12
M2i.30xx / M2i.30xx-exp Manual
Additional options
Introduction
Additional options
Star-Hub
The star hub piggy-back module al-
lows the synchronisation of up to 16
M2i cards. It is possible to synchro-
nize cards of the same type with
each other as well as different types.
Two different versions of the star-hub
module are available. A minor one
for synchronizing up to five boards
of the M2i series, without the need
for an additional system slot. The
major version (option SH16) allows
the synchronization of up to 16
cards with the need for an addition-
al slot.
The module acts as a star hub for
clock and trigger signals. Each
board is connected with a small ca-
ble of the same length, even the master board. That minimizes the clock skew between the different cards. The figure shows the piggy-back
module mounted on the base board schematically without any cables to achieve a better visibility. It also shows the locations of the available
connectors for the two different versions of the star-hub option.
Any of the connected cards can be the clock master and the same or any other card can be the trigger master. All trigger modes that are
available on the master card are also available if the synchronization star-hub is used.
The cable connection of the boards is automatically recognized and checked by the driver when initializing the star-hub module. So no care
must be taken on how to cable the cards. The star-hub module itself is handled as an additional device just like any other card and the pro-
gramming consists of only a few additional commands.
System Star-Hub
The System Star-Hub (SSH) option al-
lows to synchronize clock and trig-
ger information between Star-Hubs
located in multiple PC systems.
Therefore one system is set up as the
System-Master, generating the trig-
ger and clock signals, which then
are distributed to all System-Slave
systems, and additionally also to the
System-Master itself, to minimize
phase delays.
All connected Star-Hubs therefore
have one additional PCI bracket in-
stalled, that allows to feed in clock
and trigger signals coming from the
System-Master distribution card (not
shown in the drawing). This bracket
comes pre-connected with your
M2i.xxxx or M2i-xxxx-exp card.M2i
For the System-Master there is addi-
tionally a clock and trigger distribu-
tion card included providing MMCX connectors on its bracket, to connect to up to 17 different systems (including the System-Master itself).
The installation and cabling from and to this System-Master distribution card will be shown in the according synchronization chapter later in
this manual.
