Chapter 1
Introduction
©
National Instruments Corporation
1-5
Custom Application-Specific Interface Chips
The PXI-8156B has the TNT4882C custom ASIC to give full GPIB control
of external instruments via a front-panel connector. GPIB capability is fully
compatible with IEEE 488.2 and the industry-standard NI-488.2M driver
for a variety of operating systems.
Front Panel Features
The PXI-8150B Series has the following front-panel features:
•
Internal 3.5 in. floppy drive
•
System reset push-button
•
Front-panel connectors:
–
RS-232 Serial (one on PXI-8155B, two on PXI-8156B)
–
Extended Capabilities Parallel (ECP)
–
VGA Controller
–
Universal Serial Bus (USB)
–
PS/2-style keyboard
–
PS/2-style mouse
–
GPIB (PXI-8156B only)
–
10BaseT Ethernet (PXI-8156B only)
•
Two front-panel LEDs that show PC status
–
POWER OK LED indicates that the power is on and reset is no
longer asserted.
–
DRIVE LED indicates when an access to the internal hard disk is
occurring.
•
Two front-panel LEDs that show Ethernet port status (PXI-8156B
Series only)
–
TX/RX LED indicates that the PXI-8156B is receiving or
transmitting a packet of data through its Ethernet port.
–
LINK LED indicates periodic link test passed.
