AIM104-SER4
4 Channel RS232
PC/104 Board
Technical Manual
AIM104-SER4 Technical Manual
ISO 9001
FM12961
Disclaimer
The information in this manual has been carefully checked and is believed to be accurate. Eurotech Ltd assumes no
responsibility for any infringements of patents or other rights of third parties, which may result from its use.
Eurotech Ltd assumes no responsibility for any inaccuracies that may be contained in this document. Eurotech Ltd makes
no commitment to update or keep current the information contained in this manual.
Eurotech Ltd reserves the right to make improvements to this document and/or product at any time and without notice.
Warranty
This product is supplied with a 3 year limited warranty. The product warranty covers failure of any Eurotech Ltd
manufactured product caused by manufacturing defects. The warranty on all third party manufactured products utilised by
Eurotech Ltd is limited to 1 year. Eurotech Ltd will make all reasonable effort to repair the product or replace it with an
identical variant. Eurotech Ltd reserves the right to replace the returned product with an alternative variant or an equivalent
fit, form and functional product. Delivery charges will apply to all returned products. Please check www.eurotech-ltd.co.uk for
information about Product Return Forms.
Trademarks
Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP are registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation.
All other trademarks recognised.
Revision History
Manual PCB Date Comments
Issue A V1 I2 September 20
th
, 1996 First full release of manual.
Issue B V1 I2 December 23
rd
, 1996 Edits to J538, J541, J559, and AIM104 software.
Issue C V1 I2 June 4
th
, 1997 [ECO 2494, 2502, 2516]
Issue D V1 I3 March 3
rd
, 1998 [ECO 2679] manual split up into datasheets.
Issue E V1 I3 January 22
nd
, 2008 Minor updates and reformatting.
© 2008 Eurotech Ltd.
For contact details, see page
16.
AIM104-SER4 Technical Manual Contents
© 2008 Eurotech Ltd Issue E 3
Contents
Introduction........................................................................................................................................4
Handling your board safely....................................................................................................5
About this manual..............................................................................................................................6
Conventions...........................................................................................................................6
What items are provided?..................................................................................................................7
Getting started ...................................................................................................................................7
Unpacking and connecting up................................................................................................7
Operation...........................................................................................................................................8
I/O map..............................................................................................................................................9
Programming the SCC.....................................................................................................................10
Links.................................................................................................................................................11
LK1- Address selection........................................................................................................11
LK2 and 3 - Interrupt selection.............................................................................................12
LK4 - IRQ selection..............................................................................................................12
LK5 and 6 - Synchronous clock selection...........................................................................13
Output connector (PL1) pin assignments.........................................................................................15
Appendix A – Contacting Eurotech Ltd ............................................................................................16
Appendix B – EMC considerations ..................................................................................................17
Index................................................................................................................................................18
AIM104-SER4 Technical Manual Introduction
© 2008 Eurotech Ltd Issue E 4
Introduction
The AIM104-SER4 is an 8-bit PC/104 module providing four channels of RS232 Serial
Comms. It is based on the 85230 Enhanced Serial Communications Controller and is
capable of RS232 signaling standards. Every channel can be independently configured
for asynchronous and synchronous protocols, baud rate and signaling standard. High
speed communications can be achieved up to 57.6kBaud (asynchronous) or 921kBaud
(synchronously).
Features
• Four serial channels.
• Powerful and versatile 85230 Enhanced Serial Communications Controller.
• Link-selectable interrupts (IRQ 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 15).
• 8/16-bit PC104 interface (can be used in 8-bit stack if IRQ 10, 11 and 15 are not
used).
• Eurotech Ltd standard 50-way ribbon cable connection.
• Module access LED (on all decoded addresses).
• Operating temperature range, -20°C to +70°C.
• Power consumption from the host, max150mA at +5V, 50mA at +12V, 100mA at -
12V (note, this board requires +/- 12V).
• MTBF: 235,000 hours (using generic figures from MIL-HDBK-2217F at ground
benign).
AIM104-SER4 Technical Manual Introduction
© 2008 Eurotech Ltd Issue E 5
Handling your board safely
Anti-static handling
This board contains CMOS devices. These could be damaged in the event of static
electricity being discharged through them. Observe anti-static precautions at all times
when handling circuit boards. This includes storing boards in appropriate anti-static
packaging and wearing a wrist strap when handling them.
Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC)
The AIM104-SER4 is classified as a component with regards to the European
Community EMC regulations and it is the user’s responsibility to ensure that systems
using the board are compliant with the appropriate EMC standards.
The AIM104-SER4 includes additional filter components on-board to minimise the
emissions of high frequency noise. Because of this, the earth tab supplied with the
module must be connected to the chassis of the system by a good earth wire.
If the electronic system requires input protection against high voltage transients (to
meet CE requirements), it is recommended that an external interface board is located
at the point where the external wiring enters the electronic system enclosure:
Packaging
Should a board need to be returned to Eurotech Ltd, please ensure that it is
adequately packed, preferably in the original packing material.
AIM104-SER4 Technical Manual About this manual
© 2008 Eurotech Ltd Issue E 6
About this manual
This manual describes the operation and use of the AIM104-SER4 PC/104 module.
It is both a reference and user manual and includes information about all aspects of the
module.
Conventions
Symbols
The following symbols are used in this guide:
Symbol Explanation
Note - information that requires your attention.
Tip - a handy hint that may provide a useful alternative or save
time.
Caution – proceeding with a course of action may damage your
equipment or result in loss of data.
AIM104-SER4 Technical Manual What items are provided?
© 2008 Eurotech Ltd Issue E 7
What items are provided?
The AIM104-SER4 is supplied with the following items:
• The AIM104-SER4 board.
• Mounting kit.
Getting started
Unpacking and connecting up
To begin using the AIM104-SER4 board, follow these steps:
1 Power down your computer.
2 Install the board in a spare PC104 slot.
3 Power up your computer and install the appropriate driver.
AIM104-SER4 Technical Manual Operation
© 2008 Eurotech Ltd Issue E 8
Operation
The module occupies 16 bytes in the I/O address space. Only the first 9 locations are
used.
Accessing registers
The 85230 devices have 0 - 15 write/read registers. To access these registers, except
WR0 and RR0, it is necessary to perform either two write operations or a write followed
by a read operation. The first write operation is to the control register for the required
channel and the data is the register number that is to be accessed. The following
operation then accesses that register of the SCC device. This scheme is only used for
initialisation and some status data. Data used as serial data is sent directly to the data
register of the required channel.
For example if you wish to access WR1 of chan 1. Write to address base +2 the byte
01. This allows access to WR1 of chan1. It is now possible to access this register by
writing to address base +2 with the required data.
To access WR0 or RR0 it is only necessary to write/read the required status/control
register of that channel.
Interrupt acknowledge
An interrupt acknowledge is generated by reading address base +8. The device that
has generated the interrupt then places an interrupt vector onto the data bus. This
vector is written into WR2 during initialisation and may be read from RR2 if required.
AIM104-SER4 Technical Manual I/O map
© 2008 Eurotech Ltd Issue E 9
I/O map
Register map
Address Register name Read/write
Base Channel 0 status Read
Base Channel 0 control Write
Base +1 Channel 0 data Read/write
Base +2 Channel 1 status Read
Base +2 Channel 1 control Write
Base +3 Channel 1 data Read/write
Base +4 Channel 2 status Read
Base +4 Channel 2 control Write
Base +5 Channel 2 data Read/write
Base +6 Channel 3 status Read
Base +6 Channel 3 control Write
Base +7 Channel 3 data Read/write
Base +8 Interrupt acknowledge Read
AIM104-SER4 Technical Manual Programming the SCC
© 2008 Eurotech Ltd Issue E 10
Programming the SCC
The SCC is a versatile and powerful device and as such requires careful initialisation.
For this reason, it is strongly recommended that the SCC manufacturer’s manual is
used. This is available from Eurotech Ltd Technical support or via the Zilog Website
(
www.zilog.com). Alternatively, it is available from any Zilog distributor. It should be
noted that it is not software-compatible with the PC 8250-type UART.
The order in which registers are initialised is important and a register may
need to be accessed more than once during initialisation. For examples of
basic SCC initialisation, please refer to the source code of the programs on
the utility disk.
Each SCC occupies four I/O locations in the AIM104-SER4 I/O map; two consecutive
locations per channel. The lower address of each pair is the control and status register,
which is also multiplexed with the control/status pointer register; the higher address of
each pair contains data transmit and receive latches.
The SCC itself has an indexed register scheme for the status and control registers, but
not for the serial data registers themselves. The important difference here is that
because the register pointer latch occupies the same I/O location as the control and
status registers themselves, the pointer latch always has to be written before each
register data write or read. The one exception to this rule is status register 0, which can
be read without having to write 0 first.
Baud rates
The SCC has one 16-bit baud rate counter per channel for both receive and transmit,
so both run at the same baud rate. In asynchronous mode, the clock must be used in a
x16 mode , so the baud rate calculation is:
time constant = -2
Typical baud rates and their time constants are:
Typical baud rates
The 16-bit counter is set up by writing the lower byte of the time constant to SCC
register 12 (decimal) and the upper byte to register 13 (decimal). The baud rates above
all have time constants of less than 256, so their upper bytes are all zero.
Baud Time constant
57600 0
38400 1
19200 4
9600 10
115200
baud rate
AIM104-SER4 Technical Manual Links
© 2008 Eurotech Ltd Issue E 11
Links
The following diagrams illustrate the default link positions:
LK1- Address selection
The base address of the module is set using LK1; inserting a jumper selects 0.
AIM104-SER4 Technical Manual Links
© 2008 Eurotech Ltd Issue E 12
LK2 and 3 - Interrupt selection
Used to select the interrupt options:
Link Function
LK2 Fitted on one device per IRQ
LK3 Fitted for interrupt sharing
Not fitted for IEEE996 option
For standard PC operation, each IRQ line must be assigned to a different
module, and both LK2 and LK3 should be removed.
The AIM104-SER4 is compatible with the PC/104 interrupt sharing option so that
multiple interrupting devices can share a single bus interrupt line. By setting links 2 and
3 appropriately the module can be configured for shared interrupt line operation or
normal P966 bus operation.
P966 operation: - LK2 Open +
- LK3 Open +
Interrupt sharing: - LK2 Made
All PC/104 devices sharing a common interrupt must be equipped with a suitable
interrupt sharing circuit. If an interrupt line is to be shared by two or more devices then
the line being shared must have one (and only one) pull down resistor (1K ohms)
connected between the IRQ line and ground. To do this on the AIM104-SER4 link 3
should be inserted.
LK4 - IRQ selection
Used to select the IRQ options:
Link Function
LK4A Interrupt connected to IRQ3
LK4B Interrupt connected to IRQ4
LK4C Interrupt connected to IRQ5
LK4D Interrupt connected to IRQ6
LK4E Interrupt connected to IRQ7
AIM104-SER4 Technical Manual Links
© 2008 Eurotech Ltd Issue E 13
Link Function
LK4F Interrupt connected to IRQ9
LK4G Interrupt connected to IRQ10
LK4H Interrupt connected to IRQ11
LK4I Interrupt connected to IRQ15
If there is no jumper fitted the module does not generate an interrupt.
Positions G, H and I can only be used if the AIM104-SER4 is mounted in a 16-
bit stack.
LK5 and 6 - Synchronous clock selection
Used to select the synchronous clock options:
LK5
Channel 2 and 3 options:
Link Function
LK5A Channel 3 option - TRxC
LK5B Channel 3 option - RTxC
LK5C Channel 3 option - SYNC
LK5D Channel 2 option - TRxC
LK5E Channel 2 option - RTxC
LK5F Channel 2 option - SYNC
LK6
Channel 0 and 1 options:
Link Function
LK6A Channel 1 option - TRxC
LK6B Channel 1 option - RTxC
LK6C Channel 1 option - SYNC
AIM104-SER4 Technical Manual Links
© 2008 Eurotech Ltd Issue E 14
Link Function
LK6D Channel 0 option - TRxC
LK6E Channel 0 option - RTxC
LK6F Channel 0 option - SYNC
Only one jumper should be inserted into A, B or C and D, E or F.
AIM104-SER4 Technical Manual Output connector (PL1) pin assignments
© 2008 Eurotech Ltd Issue E 15
Output connector (PL1) pin assignments
The pin-out conforms to the Eurotech Ltd Signal Conditioning System SCS and may be
connected directly to a range of D connector breakout panels. This range of products
also includes options to convert from RS-232 to RS-422 and RS-485 for long distance
communications and also opto-isolation to eliminate the effects of ground loop.
Pin no. Function Pin no. Function
1 Filtered ground 2 Filtered ground
3 No connection 4 Chan 0 TxD
5 (Chan 0 RTxC) 6 Chan 0 RxD
7 Chan 0 RTS 8 Chan 0 CTS
9 Chan 0 DTR 10 Chan 0 DCD
11 Filtered ground 12 (Chan 0 option)
13 No connection 14 Chan 1 TxD
15 (Chan 0 RTxC) 16 Chan 1 RxD
17 Chan 1 RTS 18 Chan 1 CTS
19 Chan 1 DTR 20 Chan 1 DCD
21 Filtered ground 22 (Chan 1 option)
23 No connection 24 Chan 2 TxD
25 (Chan 0 RTxC) 26 Chan 2 RxD
27 Chan 2 RTS 28 Chan 2 CTS
29 Chan 2 DTR 30 Chan 2 DCD
31 Filtered ground 32 (Chan 2 option)
33 No connection 34 Chan 3 TxD
35 (Chan 0 RTxC) 36 Chan 3 RxD
37 Chan 3 RTS 38 Chan 3 CTS
39 Chan 3 DTR 40 Chan 3 DCD
41 Filtered ground 42 (Channel 3 option)
43 No connection 44 No connection
45 No connection 46 No connection
47 No connection 48 Filtered +12V
49 Filtered +5V 50 Filtered +5V
Signals shown in brackets are TTL level signals. For Chan 0-3 option see LK5 and 6.
AIM104-SER4 Technical Manual Appendix A – Contacting Eurotech Ltd
© 2008 Eurotech Ltd Issue E 16
Appendix A – Contacting Eurotech Ltd
Eurotech Ltd sales
Eurotech Ltd’s sales team is always available to assist you in choosing the board that
best meets your requirements.
Eurotech Ltd
3 Clifton Court
Cambridge
CB1 7BN
UK
Tel: +44 (0)1223 403410
Fax: +44 (0)1223 410457
Email:
Comprehensive information about our products is also available at our web site:
www.eurotech-ltd.co.uk.
While Eurotech Ltd’s sales team can assist you in making your decision, the
final choice of boards or systems is solely and wholly the responsibility of the
buyer. Eurotech Ltd’s entire liability in respect of the boards or systems is as set
out in Eurotech Ltd’s standard terms and conditions of sale. If you intend to
write your own low level software, you can start with the source code on the
disk supplied. This is example code only to illustrate use on Eurotech Ltd’s
products. It has not been commercially tested. No warranty is made in respect
of this code and Eurotech Ltd shall incur no liability whatsoever or howsoever
arising from any use made of the code.
Eurotech Ltd technical support
Eurotech Ltd has a team of dedicated technical support engineers available to provide
a quick response to your technical queries.
Tel: +44 (0)1223 412428
Fax: +44 (0)1223 410457
Email:
Eurotech Group
Eurotech Ltd is a subsidiary of Eurotech Group. For further details see
www.eurotech.com
AIM104-SER4 Technical Manual Appendix B – EMC considerations
© 2008 Eurotech Ltd Issue E 17
Appendix B – EMC considerations
The AIM104-SER4 includes additional filter components on board to minimise the
emissions of high frequency noise via the RS-232 interface devices. The filter requires
that the earth tab supplied with the module is connected via a good electrical
connection to the chassis of the system.
If the electronic system requires input protection against high voltage transients (to
meet CE requirements) it is recommended that an external interface board is located at
the point where the external wiring enters the electronic system enclosure.
AIM104-SER4 Technical Manual Index
© 2008 Eurotech Ltd Issue E 18
Index
A
accessing registers · 8
anti-static · 5
B
baud rates · 10
board · 5, 7
C
circuit diagrams · 18
connecting up · 7
connector pin assignments · 15
contact details · 16
copyright · 2
E
earth wire · 5
electromagnetic compatibility · See EMC
EMC · 5
EMC considerations · 17
external interface board · 5
F
features · 4
H
handling · 5
high voltage transients · 5
I
I/O map · 9
inputs
connector pin assignments · 15
interrupt knowledge · 8
L
LK1 · 11
LK5 · 13
M
mounting kit · 7
N
noise emissions · 5
O
operation · 8
opto-isolation · 5
P
PL1 · 15
R
register map · 9
S
safety · 5
SCC · 10
selection
synchronous · 12, 13
source code · 16
static · 5
storage · 5
support, technical · 16
symbols · 6
T
technical support · 16
trademarks · 2
V
voltage
high voltage transients · 5
/
