1. Before Using the Product
COM-2C-PE, COM-4C-PE, COM-8C-PE
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1.
Before Using the Product
This chapter provides information you should know before using the product.
About the Board
This product is a PCI Express bus-supported board designed for extending RS-232C compatible serial
communication functionality on your PC.
The < COM-2C-PE > has two RS-232C-standard serial ports.
The < COM-4C-PE > has four RS-232C-standard serial ports.
The < COM-8C-PE > has eight RS-232C-standard serial ports.
With a 128byte built-in FIFO buffer for transmission and reception of each channel, the product supports
a baud rate of up to 921,600bps. Up to 16 boards can be mounted on a single PC and the range COM1 -
COM256 can be set. It also comes with a Windows/Linux driver, which allows boards to be used as
OS-standard COM ports.
This product supports CONTEC-defined driver library “API-PAC(W32)” that provide local routines.
Features
- Max. 921,600bps RS-232C Serial Communication
The < COM-2C-PE > has two RS-232C-standard serial ports.
The < COM-4C-PE > has four RS-232C-standard serial ports.
The < COM-8C-PE > has eight RS-232C-standard serial ports.
Baud rates from 2 to 921,600bps can be set for each port. When using the bundled “Standard COM
Driver Software” and “Driver library API-PAC(W32)”, baud rates from 15 to 921,600bps can be set.
- Possibly used as Windows, Linux-standard COM ports, using the bundled driver library
Comes with a driver software that allows the boards to be used under Windows / Linux in the same way
as COM ports on the PC. Under Windows, the product supports the OS-standard Win32 API
communication function as well as Visual Basic MSComm. Under Linux, OS-standard tty driver’s
standard-function can be used. In addition, supplies a diagnostic program to confirm hardware operation
and to perform a communication test with equipment.
- Max. 16 boards can be installed as configured in the range COM1 - COM256.
Up to 16 boards can be mounted on a single PC.
COM1 - COM256 can be set using the device manager.
- Each channel is equipped with separate 128-byte FIFO buffers for transmit and receive.
Employed a buffer memory 128-byte dedicated to transmission and 128-byte for each channel.
These are FIFO format, useful for high speed communications and to reduce the load to the CPU when
transmitting/receiving. As the device manager can be used to enable/disable the use of FIFO and set the
FIFO trigger size, this permits operation to be adjusted to achiere optinal performance for your system.
