PulseBlasterESR-PRO-200-cPCI
on the board's surface. Status bits are also available on IDC headers, allowing the user or an external device
to monitor the status of the PulseBlaster device. For more information about the connections available,
please see “V. Connecting to PulseBlaster Devices.”
Timing Characteristics
The innovative architecture of the PulseBlaster processor core allows pulses/delays to be as short as one
clock cycle (5 ns) and last up to 2
52
clock cycles (260 days). Regardless of the timing duration used, the
timing resolution is one clock cycle. A program can have both long and short pulses/delays in the same
program, and both will be accurate to a single clock cycle.
Instruction Set (Flow Control)
The PulseBlaster devices features a set of commands for highly flexible program flow control. The
specialized microcontroller allows for programs to include branches, subroutines, and loops up to 8 nested
levels deep. These commands allow the user to perform repetitious events with ease.
Instruction execution time can be set by the user. The minimum instruction execution time is five clock
cycles (25 ns), and the maximum is 2
52
clock cycles (260 days). To create pulses with duration shorter than
five clock cycles, the Short Pulse Feature will need to be used. The Short Pulse Feature allows pulse
duration to be as short as one clock cycle (5 ns); however, at least five clock cycles are still required for the
PulseBlaster processor core to process the instruction. For more information about PulseBlaster processor
core architecture, please see the “Instruction Set Architecture” of Using SpinAPI in C/C++ in PulseBlaster
Programming, found at:
http://www.spincore.com/support/spinapi/using_spin_api_pb.shtml
On-Board Clock
The PulseBlaster device accepts an on-board 50 MHz oscillator. The on-board oscillator's frequency is
internally multiplied to 200 MHz by using a Phase-Locked Loop (PLL). The device can be externally clocked
by removing the oscillator and attaching an equivalent external source to the oscillator mount. The
PulseBlaster device does not have on-board termination for the clock input signal. Applying less than 0.0 V or
more than 3.3 V to the clock input pins will damage the PulseBlaster device.
CAUTION:
Incorrectly attaching an external clock source will damage the PulseBlasterESR-PRO-200-
cPCI. Contact SpinCore Technologies, Inc. if you would like information on how to use an external clock
source.
Device Memory
The memory will hold up to 4096 instructions. Programs do not need to fill the memory; they can be as
short as desired. If larger device memory is required, please contact SpinCore Technologies, Inc.
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