Chapter 1
Introduction
VXI-1394 Interface for Windows NT/98
1-4
www.ni.com
VXI-1394 Front Panel Features
The VXI-1394 has the following front panel features.
•
Three front panel LEDs
–
SYSFAIL LED indicates that the VMEbus SYSFAIL line is
asserted.
–
1394 LED indicates when the VXI-1394 is accessed from the
IEEE 1394 bus.
–
VXI LED indicates when the VXI-1394 is accessed from the
VXIbus.
•
Three 1394 6-pin connectors
•
GPIB connector (VXI-1394/G version only)
•
Three SMB connectors
–
External clock
–
Trigger output
–
Trigger input
•
System reset push-button
Advanced Configuration Options
The default hardware configuration of the VXI-1394 should be acceptable
for most systems. Refer to Appendix C,
, only if your system will make use of the front-panel
CLK10 and trigger SMB connectors.
Software Description
NI-VXI is the name of the National Instruments VXI bus control library.
You can create applications using NI-VXI to control both VXI and VME
devices. NI-VXI gives you complete VXI/VME functionality, including
an API for performing basic VXI/VME data transfers and handling
VXI/VME interrupts as well as VXI-specific functionality, such as doing
message-based communication and handling VXIbus triggers.
NI-VISA is the National Instruments implementation of the VISA
specification. VISA is a uniform API for communicating with and
controlling GPIB, VXI, and VME and Serial instruments. This API aids in
the creation of more portable applications and instrument drivers.
