Meilhaus Electronic ME-8100, ME-8100A PCI, ME-8100B PCI, ME-8100A cPCI, ME-8100B cPCI Series Manual

Meilhaus Electronic Manual

ME-8100 Series 3.0E

(PCI- and CompactPCI-Versions)

Opto-Isolated I/O Board

with Bit-Pattern Comparator and Optional Counter

Imprint

Manual ME-8100 Series

Revision 3.0

Revised: 2018-08-29

Meilhaus Electronic GmbH
Am Sonnenlicht 2
D-82239 Alling bei München
Germany

www.meilhaus.de

© Copyright 2018 Meilhaus Electronic GmbH

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced
or distributed in any form whether photocopied, printed, put on mi­crofilm or be stored in any electronic media without the expressed
written consent of Meilhaus Electronic GmbH.

Important note:

The information contained in this manual has been reviewed with
great care and is believed to be complete and accurate. Meilhaus
Electronic assumes no responsibility for its use, any infringements
of patents or other rights of third parties which may result from
use of this manual or the product. Meilhaus Electronic assumes no
responsibility for any problems or damage which may result from
errors or omissions. Specifications and instructions are subject to
change without notice.

Note the Meilhaus Electronic general terms of business:

www.meilhaus.de/en/infos/my-shop/tob/

All trademarks acknowledged. All trademarks are property of their
respective owners.

Content

1 Introduction ........................................................... 5

1.1 Important Notes ............................................................... 5

1.1.1 Use in Accordance with the Requirements ....................... 5

1.1.2 Improper Application ...................................................... 6

1.1.3 Unforeseeable Misapplications ........................................ 6

1.2 Package Contents ............................................................. 7

1.3 Features .......................................................................... 7

1.4 System Requirements ....................................................... 8

1.5 Software Support ............................................................. 8

2 Starting up ............................................................ 9

2.1 Software Installation ......................................................... 9

2.2 Test Program .................................................................... 9

3 Hardware ............................................................ 10

3.1 Block Diagram ................................................................. 10

3.2 Digital I/O ....................................................................... 12

3.2.1 Opto-Isolated Inputs .................................................... 12

3.2.2 Opto-Isolated Outputs ................................................. 12

3.2.1.1 Sink Driver: ....................................................... 13

3.2.1.2 Source Driver: ................................................... 14

3.3 Counter .......................................................................... 15

3.3.1 Counter Chip ............................................................... 15

3.3.1.1 Wiring Counter Inputs ........................................ 15

3.3.1.2 Wiring Counter Outputs ..................................... 16

3.3.1.3 Cascading the Counters ..................................... 16

4 Programming ....................................................... 17

4.1 Digital-I/O Section ........................................................... 17

4.1.1 Simple Input/Output ..................................................... 18

4.1.2 Bit-Pattern Recognition ............................................... 18

4.1.2.1 Bit-Pattern Match ............................................. 18

4.1.2.2 Bit-Pattern Change ............................................ 19

4.1.2.3 Order of Operation ............................................. 19

4.2 Counter .......................................................................... 20

4.2.1 Standard Operation Modes ........................................... 20

5 Appendix ............................................................. 21

A Specification .......................................................................... 21

B Pinout ................................................................................... 24

B1 ME-8100A/B PCI and cPCI ............................................... 24

C Accessories ........................................................................... 25

D Technical Questions ................................................................ 26

D1 Hotline ........................................................................... 26

E Index ..................................................................................... 27

1 Introduction

Valued customer,

Thank you for purchasing this device from Meilhaus Electronic. You
have chosen an innovative high-technology product that left our
premises in a fully functional and new condition.

Please take the time to carefully examine the contents of the pack­age for any loss or damage that may have occurred during shipping.
If there are any items missing or if an item is damaged, please con­tact us immediately.

Before installing the board in your computer, we recommend you
read this manual carefully, especially the chapter describing board
installation.

The descriptions in this manual concern PCI- and CompactPCI-ver­sions of the ME-8100 series if not otherwise noted.

1.1 Important Notes

1.1.1 Use in Accordance with the Requirements

The PC boards of the ME-8100 series are designed for acquisition
and output of digital signals with a PC. Depending on type install
the models of the ME-series into:

a free PCI slot (ME-8100A/B PCI) or

a free CompactPCI slot (ME-8100A/B cPCI)

For information on how to install a plug-in board or connect a USB
device, please read the manual of your PC.

Please note the instructions and specifications as presented in
this manual (Appendix A, Specifications):

 Please ensure sufficient heat dissipation for the board within

the PC housing.

 All unused inputs should be connected to the ground reference

of the appropriate functional section. This avoids cross talk be­tween the input lines.

 The opto-isolated inputs and outputs achieve an electrical isola-

tion of the application relative to PC ground.

 Note that the computer must be powered up prior to connect-

ing signals by the external wiring of the board.

 As a basic principle, all connections to the board should only be

made or removed in a powered-down state of all components.

 Ensure that no static discharge occurs while handling the

board or while connecting/disconnecting the external cable.

 Ensure that the connection cable is properly connected. It

must be seated firmly on the D-Sub connector and must be
tightened with both screws, otherwise proper operation of the
board cannot be guaranteed.

1.1.2 Improper Application

PC plug-in boards for the PCI-, PCI-Express- or CompactPCI-bus
may not be taken into operation outside of the PC. Never connect
the devices with voltage-carrying parts, especially not with mains
voltage. As power supply for the USB models only an authorized
power adaptor may be used.

Make sure that no contact with voltage-carrying parts can happen
by the external wiring of the device. As a basic principle, all connec­tions should only be made or removed in a powered-down state.

1.1.3 Unforeseeable Misapplications

The device is not suitable to be used as a children’s toy, in the

household or under unfavourable environmental conditions (e.g. in
the open). Appropriate precautions to avoid any unforeseeable mis­application must be taken by the user.

1.2 Package Contents

We take great care to ensure your delivery is complete. Nonethe­less, please check the list enclosed to verify the contents of your
delivery. You should find included:

 Electrically isolated digital-I/O board of the board family ME-

8100 for PCI- or CompactPCI-bus.

 Manual in PDF format on CD/DVD.
 Driver software on CD/DVD.
 ME-8100 PCI/cPCI: 78-pin D-Sub male connector.

1.3 Features

Model Overview

Model

Opto-Isolated Digital I/Os

Counter

ME-8100A PCI
ME-8100A cPCI

16 inputs and16 outputs (24 V)

3 x 16 bit (24 V)

ME-8100B PCI
ME-8100B cPCI

32 inputs and 32 outputs (24 V)

3 x 16 bit (24 V)

The boards of the ME-8100 series come with digital input and out­put ports and with three 16-bit counters. The digital ports and the
counter signals are optically isolated and are designed for control
applications requiring 24 V voltage level.

The ME-8100A board has 16 inputs, 16 outputs and a 16-bit-wide
bit-pattern comparator. The ME-8100B has 32 inputs, 32 outputs
and two bit-pattern comparators each 16 bits. All boards have
three 16-bit counters available.

The ME-8100 models offer the option of switching from “source”

drivers to “sink” drivers by software. This guarantees an individual

adaption to your needs. First the outputs of all models are in a
high-impedance state if the PC is off or after power up. That means
the voltage level at the output pin depends on your external wiring.
After a „1“ is set on the output there is current.

As a special feature the ME-8100 offers the operation modes „bit­pattern match“ and „bit-pattern change“. If the bit-pattern at the

inputs matches a defined pattern or when a bit toggles from a de­fined bit, an interrupt occurs.

1.4 System Requirements

The ME-series may be installed into any PC (Intel® Pentium® pro­cessor) with a free standard PCI, PCI-Express resp. CompactPCI
slot (32 bit, 33 MHz, 5 V). The board is supported by the Meilhaus
Electronic Intelligent Driver System (ME-iDS).

1.5 Software Support

The ME-series is supported by the Meilhaus Electronic Intelligent
Driver System (ME-iDS). The ME-iDS is a unique driver system cov­ering different devices and operating systems. It supports Win­dows 2000/XP/Vista and Windows 7, 8.1, 10 and contains a uni­versal function library (API) for all common programming languages.

A detailed description of the functions can be found in the ME-iDS
manual on the CD/DVD enclosed.

Please also note the corresponding README-files.

2 Starting up

Please read your computer’s instruction manual on how to install

new hardware components before installing the board.

2.1 Software Installation

 Installation under Windows

The following basic procedure should be used:

If you have received the driver software as an archive file, please
unpack the software before installing the board. First choose a di­rectory on your computer (e.g. C:\Temp\Meilhaus\ME-iDS).

Use the Meilhaus Electronic Intelligent Driver System (ME-iDS) for
programming your new data acquisition hardware. For installation
and operation of the driver system, please follow the documenta­tion in electronic form included with the software package.

2.2 Test Program

For simple testing of the board use the corresponding test pro­gram provided with the ME-iDS.