Xycom AHIP-370, Manual

Page: 9 / 65

Chapter One - Introduction
9
Serial and Parallel Ports
PC/AT peripherals include two high-speed, RS-232, 16550-compatible serial ports
and one bi-directional Centronics-compatible parallel port:
•
COM 1 of the serial ports accepts either RS-232 or RS-485 connections.
•
COM 2 is RS-232 (stacked DB 25) with parallel port.
The COM2 port can be used for one of three options:
•
Serial port out the 25 pin DB connector
•
Touchscreen controller interface
•
Infrared (IrDA) interface
The BIOS setup is used to configure the port as a serial port or IrDA port. This port
can be used as both a serial interface and an IR interface, by allowing software to
control the connection.
If the touchscreen controller is jumpered to use COM2, the 25-pin DB connector
must not be used to interface to a device. These lines are combined internally. The
BIOS setup menu for COM2 must be set to standard operation to use the touchscreen
controller on COM2.
USB
USB (Universal Serial Bus) is a "plug-and-play" interface between a computer and
add-on devices (such as audio players, joysticks, keyboards, telephones, scanners,
and printers). With USB, a new device can be added to your computer without hav-
ing to add an adapter card or even having to turn the computer off. USB supports a
data speed of 12 megabits per second. This speed will accommodate a wide range of
devices, including MPEG-2 video devices, data gloves, and digitizers.
Keyboard Interface
The keyboard interface uses a standard PS/2-style connector. A polyswitch protects
the +5 V. This device opens if the +5 V is shorted to GND. Once you remove the
shorting condition, the polyswitch allows current flow to resume.
Hard and Floppy Drives
The floppy interface supports one floppy drive. The AHIP-370 can interface to a
floppy via the on-board floppy connector or the external floppy connector.
In order to connect a floppy drive to the external connector after power up, the
floppy drive must be setup for a 1.44 MB drive and the floppy drive test must be dis-