Embedded Solutions
Page 15
Applications Guide
Interfacing
Some general interfacing guidelines are presented below. Do not hesitate to contact the
factory if you need more assistance.
Installation
The VPX is mounted to the PCIe8LSwVPX3U prior to installation within the chassis.
PCIe8LSwVPX3U is fitted with VPX compliant mounting / alignment pins. J0 is toward
the top of the card. The alignment pins are offset to provide keying to prevent improper
card installation. Rocking the VPX slightly during installation can help with the process
of installation. The blades have proven to be quite robust, however; the connectors are
expensive so be careful.
Since the VPX is mounted at right angles to the adapter the weight of the VPX is
cantilevered out from the PCIe card. If mounted in a chassis and the bezel is screwed
in place you may be ok. If not you will need to support the VPX. We have found
stacking Lego’s to be a very handy approach as the height can be altered to match the
set-up and the wide base is stable.
The IC’s will be on the outside – toward the right when viewing the component side of
the PCIe8LSwVPX3U. This will allow for full access to your devices when probing. We
use with an open chassis – no frame – to allow for better access to everything.
The JTAG header can be installed on the rear of PCIe8LSwVPX3U to keep the JTAG
programmer out of the way when working on the installed VPX. This will also allow the
VPX to be swapped out without disconnecting the JTAG programmer.
Start-up
Make sure that the "system" can see your hardware before trying to access it. Many
BIOS will display the PCI/PCIe devices found at boot up on a "splash screen” with the
VendorID and CardID for the VPX installed and an interrupt level. If the information is
not available from the BIOS then a third party PCI device cataloging tool will be helpful.
Watch the system grounds
. All electrically connected equipment should have a fail-
safe common ground that is large enough to handle all current loads without affecting
noise immunity. Power supplies and power consuming loads should all have their own
ground wires back to a common point.
