET software.
The cards communicate with the NI-DNET driver through on-board shared
memory and an interrupt.
The DeviceNet physical communication link protocol is based on the
Controller Area Network (CAN) protocol. The physical layers of the
PCI-CAN, PXI-8461, and PCMCIA-CAN fully conform to the DeviceNet
physical layer requirements. The physical layer is optically isolated to
500 V and is powered from the DeviceNet bus power supply. DeviceNet
interfacing is accomplished using the Intel 82527 CAN controller chip.
