5 PICOSCALE HARDWARE
5.2.4 USB slave interface
The USB slave interface is one of the main bidirectional communication interfaces of the
PICO
-
SCALE
Controller. It provides a USB 2.0 high speed connection with data-rates of up to
480 Mbits/s
.
5.2.5 Ethernet interface
The Ethernet interface is the second main bidirectional communication interface of the
PICO
-
SCALE
Controller. The interface is configured via the embedded PC and is able to provide GBit
Ethernet. To use the full performance of the
PICO
SCALE
Contr
oller, a GBit Ethernet connection is
required.
5.2.6 USB master interface
The USB master interface is connected to the embedded PC. Via this interface software updates
can be installed, for example (see chapter 6.6.1 for more information).
5.2.7 SmarAct Sensor Interface (SI)
NOTICE
The SmarAct sensor interface is sensitive to electrostatic discharge. Please use
wrist straps when using this interface.
The SmarAct S
I
interfaces the
PICO
SCALE
Controller with other SmarAct products, e.g. the Mod-
ular Control System 2 (MCS2).
I
n this con
fi
guration the
PICO
SCALE
Controller may act as sensor
module for the motion system.
5.2.8 SmarAct High Speed Sensor Interface (HSI)
The SmarAct HS
I
is an optional interface to connect other SmarAct systems with the
PICO
SCALE
Controller. This interface has the advantage that data can be transceived with data-rates up to
6.5 Gbit /s
. This allows to perform very fast data processing with high resolution.
5.2.9 GPIO and Digital Differential Interface
The D-Sub 44HD connector provides several interfaces including analog and digital GP
I
Os as well
as Digital Di
ff
erential
I
nterfaces (DD
I
) for all three channels. Each DD
I
channel can either act as an
AquadB or a serial interface. These additional interfaces make the
PICO
SCALE
Controller a very
versatile laboratory measurement instrument as it provides the functionality of signal generators,
trigger systems, signal trackers and position measuring sensor in one device. This integration
33
PicoScale User Manual
