MAT FULL RACK/022300
3-3
3.2.1
MAT/POWER MODULE CONTROLLER SYSTEM
MAT Power Modules are digitally controlled power supplies. Up to twenty seven Power Modules
at a maximum distance of 1000 feet (300 meters) can be controlled by the Power Module Con-
troller (see PAR 1.2). The Power Module Controller communicates as a Talker/Listener with a
Host Computer over the IEEE-488 GPIB using either the Standard Commands For Program-
mable Instruments (SCPI, refer to PAR. 3.6.2) or the Control Interface Intermediate Language
(CIIL, refer to PAR. 3.6.3). Communications with the MAT Power Modules are accomplished via
a two-wire high speed (375 KHz) bidirectional serial communications bus, called the Control
Bus or IEEE 1118 Bus.
The Power Module Controller is designed with a microcomputer board containing a relatively
powerful CPU, 256K of RAM, programmable timers, priority interrupt circuits, an RS-232 input/
output interface port and ROM firmware (embedded software). A discrete fault line is designed
into the Power Module Controller to report catastrophic failures. Communications with an exter-
nal terminal are achieved via an RS-232 communications bus and related interface card.
Power for the microcomputer board of the TMA 4882-27 Power Module Controller is provided by
a wide range input Power Supply, Kepco Model MRW 150KV. The AC input voltage can range
from 95 Volts AC to 264 Volts AC, thereby eliminating the need for an input voltage selector.
The IEEE-488 GPIB implements a number of Interface Functions from the IEEE-488 protocol
(see the Power Module Controller Operator's Manual for details on these functions). The Power
Module Controller microcomputer continuously polls all the Power Modules (via the Power Mod-
ule microcontroller on Digital Card A3, see PAR. 4.25.3) on the high speed Control Bus for any
change in their Status conditions. A Status Monitor Interface is provided in the Power Module
Controller as an interface to the Host Computer for reporting catastrophic failures within the
Power Modules. If such an error is reported back to the Power Module Controller, the Host Com-
puter then sends a Device Clear Command to open the isolation relays and reset all the Power
Modules to zero. Following that, a Status command is sent to determine the nature of the failure.
In Data Mode the Power Module Controller sends or receives messages per the IEEE 488 GPIB
protocol. The messages are Enabled when the Attention line goes high. A Handshake cycle is
performed for every ASCII character sent or received over the IEEE-488 GPIB.
3.2.2
MAT/TMA PC-27 SYSTEM
A Power Module Controller is available from Kepco that plugs directly into any DOS based com-
puter to control the Power Modules (up to twenty seven Modules daisy-chained to a single Con-
trol Bus) without the need for an IEEE 488 GPIB. The use of the TMA PC-27 Power Module
Controller microcomputer board, the IEEE-488 GPIB interface input/output port and the RS 232
interface input/output port to be bypassed.
The TMA PC-27 Software can be loaded into a DOS based computer either as a Terminate and
Stay Resident (TSR) program, or as a stand-alone program. As a TSR it may be called from any
of the following languages TURBO C, QUICK C, POWER C, TURBO PASCAL, QUICK PAS-
CAL, QUICK BASIC and INTERPRETED BASIC.
With the TMA Software loaded, the MAT Power Modules may be programmed over the Control
Bus using CIIL or KPL (Kepco Programming Language). KPL is a simplified command set
based on CIILand is used to facilitate input/output operations for the TMA PC-27. It has embed-
ded in it the software that supports the TMA PC-27 and is also compatible with National Instru-
ments NI 488 DOS Handler for the IEEE-488 GPIB.. Catastrophic error messages will remain in
memory until the cause of the failure is determined and the error condition is corrected. Addi-
tional functions not supported by CIIL have been included. A non-CIIL command, T0, calls for a
noncatastrophic error message to be erased when a command other than Status is sent. A T1
