Chapter 1
Introduction
PXI-8150 Series User Manual
1-4
©
National Instruments Corporation
still able to connect to the PXI bus without the need of a PCI-to-PCI
bridge. As a result, they preserve the full 132 MB/s PCI bandwidth for
other PXI boards. In addition, the PXI-8150 supports masters in all
seven available PXI slots.
The PXI-8150 Series design includes many standard PC peripherals,
which means you can install your custom-designed peripheral devices
in all PXI slots. It also has two user-accessible SO-DIMM sockets so it
is easy to upgrade memory. The unique packaging includes a built-in
1.44 MB floppy drive and 2.5 in. hard drive. The mechanical assembly
of the PCI-8150 mounts these devices to the PXI-8150 main board so
you can remove the entire unit intact. This eases integration issues and
cabling. The PXI-8150 plugs directly into the system controller slot and
expands to the left, thus preserving all usable PXI slots for user-defined
peripheral devices.
PXI-8150 Series Models
Currently the PXI-8150 Series consists of two models—the PXI-8155
and the PXI-8156. Both models have two CPU choices—an Intel
166 MHz or 233 MHz MMX Pentium.
The models differ in the front-panel I/O. The PXI-8155 comes complete
with a 3.5 in. 1.44 MB floppy drive, 2 GB hard drive or larger, Super
VGA with 2 MB EDO DRAM, a serial port, an IEEE 1284 parallel port,
a PS/2 keyboard and mouse, a USB connector, 16 MB installed EDO
DRAM with Windows 95, 32 MB installed EDO DRAM with
Windows NT, and software installed. The PXI-8156 adds a second
serial port, a 10BaseT Ethernet port, and an IEEE 488.2 (GPIB)
interface compatible with the National Instruments AT-GPIB/TNT.
Memory
The PXI-8150 and its memory sockets are easily accessible so you can
install additional DRAM in the field. You can install up to 128 MB of
60 ns EDO DRAM, using 144-pin SO-DIMMS.
The PXI-8150 contains at least a 2 GB internal, enhanced IDE hard
disk. For information on adding RAM by installing SO-DIMMs, refer
to Appendix A, Specifications.
