Spectrum M3i.4830-exp, M3i.4860-exp, M3i.4840-exp, M3i.4840, M3i.4831 Hardware Manual

...

M3i.48xx

M3i.48xx-exp

high-speed 16 bit transient recorder,

A/D converter board

for PCI-X, PCI and PCI Express bus

Hardware Manual

Software Driver Manual

English version November 21, 2016

SPECTRUM SYSTEMENTWICKLUNG MICROELECTRONIC GMBH · AHRENSFELDER WEG 13-17 · 22927 GROSSHANSDORF · GERMANY PHONE: +49 (0)4102-6956-0 · FAX: +49 (0)4102-6956-66 · E-MAIL: info@spec.de · INTERNET: http://www.spectrum-instrumentation.com

SBench, digitizerNETBOX and generatorNETBOX are registered trademarks of Spectrum Systementwicklung Microelectronic GmbH.

Microsoft, Visual C++, Visual Basic, Windows, Windows 98, Windows NT, Window 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10 and Windows Server are trademarks/registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

LabVIEW, DASYLab, Diadem and LabWindows/CVI are trademarks/registered trademarks of National Instruments Corporation.

MATLAB is a trademark/registered trademark of The Mathworks, Inc.

Keysight VEE, VEE Pro and VEE OneLab are trademarks/registered trademarks of Keysight Technologies, Inc.

FlexPro is a registered trademark of Weisang GmbH & Co. KG.

PCIe, PCI Express, PCI-X and PCI-SIG are trademarks of PCI-SIG.

PICMG and CompactPCI are trademarks of the PCI Industrial Computation Manufacturers Group.

PXI is a trademark of the PXI Systems Alliance.

LXI is a registered trademark of the LXI Consortium.

Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Intel and Intel Xeon are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation.

AMD and Opteron are trademarks or registered trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices.

Introduction....................................................................................................................... 8

Preface ............................................................................................................................................................................... 8

Overview ............................................................................................................................................................................ 8

General Information ............................................................................................................................................................. 8

Different models of the M3i.48xx series .................................................................................................................................. 9

Additional options.............................................................................................................................................................. 10

Star-Hub...................................................................................................................................................................... 10

BaseXIO (versatile digital I/O) ....................................................................................................................................... 10

The Spectrum type plate ...................................................................................................................................................... 11

Hardware information......................................................................................................................................................... 12

Block diagram.............................................................................................................................................................. 12

Technical Data ............................................................................................................................................................. 13

Dynamic Parameters .................................................................................................................................................... 15

Order Information......................................................................................................................................................... 16

Hardware Installation ..................................................................................................... 17

System Requirements .......................................................................................................................................................... 17

Warnings.......................................................................................................................................................................... 17

ESD Precautions ........................................................................................................................................................... 17

Cooling Precautions...................................................................................................................................................... 17

Sources of noise ........................................................................................................................................................... 17

Installing the board in the system.......................................................................................................................................... 18

Installing a single board without any options.................................................................................................................... 18

Installing a board with digital inputs/outputs mounted on an extra bracket .......................................................................... 20

Installing a board with option BaseXIO ........................................................................................................................... 21

Installing multiple boards synchronized by star-hub option ................................................................................................. 22

Software Driver Installation............................................................................................. 23

Interrupt Sharing ................................................................................................................................................................ 23

Important Notes on Driver Versions 2.22 and Control Center 1.41 and newer .......................................................................... 23

Windows 2000 ................................................................................................................................................................. 24

Installation ................................................................................................................................................................... 24

Version control ............................................................................................................................................................. 24

Driver - Update............................................................................................................................................................. 25

Windows XP 32 (64 Bit discontinued)................................................................................................................................... 26

Installation ................................................................................................................................................................... 26

Version control ............................................................................................................................................................. 26

Driver - Update............................................................................................................................................................. 27

Windows 7, 32/64 Bit....................................................................................................................................................... 28

Installation ................................................................................................................................................................... 28

Version control ............................................................................................................................................................. 29

Driver - Update............................................................................................................................................................. 29

Linux................................................................................................................................................................................. 30

Overview .................................................................................................................................................................... 30

Standard Driver Installation............................................................................................................................................ 30

Standard Driver Update ................................................................................................................................................ 31

Compilation of kernel driver sources (option) ................................................................................................................... 31

Update of self compiled kernel driver .............................................................................................................................. 31

Library only ................................................................................................................................................................. 31

Control Center ............................................................................................................................................................. 32

Software ......................................................................................................................... 33

Software Overview............................................................................................................................................................. 33

Card Control Center ........................................................................................................................................................... 33

Discovery of Remote Cards and digitizerNETBOX/generatorNETBOX products.................................................................... 34

Wake On LAN of digitizerNETBOX/generatorNETBOX .................................................................................................... 34

Netbox Monitor ........................................................................................................................................................... 34

Hardware information................................................................................................................................................... 35

Firmware information .................................................................................................................................................... 35

Driver information......................................................................................................................................................... 36

Installing and removing Demo cards ............................................................................................................................... 36

Feature upgrade........................................................................................................................................................... 36

Software License upgrade.............................................................................................................................................. 36

Performing card calibration ........................................................................................................................................... 37

Performing memory test ................................................................................................................................................. 37

Transfer speed test........................................................................................................................................................ 37

Debug logging for support cases .................................................................................................................................... 38

Device mapping........................................................................................................................................................... 38

Firmware upgrade........................................................................................................................................................ 39

Accessing the hardware with SBench 6................................................................................................................................. 39

C/C++ Driver Interface....................................................................................................................................................... 40

Header files ................................................................................................................................................................. 40

General Information on Windows 64 bit drivers............................................................................................................... 40

Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 and 2005 32 Bit ..................................................................................................................... 40

Microsoft Visual C++ 64 Bit........................................................................................................................................... 41

Borland C++ Builder 32 Bit ........................................................................................................................................... 41

Linux Gnu C/C++ 32/64 Bit ......................................................................................................................................... 41

C++ for .NET............................................................................................................................................................... 41

Other Windows C/C++ compilers 32 Bit ........................................................................................................................ 41

Other Windows C/C++ compilers 64 Bit ........................................................................................................................ 41

National Instruments LabWindows/CVI........................................................................................................................... 42

Driver functions .................................................................................................................................................................. 42

Borland Delphi (Pascal) Programming Interface ...................................................................................................................... 47

Driver interface ............................................................................................................................................................ 47

Examples..................................................................................................................................................................... 48

Visual Basic Programming Interface and Examples ................................................................................................................. 49

Driver interface ............................................................................................................................................................ 49

Examples..................................................................................................................................................................... 50

.NET programming languages ............................................................................................................................................. 51

Library ........................................................................................................................................................................ 51

Declaration.................................................................................................................................................................. 51

Using C#..................................................................................................................................................................... 51

Using Managed C++/CLI.............................................................................................................................................. 52

Using VB.NET .............................................................................................................................................................. 52

Using J# ...................................................................................................................................................................... 52

Python Programming Interface and Examples......................................................................................................................... 53

Driver interface ............................................................................................................................................................ 53

Examples..................................................................................................................................................................... 54

Programming the Board .................................................................................................. 55

Overview .......................................................................................................................................................................... 55

Register tables ................................................................................................................................................................... 55

Programming examples....................................................................................................................................................... 55

Initialization....................................................................................................................................................................... 56

Initialization of Remote Products........................................................................................................................................... 56

Error handling.................................................................................................................................................................... 56

Gathering information from the card..................................................................................................................................... 57

Card type.................................................................................................................................................................... 57

Hardware version......................................................................................................................................................... 58

Production date ............................................................................................................................................................ 58

Last calibration date (analog cards only) ......................................................................................................................... 58

Serial number .............................................................................................................................................................. 58

Maximum possible sampling rate ................................................................................................................................... 59

Installed memory .......................................................................................................................................................... 59

Installed features and options ......................................................................................................................................... 59

Miscellaneous Card Information ..................................................................................................................................... 60

Function type of the card ............................................................................................................................................... 60

Used type of driver ....................................................................................................................................................... 60

Reset................................................................................................................................................................................. 62

Analog Inputs.................................................................................................................. 63

Channel Selection .............................................................................................................................................................. 63

Important note on channels selection............................................................................................................................... 63

Setting up the inputs ........................................................................................................................................................... 64

Input Path .................................................................................................................................................................... 64

Input ranges................................................................................................................................................................. 64

Read out of input features .............................................................................................................................................. 65

Input termination........................................................................................................................................................... 66

Input coupling .............................................................................................................................................................. 66

AC/DC offset compensation .......................................................................................................................................... 66

Anti aliasing filter (Bandwidth limit)................................................................................................................................. 66

Enhanced Status Register............................................................................................................................................... 67

Automatic on-board calibration of the offset and gain settings............................................................................................ 67

Acquisition modes ........................................................................................................... 68

Overview .......................................................................................................................................................................... 68

Setup of the mode ........................................................................................................................................................ 68

Commands........................................................................................................................................................................ 68

Card Status.................................................................................................................................................................. 69

Acquisition cards status overview ................................................................................................................................... 70

Generation card status overview .................................................................................................................................... 70

Data Transfer ............................................................................................................................................................... 70

Standard Single acquisition mode ........................................................................................................................................ 72

Card mode.................................................................................................................................................................. 73

Memory, Pre- and Posttrigger ......................................................................................................................................... 73

Example ...................................................................................................................................................................... 73

FIFO Single acquisition mode .............................................................................................................................................. 73

Card mode.................................................................................................................................................................. 73

Length and Pretrigger.................................................................................................................................................... 73

Difference to standard single acquisition mode................................................................................................................. 74

Example FIFO acquisition .............................................................................................................................................. 74

Limits of pre trigger, post trigger, memory size ................................................................................................................. 74

Buffer handling .................................................................................................................................................................. 75

Data organisation .............................................................................................................................................................. 79

Sample format ................................................................................................................................................................... 79

Converting ADC samples to voltage values............................................................................................................................ 79

Clock generation ............................................................................................................. 80

Overview .......................................................................................................................................................................... 80

The different clock modes .............................................................................................................................................. 80

Clock Mode Register..................................................................................................................................................... 80

Details on the different clock modes...................................................................................................................................... 81

Standard internal sampling clock (PLL)............................................................................................................................. 81

Using Quartz2 with PLL (optional, M4i cards only)............................................................................................................ 81

External clock (reference clock) ...................................................................................................................................... 82

Trigger modes and appendant registers .......................................................................... 83

General Description............................................................................................................................................................ 83

Trigger Engine Overview..................................................................................................................................................... 83

Multi Purpose I/O Lines....................................................................................................................................................... 84

Programming the behaviour........................................................................................................................................... 84

Using asynchronous I/O ............................................................................................................................................... 84

Special behaviour of trigger output ................................................................................................................................. 85

Special direct trigger output modes................................................................................................................................. 85

Trigger masks .................................................................................................................................................................... 86

Trigger OR mask .......................................................................................................................................................... 86

Trigger AND mask........................................................................................................................................................ 87

Software trigger ................................................................................................................................................................. 88

Force- and Enable trigger .................................................................................................................................................... 88

Trigger delay ..................................................................................................................................................................... 89

External (analog) trigger ..................................................................................................................................................... 90

Trigger Mode............................................................................................................................................................... 90

Trigger Input Coupling .................................................................................................................................................. 91

Trigger level................................................................................................................................................................. 91

Detailed description of the external analog trigger modes ................................................................................................. 91

External (TTL) trigger using multi purpose I/O connectors ........................................................................................................ 96

TTL Trigger Mode ......................................................................................................................................................... 96

Edge and level triggers ................................................................................................................................................. 96

Channel Trigger ................................................................................................................................................................. 98

Overview of the channel trigger registers......................................................................................................................... 98

Channel trigger level..................................................................................................................................................... 99

Detailed description of the channel trigger modes........................................................................................................... 100

Mode Multiple Recording ............................................................................................... 104

Recording modes ............................................................................................................................................................. 104

Standard Mode.......................................................................................................................................................... 104

FIFO Mode ................................................................................................................................................................ 104

Limits of pre trigger, post trigger, memory size ............................................................................................................... 105

Multiple Recording and Timestamps.............................................................................................................................. 105

Trigger Modes ................................................................................................................................................................. 105

Trigger Counter.......................................................................................................................................................... 105

Programming examples..................................................................................................................................................... 106

Timestamps ................................................................................................................... 107

General information ......................................................................................................................................................... 107

Example for setting timestamp mode: ............................................................................................................................ 107

Timestamp modes............................................................................................................................................................. 108

Standard mode .......................................................................................................................................................... 108

StartReset mode.......................................................................................................................................................... 108

Refclock mode............................................................................................................................................................ 109

Reading out the timestamps ............................................................................................................................................... 110

General..................................................................................................................................................................... 110

Data Transfer using DMA ............................................................................................................................................ 110

Data Transfer using Polling .......................................................................................................................................... 112

Comparison of DMA and polling commands.................................................................................................................. 113

Data format ............................................................................................................................................................... 113

Combination of Memory Segmentation Options with Timestamps ........................................................................................... 114

Multiple Recording and Timestamps.............................................................................................................................. 114

Example Multiple Recording and Timestamps................................................................................................................. 115

ABA Mode and Timestamps......................................................................................................................................... 115

ABA mode (dual timebase) ............................................................................................ 116

General information ......................................................................................................................................................... 116

Standard Mode.......................................................................................................................................................... 116

FIFO Mode ................................................................................................................................................................ 117

Limits of pre trigger, post trigger, memory size ............................................................................................................... 117

Example for setting ABA mode: .................................................................................................................................... 118

Reading out ABA data ...................................................................................................................................................... 118

General..................................................................................................................................................................... 118

Data Transfer using DMA ............................................................................................................................................ 119

Data Transfer using Polling .......................................................................................................................................... 120

Comparison of DMA and polling commands.................................................................................................................. 121

ABA Mode and Timestamps......................................................................................................................................... 121

Option BaseXIO............................................................................................................. 123

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................... 123

Different functions............................................................................................................................................................. 123

Asynchronous Digital I/O............................................................................................................................................ 123

Special Input Functions................................................................................................................................................ 124

Transfer Data ............................................................................................................................................................. 124

Programming Example ................................................................................................................................................ 124

Special Sampling Feature ............................................................................................................................................ 124

Electrical specifications................................................................................................................................................ 125

Option Star-Hub (M3i and M4i only) .............................................................................. 126

Star-Hub introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 126

Star-Hub trigger engine ............................................................................................................................................... 126

Star-Hub clock engine ................................................................................................................................................. 126

Software Interface ............................................................................................................................................................ 126

Star-Hub Initialization.................................................................................................................................................. 126

Setup of Synchronization............................................................................................................................................. 128

Setup of Trigger ......................................................................................................................................................... 128

Run the synchronized cards ......................................................................................................................................... 129

SH-Direct: using the Star-Hub clock directly without synchronization.................................................................................. 130

Error Handling ........................................................................................................................................................... 130

Option Remote Server ................................................................................................... 131

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................... 131

Installing and starting the Remote Server ............................................................................................................................. 131

Windows .................................................................................................................................................................. 131

Linux......................................................................................................................................................................... 131

Accessing remote cards .................................................................................................................................................... 131

Appendix ...................................................................................................................... 132

Error Codes..................................................................................................................................................................... 132

Continuous memory for increased data transfer rate ............................................................................................................. 134

Background ............................................................................................................................................................... 134

Setup on Windows systems.......................................................................................................................................... 134

Setup on Linux systems ................................................................................................................................................ 134

Usage of the buffer ..................................................................................................................................................... 135

Details on M3i cards I/O lines........................................................................................................................................... 136

Multi Purpose I/O Lines............................................................................................................................................... 136

Interfacing with clock input .......................................................................................................................................... 136

Interfacing with clock output......................................................................................................................................... 136

Preface Introduction

Introduction

Preface

This manual provides detailed information on the hardware features of your Spectrum instrumentation board. This information includes technical data, specifications, block diagram and a connector description.

In addition, this guide takes you through the process of installing your board and also describes the installation of the delivered driver package for each operating system.

Finally this manual provides you with the complete software information of the board and the related driver. The reader of this manual will be able to integrate the board in any PC system with one of the supported bus and operating systems.

Please note that this manual provides no description for specific driver parts such as those for LabVIEW or MATLAB. These drivers manuals are available on CD or on the Spectrum website.

For any new information on the board as well as new available options or memory upgrades please contact our website http://www.spectrum-instrumentation.com. You will also find the current driver package with the latest bug fixes and new features on our site.

Please read this manual carefully before you install any hardware or software. Spectrum is not responsible for any hardware failures resulting from incorrect usage.

Overview

The PCI bus was first introduced in 1995. Nowadays it is the most common platform for PC based instrumentation boards. The very wide range of installations world-wide, especially in the consumer market, makes it a platform of good value. Its successor is the 2004 introduced PCI Express standard. In today’s standard PC there are usually two to three slots of both standards available for

instrumentation boards. Special industrial PCs offer up to a maximum of 20 slots. The common PCI/PCI-X bus with data rates of up to 133 MHz x 64 bit = 1 GByte/s per bus, is more and more replaced by the PCI Express standard with up to 4 GByte/s data transfer rate per slot. The Spectrum M3i boards are available in two versions, for PCI/PCI-X as well as for PCI Express. The 100% software compatible standards allow to combine both standards in one system with the same driver and software commands.

Within this document the name M3i is used as a synonym for both versions, either PCI/PCI-X or PCI Express. Only passages that differ concerning the bus version of the M3i.xxxx and M3i.xxxx-exp cards are mentioned separately. Also all card drawings will show the PCI/PCI-X version as example if no differences exist compared to the PCI Express version.

General Information

The M3i.48xx is best suitable for applications that need ultra high sample rates as well as a maximum possible resolution. These boards offer a resolution 4 times higher than 14 bit boards and even 16 times higher than 12 bit boards.

On the M3i.48xx every channel has its own amplifier and A/D converter. Each input channel can be adapted to a wide variety of signal sources. This is done by software selecting a matching input path, input range, input impedance, input coupling and anti-aliasing filter. The user will easily find a matching solution from the six offered models. These versions are working with sample rates of 65 MS/s up to 180 MS/ s and have one or two channels and can also be updated to a multi-channel system using the internal synchronization bus.

Data is written in the internal up to 2 GSample large memory. This memory can also be used as a FIFO buffer. In FIFO mode data will be transferred online into the PC RAM or to hard disk.

Application examples: Automatic test systems, Supersonics, CCD imaging systems, Vibration analysis, Radar, Sonar.

8 M3i.48xx / M3i.48xx-exp Manual

Introduction Different models of the M3i.48xx series

Different models of the M3i.48xx series

The following overview shows the different available models of the M3i.48xx series. They differ in the number of available channels. You can also see the model dependent location of the input connectors.

• M3i.4830

• M3i.4840

• M3i.4860

• M3i.4830-exp

• M3i.4840-exp

• M3i.4860-exp

• M3i.4831

• M3i.4841

• M3i.4861

• M3i.4831-exp

• M3i.4841-exp

• M3i.4861-exp

Additional options Introduction

Additional options

Star-Hub

The star hub piggy-back module allows the synchronization of up to 8 M3i cards. It is possible to synchronize cards of the same type with each other as well as different types.

Two different versions of the star-hub module are available. A minor one for synchronizing up to four boards of the M3i series, without the need for an additional system slot. The major version (option SH8) allows the synchronization of up to 8 cards with the need for an additional slot.

The module acts as a star hub for clock and trigger signals. Each board is connected with a small cable of the same length, even the master board. That minimizes the clock skew between the different cards. The figure shows the piggy-back module mounted on the base board schematically without any cables to achieve a better visibility. It also shows the locations of the available connectors for the two different versions of the star-hub option.

The carrier card acts as the clock master and the same or any other card can be the trigger master. All trigger modes that are available on the master card are also available if the synchronization star-hub is used.

The cable connection of the boards is automatically recognized and checked by the driver when initializing the star-hub module. So no care must be taken on how to cable the cards. The star-hub module itself is handled as an additional device just like any other card and the programming consists of only a few additional commands.

BaseXIO (versatile digital I/O)

The option BaseXIO is simple-to-use enhancement to the cards of the M3i series. It is possible to control a wide range of external instruments or other equipment by using the eight lines as asynchronous digital I/O. The BaseXIO option is useful if an external amplifier should be controlled, any kind of signal source must be programmed, if status information from an external machine has to be obtained or different test signals have to be routed to the board. In addition to the I/O features, these lines are also for special functions. One line can be used as an reference time signal (RefClock) for the timestamp option. The BaseXIO MMCX connectors are mounted on-board. To gain easier access, these lines are connected to an extra bracket, that holds eight SMB male connectors. For special purposes this option can also be ordered without the extra bracket and instead with internal cables.

10 M3i.48xx / M3i.48xx-exp Manual

Introduction The Spectrum type plate

The Spectrum type plate

The Spectrum type plate, which consists of the following components, can be found on all of our boards. Please check whether the printed information is the same as the information on your delivery note. All this information can also be read out by software:

The board type, consisting of the two letters describing the bus (in this case M2i for the PCI-X bus) and the model number.

The size of the on-board installed memory in MSample or GSample. In this example there are 1 GS = 1024 MSample (2 GByte =

2048 MByte) installed.

The serial number of your Spectrum board. Every board has a unique serial number.

A list of the installed options. A complete list of all available options is shown in the order information. In this example the options

Multiple recording, Gated Sampling, Timestamp and Star-Hub 5 are installed.

The base card version, consisting of the hardware version (the part before the dot) and the firmware version (the part after the dot).

The version of the analog/digital front-end module. Consisting of the hardware version (the part before the dot) and the firmware

version (the part after the dot)

The date of production, consisting of the calendar week and the year.

The version of the extension module if one is installed. Consisting of the hardware version (the part before the dot) and the firmware

version (the part after the dot). In our example we have the Star-Hub 5 extension module installed. Therefore the version of the ex-

tension module is filled on the type plate. If no extension module is installed this part is left open.

Please always supply us with the above information, especially the serial number in case of support request. That allows us to answer your questions as soon as possible. Thank you.

Hardware information Introduction

Hardware information

Block diagram

12 M3i.48xx / M3i.48xx-exp Manual

Introduction Hardware information

Technical Data

Analog Inputs

Resolution 16 bit Input Type Single-ended Programmable Input Offset not available ADC Differential non linearity (DNL) ADC only ≤ 1.0 LSB ADC Integral non linearity (INL) ADC only ≤ 4.0 LSB Channel selection software programmable 1 or 2 channels (maximum is model dependent) Bandwidth filter 4830, 4831 activate by software 10 MHz bandwidth with 3rd order Butterworth filtering Bandwidth filter 4840, 4841, 4860, 4861 activate by software 20 MHz bandwidth with 3rd order Butterworth filtering

Input Path Types software programmable Analog Input impedance software programmable

50 Ω (HF) Path

50 Ω 1 MΩ || 25 pF or 50 Ω

Buffered (high impedance) Path

Input Ranges software programmable ±500 mV, ±1 V, ±2.5 V, ±5 V ±200 mV, ±500 mV, ±1 V, ±2 V, ±5 V, ±10 V Input Coupling software programmable AC/DC AC/DC Offset error (full speed) after warm-up and calibration ≤ 0.1% ≤ 0.1% Gain error (full speed) after warm-up and calibration ≤ 1.0% ≤ 0.1% Over voltage protection range ≤ ±1V 2 Vrms Over voltage protection range ≥ ±2V 6 Vrms

±5 V (1 MΩ), 5 Vrms (50 Ω)

±30 V (1 MΩ), 5 Vrms (50 Ω) Max DC voltage if AC coupling active ±30 V ±30 V Relative input stage delay 0 ns 3.8 ns Crosstalk 1 MHz sine signal input range ±1 V not available ≤ -100 dB Crosstalk 20 MHz sine signal input range ±1 V not available ≤ -100 dB Crosstalk 1 MHz sine signal input range ±5 V ≤ -110 dB ≤ -92 dB Crosstalk 20 MHz sine signal input range ±5 V ≤ -102 dB ≤ -92 dB

Trigger

Available trigger modes software programmable Channel Trigger, Ext0 (Analog), Ext1 (TT), Software, Window, Re-Arm, Or/And, Delay Trigger level resolution software programmable 10 bits Trigger edge software programmable Rising edge, falling edge or both edges Trigger delay software programmable 0 to (8GSamples - 8) = 8589934584 Samples in steps of 8 samples Multi, Gate: re-arming time ≤ 32 samples (+ programmed pretrigger) Pretrigger at Multi, ABA, Gate, FIFO software programmable 8 up to [8192 Samples / number of active channels] in steps of 8 Posttrigger software programmable 8 up to 4 GSamples in steps of 8(defining pretrigger in standard scope mode) Memory depth software programmable 16 up to [installed memory / number of active channels] samples in steps of 8 Multiple Recording/ABA segment size software programmable 16 up to [installed memory / 2 / active channels] samples in steps of 16 Trigger output delay after trigger input 134 sampling clock cycles Internal/External trigger accuracy 1 sample

External trigger Ext0 (Trg) Ext1 (X0) + Ext2 (X1) External trigger impedance software programmable

50 Ω /1 MΩ || 25 pF 10 kΩ to 3.3 V External trigger coupling software programmable AC or DC fixed DC Minimum trigger pulse width (DC / AC) ≥ 2 samples ≥ 2 samples External trigger bandwidth DC External trigger bandwidth AC

50 Ω /1 MΩ 50 Ω

DC to 200 MHz / 150 MHz DC to 125 MHz

20 kHz to 200 MHz n.a. External trigger type Window comparator, ±5 V TTL level

External trigger level software programmable 2 levels ±5V in steps of 1 mV fixed: Low: ≤0.8 V, High: ≥2.0 V External trigger maximum voltage

5V rms (50 External trigger output impedance input only

Ω), ±30V (1 MΩ)

-0.3 V to +5.5V

Ω

External trigger output levels input only Low: ≤0.4 V, High: ≥2.4 V External trigger output type input only 3.3 V LVTTL.TTL compatible for high impedance External trigger output drive strength input only

Capable of driving 50

Ω loads, ±64 mA output

Clock

Clock Modes software programmable internal, external reference clock, sync Internal clock accuracy ≤ ±32 ppm Internal clock setup granularity 1 Hz (except the clock setup gaps shwon below) Clock setup range gaps clock not programmable 70 MHz to 72 MHz, 140 MHz to 144 MHz, 281 MHz to 287 MHz External reference clock range software programmable ≥ 10 MHz and ≤ 1 GHz (fix at runtime) External reference clock setup granilarity 1 kHz External clock input impedance software programmable

External clock input coupling AC coupling External clock input edge Rising edge External clock input to internal ADC clock delay 3.7 ns (8.2 ns if synchronization is used) External clock input type Single-ended, sine wave or square wave External clock input swing 0.3 V peak-peak up to 3.0 V peak-peak External clock input max DC voltage ±30 V (with max 3.0 V difference between low and high level) External clock input duty cycke requirement 40% to 60% External clock output type Single-ended, 3.3V LVPECL External clock output coupling AC coupling ABA mode clock divider for slow clock software programmable 8 up to [128k - 8] in steps of 8

50 Ω fixed

Hardware information Introduction

min sampling clock 9 MS/s 9 MS/s 9 MS/s 9 MS/s 9 MS/s 9 MS/s

M3i.4830 M3i.4831 M3i.4840 M3i.4841 M3i.4860 M3i.4861

max internal clock (1 channel active) 65 MS/s 65 MS/s 105 MS/s 105 MS/s 180 MS/s 180 MS/s max internal clock (2 channels active) n.a. 65 MS/s n.a. 105 MS/s n.a. 180 MS/s lower bandwidth limit (DC coupling) 0 Hz 0 Hz 0 Hz 0 Hz 0 Hz 0 Hz lower bandwidth limit (AC coupled, 50 Ohm) <30 kHz <30 kHz <30 kHz <30 kHz <30 kHz <30 kHz lower bandwidth limit (AC coupled, 1 MOhm) <2 Hz <2 Hz <2 Hz <2 Hz <2 Hz <2 Hz

-3 dB bandwidth (buffered path) 30 MHz 30 MHz 45 MHz 45 MHz 70 MHz 70 MHz

-3 dB bandwidth (50 ohm path) 35 MHz 35 MHz 50 MHz 50 MHz 90 MHz 90 MHz

-3 dB bandwidth (BW limit enabled) 10 MHz 10 MHz 20 MHz 20 MHz 20 MHz 20 MHz

Multi Purpose I/O lines (front-plate)

Number of multi purpose lines two, named X0, X1 Input: available signal types software programmable Trigger-In, Asynchronous Digital-In, Synchrounous Digital-In, Timestamp Reference Clock Input: impedance

10 kΩ to 3.3 V Input: maximum voltage level -0.3 V to +5-5V Input: signal levels Low: ≤0.8 V, High: ≥2.0 V Output: available signal types software programmable Asynchronous Digital-Out, Trigger Output, Run, Arm Output: impedance

50 Ω Output: signal levels Low: ≤0.4 V, High: ≥2.4 V Output: type 3.3 V LVTTL, TTL compatible for high impedance loads Output: drive strength

Capable of driving 50 Ω loads, maximum strength ±64 mA

BaseXIO Option

BaseXIO modes software programmable Asynch digital I/O, 2 additional trigger, timestamp reference clock, timestamp digital inputs BaseXIO direction software programmable Each 4 lines can be programmed in direction BaseXIO input TTL compatible: Low ≤ 0.8 V, High ≥ 2.0 V BaseXIO input impedance 4.7 kOhm towards 3.3 V BaseXIO input maximum voltage -0.5 V up to +5.5 V BaseXIO output type 3.3 V LVTLL BaseXIO output levels TTL compatible: Low ≤ 0.4 V, High ≥ 2.4 V BaseXIO output drive strength

32 mA maximum current, no 50 Ω loads

Connectors (Standard Card)

Analog Inputs 3 mm SMB male (one for each single-ended input) Cable-Type: Cab-3f-xx-xx Trigger Ext0 Input 1 x MMCX female (one connector) Cable-Type: Cab-1m-xx-xx Clock Input/Output 2 x MMCX female (two connectors) Cable-Type: Cab-1m-xx-xx Multi Purpose X0 and X1 2 x MMCX female (two connectors) Cable-Type: Cab-1m-xx-xx Option BaseXIO 8 x 3 mm SMB male on extra bracket, internally 8 x MMCX female

Connectors (Option M3i.xxxx-SMA)

Analog Inputs SMA female (one for each single-ended input) Cable-Type: Cab-3mA-xx-xx Trigger, Clock I/O, Multi Purpose X0 signals specified at order time 2 x SMA female (two connectors) Cable-Type: Cab-3mA-xx-xx Option BaseXIO 8 x 3 mm SMB male on extra bracket, internally 8 x MMCX female

Connectors (Option M3i.xxxx-SMAM)

Analog Inputs SMA female (one for each single-ended input) Cable-Type: Cab-3mA-xx-xx Trigger Ext0 Input 1 x MMCX female (one connector) Cable-Type: Cab-1m-xx-xx Clock Input/Output 2 x MMCX female (two connectors) Cable-Type: Cab-1m-xx-xx Multi Purpose X0 and X1 2 x MMCX female (two connectors) Cable-Type: Cab-1m-xx-xx Option BaseXIO 8 x 3 mm SMB male on extra bracket, internally 8 x MMCX female

Environmental and Physical Details

Dimension (PCB only) 312 mm x 107 mm (full PCI length) Width (Standard or star-hub 4) 1 full size slot Width (star-hub 8) additionally back of adjacent neighbour slots Width (with option BaseXIO) additionally extra bracket on neighbour slot Weight plain card 320 g Weight plain card + option SH4 380g Weight plain card + option SH8 400g Warm up time 10 minutes Operating temperature 0°C to 50°C Storage temperature -10°C to 70°C Humidity 10% to 90%

14 M3i.48xx / M3i.48xx-exp Manual

Introduction Hardware information

PCI/PCI-X specific details

PCI / PCI-X bus slot type 32 bit 33 MHz or 32 bit 66 MHz PCI / PCI-X bus slot compatibility 32/64 bit, 33-133 MHz, 3,3 V and 5 V I/O

PCI Express specific details

PCIe slot type x1 Generation 1 PCIe slot compatibility x1/x4/x8/x16 (Some x16 PCIe slots are for graphic cards only and can not be used)

Certification, Compliance, Warranty

EMC Immunity Compliant with CE Mark EMC Emission Compliant with CE Mark Product warranty 2 years starting with the day of delivery Software and firmware updates Life-time, free of charge

Power Consumption

PCI / PCI-X PCI EXPRESS

3.3 V 5 V Total 3.3V 12V Total

M3i.48x1 (256 MS memory) 1.9 A 2.6 A 19.3 W 0.4 A 1.9 A 24.1 W M3i.48x1 (2 GSamples memory), max power 3.0 A 2.6 A 22.9 W 0.4 A 2.5 A 31.3 W

MTBF

MTBF 200000 hours

Dynamic Parameters

Input Path HF path, AC coupled, fixed 50 Ohm Buffered path, BW limit Buffered path, full BW Test signal frequency 1 MHz 10 MHz 40 MHz 10 MHz 1 MHz 10 MHz 40 MHz Input Range ±1V ±500mV ±1V ±1V ±200mV ±500mV ±1V ±500mV ±500mV ±500mV RMS Noise (zero level) ≤ 8.0 LSB ≤ 10.0 LSB ≤ 10.0 LSB THD (typ) (dB) -80.6 -79.2 -79.3 -77.8 -77.4 -77.7 -75.3 -83.4 -77.7 -47.8 SNR (typ) (dB) 73.173.373.471.971.472.873.171.172.868.6 SFDR (typ), excl. harm. (dB) 92.4 96.0 96.8 87.8 95.8 96.8 96.7 87.6 96.4 88.2 SFDR (typ), incl. harm. (dB) 81.1 80.5 80.5 78.8 79.0 78.7 76.2 85.2 79.0 48.0 SINAD/THD+N (typ) (dB) 72.4 72.3 72.3 70.9 70.4 71.6 73.1 70.9 71.6 47.8 ENOB based on SINAD (bit)11.711.711.711.511.411.611.511.511.6 7.6 ENOB based on SNR (bit) 11.911.911.911.711.611.811.811.511.811.1

Input Path HF path, AC coupled, fixed 50 Ohm Buffered path, BW limit Buffered path, full BW Test signal frequency 1 MHz 10 MHz 10 MHz 1 MHz 10 MHz Input Range ±1V ±500mV ±1V ±200mV ±500mV ±1V ±500mV ±500mV RMS Noise (zero level) ≤ 7.0 LSB ≤ 10.0 LSB ≤ 10.0 LSB THD (typ) (dB) -86.0 -87.3 -88.0 -83.0 -82.1 -76.2 -85.0 -79.8 SNR (typ) (dB) 74.5 74.7 74.7 71.7 73.9 74.2 73.1 73.0 SFDR (typ), excl. harm. (dB) 93.0 97.0 97.1 92.8 93.5 93.1 92.5 96.3 SFDR (typ), incl. harm. (dB) 86.5 91.5 91.7 85.3 85.1 79.0 87.5 81.5 SINAD/THD+N (typ) (dB) 74.2 74.5 74.5 71.4 73.3 72.1 72.8 72.2 ENOB based on SINAD (bit) 12.0 12.1 12.1 11.6 11.9 11.7 11.8 11.7 ENOB based on SNR (bit) 12.1 12.1 12.1 11.6 12.0 12.0 11.9 11.8

Input Path HF path, AC coupled, fixed 50 Ohm Buffered path, BW limit Buffered path, full BW Test signal frequency 1 MHz 10 MHz 10 MHz 1 MHz 10 MHz Input Range ±1V ±500mV ±1V ±200mV ±500mV ±1V ±500mV ±500mV RMS Noise (zero level) ≤ 5.0 LSB ≤ 9.0 LSB ≤ 9.0 LSB THD (typ) (dB) -85.0 -86.2 -86.2 -83.5 -80.8 -76.5 -84.1 -80.4 SNR (typ) (dB) 75.0 75.4 75.2 72.3 74.6 74.8 73.8 74.2 SFDR (typ), excl. harm. (dB) 94.5 92.0 90.8 88.5 91.4 90.7 88.3 91.0 SFDR (typ), incl. harm. (dB) 81.5 87.7 87.5 84.7 83.3 78.8 85.2 81.5 SINAD/THD+N (typ) (dB) 74.6 75.1 74.9 72.0 73.7 72.6 73.4 73.4 ENOB based on SINAD (bit) 12.0 12.2 12.2 11.7 11.9 11.8 11.9 11.9 ENOB based on SNR (bit) 12.2 12.2 12.2 11.7 12.1 12.1 12.0 12.0

M3i.4861 and M3i.4860, 1 or 2 channels 180 MS/s

M3i.4841 and M3i.4840, 1 or 2 channels 105 MS/s

M3i.4831 and M3i.4830, 1 or 2 channels 65 MS/s

A pure sine wave with > 99% amplitude of input range is measured with 50 ohms termination. SNR and RMS noise parameters may differ depending on the quality of the used PC. SNR = Signal to Noise Ratio, THD = Total Harmonic Distortion, SFDR = Spurious Free Dynamic Range, SINAD = Signal Noise and Distortion, ENOB = Effective Number of Bits. Depending on the test signal frequency different filter types are used: 1 MHz signal = 7th order low pass, 10 MHz signal = 6th order band pass, 40 MHz signal = 6th order bandpass.

Hardware information Introduction

Order Information

The card is delivered with 256 MSample on-board memory and supports standard acquisition (Scope), FIFO acquisition (streaming), Multiple Recording, ABA mode and Timestamps. Operating system drivers for Windows/Linux 32 bit and 64 bit, examples for C/C++, LabVIEW (Windows), MATLAB (Windows and Linux), LabWindows/CVI, IVI, .NET, Delphi, Visual Basic, Java, Python and a Base license of the oscilloscope software SBench 6 are included. Drivers for other 3rd party products like VEE or DASYLab may be available on request.

Adapter cables are not included. Please order separately!

PCI/PCI-X PCI Express

Memory

Options

Services

Standard Cables

Low Loss Cables

Amplifiers

Software SBench6

Software Options

(1) : Just one of the options can be installed on a card at a time. (2) : Third party product with warranty differing from our export conditions. No volume rebate possible.

PCI Express PCI/PCI-X Standard mem 1 channel 2 channels

M3i.4830-exp M3i.4830 256 MSample 65 MS/s

M3i.4831-exp M3i.4831 256 MSample 65 MS/s 65 MS/s M3i.4840-exp M3i.4840 256 MSample 105 MS/s M3i.4841-exp M3i.4841 256 MSample 105 MS/s 105 MS/s M3i.4860-exp M3i.4860 256 MSample 180 MS/s M3i.4861-exp M3i.4861 256 MSample 180 MS/s 180 MS/s

Order no. Option

M3i.xxxx-512MS Memory upgrade to 512 MSample (1 GB) total memory M3i.xxxx-1GS Memory upgrade to 1 GSample (2 GB) total memory

Order no. Option

M3i.xxxx-SH4 Synchronization Star-Hub for up to 4 cards, only 1 slot width M3i.xxxx-SH8 Synchronization Star-Hub for up to 8 cards, 2 slots width M3i.xxxx-bxio Option BaseXIO: 8 digital I/O lines usable as asynchronous I/O and timestamp ref-clock, additional

M3i.xxxx-SMA Option SMA connections for all analog inputs + two control signals (fixed at order time):

M3i.xxxx-SMAM Option SMA connections for all analog inputs + MMCX connections for all control signals (clock I/O,

bracket with 8 SMB connectors

- SMA connection XA: Trigger-In or Trigger-Out/Multi Purpose X0

- SMA connection XB: Trigger-In or Clock In or Clock-Out

trigger I/O, multipurpose X0, X1)

M3i-upgrade Upgrade for M3i.xxxx: later installation of option -bxio, -SH4, SH8 or SMA connectors

Order no.

War rEx t5 Warranty extension from 2 years standard warranty to 5 years Recal Recalibration at Spectrum incl. calibration protocol

Order no.

for Connections Length to BNC male to BNC female to SMA male to SMA female to SMB female Standard inputs 80 cm Cab-3f-9m-80 Cab-3f-9f-80 Cab-3f-3mA-80 Cab-3f-3fA-80 Standard inputs 200 cm Cab-3f-9m-200 Cab-3f-9f-200 Cab-3f-3mA-200 Cab-3f-3fA-200 Probes (short) 5 cm Cab-3f-9f-5 Trigger/Clock/Extra 80 cm Cab-1m-9m-80 Cab-1m-9f-80 Cab-1m-3mA-80 Cab-1m-3fA-80 Cab-1m-3f-80 Trigger/Clock/Extra 200 cm Cab-1m-9m-200 Cab-1m-9f200 Cab-1m-3mA-200 Cab-1m-3fA-200 Cab-1m-3f-200 SMA Option 80 cm Cab-3mA-9m-80 Cab-3mA-9f-80 SMA Option 200 cm Cab-3mA-9m-200 Cab-3mA-9f-200 Information The standard adapter cables are based on RG174 cables and have a nominal attenuation of 0.3 dB/m at 100 MHz and

0.5 dB/m at 250 MHz. For high speed signals we recommend the low loss cables series CHF together with the SMA connector option M3i.xxxx-SMA oder M3i.xxxx-SMAM.

Order no.s Option CHF-3mA-3mA-200 Low loss cables SMA male to SMA male 200 cm CHF-3mA-9m-200 Low loss cables SMA male to BNC male 200 cm Information The low loss adapter cables are based on MF141 cables and have an attenuation of 0.3 dB/m at 500 MHz and

0.5 dB/m at 1.5 GHz. They are recommended for signal frequencies of 200 MHz and above. Card SMA connectors are needed. Make sure to order one of the options M3i.xxxx-SMA or M3i.xxxx-SMAM together with the card.

Order no. Bandwidth Connection Input Impedance Coupling Amplification

SPA.1841 (2) 2 GHz SMA 50 Ohm AC x100 (40 dB) SPA.1801 (2) 2 GHz SMA 50 Ohm AC x10 (20 dB) SPA.1601 (2) 500 MHz BNC 50 Ohm DC x10 (20 dB) SPA.1412 (2) 200 MHz BNC 1 MOhm AC/DC x10/x100 (20/40 dB) SPA.1411 (2) 200 MHz BNC 50 Ohm AC/DC x10/x100 (20/40 dB) SPA.1232 (2) 10 MHz BNC 1 MOhm AC/DC x100/x1000 (40/60 dB) SPA.1231 (2) 10 MHz BNC 50 Ohm AC/DC x100/x1000 (40/60 dB) Information External Amplifiers with one channel, BNC/SMA female connections on input and output, manually adjustable offset, man-

ually switchable settings. An external power supply for 100 to 240 VAC is included. Please be sure to order an adapter cable matching the amplifier connector type and matching the connector type for your A/D card input.

Order no.

SBench6 Base version included in delivery. Supports standard mode for one card. SBench6-Pro Professional version for one card: FIFO mode, export/import, calculation functions SBench6-Multi Option multiple cards: Needs SBench6-Pro. Handles multiple synchronized cards in one system. Volume Licenses Please ask Spectrum for details.

Order no.

Spc-RServer Remote Ser ver Software Package - LAN remote access for M2i/M3i/M4i/M4x cards

16 M3i.48xx / M3i.48xx-exp Manual

Hardware Installation System Requirements

Hardware Installation

System Requirements

All Spectrum M2i/M3i.xxxx instrumentation cards are compliant to the PCI standard and require in general one free full length slot. This can either be a standard 32 bit PCI legacy slot, a 32 bit or a 64 bit PCI-X slot. Depending on the installed options additional free slots can be necessary.

All Spectrum M2i/M3i.xxxx-exp instrumentation cards are compliant to the PCI Express 1.0 standard and require in general one free full length PCI Express slot. This can either be a x1, x4, x8 or x16 slot. Some x16 PCIe slots are for the use of graphic cards only and can not be used for other cards. Depending on the installed options additional free slots can be necessary.

Warnings

ESD Precautions

The boards of the M2i/M3i.xxxx series contain electronic components that can be damaged by electrostatic discharge (ESD).

Before installing the board in your system or even before touching it, it is absolutely necessary to bleed off any electrostatic electricity.

Cooling Precautions

The boards of the M2i/M3i.xxxx series operate with components having very high power consumption at high speeds. For this reason it is absolutely required to cool this board sufficiently.

For all M2i/M3i cards it is strongly recommended to install an additional cooling fan producing a stream of air across the boards surface. In most cases professional PC-systems are already equipped with sufficient cooling power. In that case please make sure that the air stream is not blocked.

Sources of noise

The analog acquisition and generator boards of the M2i/M3i.xxxx series should be placed far away from any noise producing source (like e.g. the power supply). It should especially be avoided to place the board in the slot directly adjacent to another fast board (like the graphics controller).

Installing the board in the system Hardware Installation

Installing the board in the system

Installing a single board without any options

Before installing the board you first need to unscrew and remove the dedicated blind-bracket usually mounted to cover unused slots of your PC. Please keep the screw in reach to fasten your Spectrum card afterwards. All Spectrum cards require a full length PCI, PCI-X slot (either 32Bit or 64Bit) or PCI Express slot (either x1, x4, x8 or x16) with a track at the backside to guide the board by its retainer. Now insert the board slowly into your computer. This is done best with one hand each at both fronts of the board.

While inserting the board take care not to tilt the retainer in the track. Please take especial care to not bend the card in any direction while inserting it in the system. A bending of the card may damage the PCB totally and is not covered by the standard warranty.

Please be very carefully when inserting the board in the slot, as most of the mainboards are mounted with spacers and therefore might be damaged if they are exposed to high pressure.

After the board’s insertion fasten the screw of the bracket carefully, without overdoing.

Installing the M2i/M3i.xxxx PCI/PCI-X card in a 32 bit PCI/PCI-X slot

Installing the M2i/M3i.xxxx PCI/PCI-X card in a 64 bit PCI/PCI-X slot

18 M3i.48xx / M3i.48xx-exp Manual

Hardware Installation Installing the board in the system

Installing the M2i/M3i.xxxx-exp PCI Express card in a PCIe x1 slot

Installing the M2i/M3i.xxxx-exp PCI Express card in a PCIe x4, x8 or x16 slot

Installing the board in the system Hardware Installation

Installing a board with digital inputs/outputs mounted on an extra bracket

Before installing the board you first need to unscrew and remove the dedicated blind-brackets usually mounted to cover unused slots of your PC. Please keep the screws in reach to fasten your Spectrum board and the extra bracket afterwards. All Spectrum boards require a full length PCI slot with a track at the backside to guide the board by its retainer. Now insert the board and the extra bracket slowly into your computer. This is done best with one hand each at both fronts of the board.

Please be very carefully when inserting the board in the PCI slot, as most of the mainboards are mounted with spacers and therefore might be damaged they are exposed to high pressure.

After the board’s insertion fasten the screws of both brackets carefully, without overdoing. The figure shows an example of a board with two installed modules.

20 M3i.48xx / M3i.48xx-exp Manual

Hardware Installation Installing the board in the system

Installing a board with option BaseXIO

Please be very carefully when inserting the board in the PCI slot, as most of the mainboards are mounted with spacers and therefore might be damaged they are exposed to high pressure.

After the board’s insertion fasten the screws of both brackets carefully, without overdoing. The figure shows an example of a board with two installed modules.

Installing the board in the system Hardware Installation

Installing multiple boards synchronized by star-hub option

Hooking up the boards

Before mounting several synchronized boards for a multi channel system into the PC you can hook up the cards with their synchronization cables first. If there is enough space in your computer’s case (e.g. a big tower case) you can also mount the boards first and hook them up afterwards. Spectrum ships the card carrying the star-hub option together with the needed amount of synchronization cables. All of them are matched to the same length, to achieve a zero clock delay between the cards.

Only use the included flat ribbon cables.

All of the cards, including the one that carries the star-hub piggy-back module, must be wired to the star-hub as the figure is showing as an example for three synchronized boards.

It does not matter which of the available connectors on the star-hub module you use for which board. The software driver will detect the types and order of the synchronized boards automatically. The figure shows the three cables mounted on the option M2i.xxxx-SH16 star-hub to achieve a better visibility. The option M3i.xxxx-SH8 is handled similar to this picture. When using the M3i.xxxx-SH4 or M2i.xxxx-SH5 version, only the connectors on the upper side of the star-hub piggy-back module are available (see figure for details on the star-hub connector locations).

As some of the synchronization cables are not secured against wrong plugging you should take care to have the pin 1 markers on the multiple connectors and the cable on the same side, as the figure on the right is showing.

Mounting the wired boards

Before installing the cards you first need to unscrew and remove the dedicated blind-brackets usually mounted to cover unused slots of your PC. Please keep the screws in reach to fasten your Spectrum cards afterwards. All Spectrum boards require a full length PCI slot with a track at the backside to guide the card by its retainer. Now insert the cards slowly into your computer. This is done best with one hand each at both fronts of the board. Please keep in mind that the board carrying the star-hub piggy-back module requires the width of two slots, when the option M3i.xxxx-SH8 or M2i.xxxx-SH16 version is used.

Please be very careful when inserting the cards in the slots, as most of the mainboards are mounted with spacers and therefore might be damaged if they are exposed to high pressure.

After inserting all cards fasten the screws of all brackets carefully, without overdoing. The figure shows an example of three cards with two installed modules each.

22 M3i.48xx / M3i.48xx-exp Manual

Software Driver Installation Interrupt Sharing

Software Driver Installation

Before using the board a driver must be installed that matches the operating system. The installation is done in different ways depending on the used operating system. The driver that is on CD supports all cards of the M2i/M3i series. That means that you can use the same driver for all cards of these families.

With the CD revision 3.00 (June 2010) the CD structure was revised and the root folder of the Windows drivers was changed from „spcm_driver“ to „Driver“. The screen shots shown in the installation chapters might still show the former version.

Interrupt Sharing

This board uses a PCI interrupt for DMA data transfer and for controlling the FIFO mode. The used interrupt line is allocated by the PC BIOS at system start and is normally depending on the selected slot. Because there is only a limited number of interrupt lines available on the PCI bus it can happen that two or more boards must use the same interrupt line. This so called interrupt sharing must be supported by all drivers of the participating equipment.

Most available drivers and also the Spectrum driver for your board can manage interrupt sharing. But there are also some drivers on the market that can only use one interrupt exclusively. If this equipment shares an interrupt with the Spectrum board, the system will hang up if the second driver is loaded (the time is depending on the operating system).

If this happens it is necessary to reconfigure the system in that way that the critical equipment has an exclusive access to an interrupt.

On most systems the BIOS shows a list of all installed PCI boards with their allocated interrupt lines directly after system start. You have to check whether an interrupt line is shared between two boards. Some BIOS allow the manual allocation of interrupt lines. Have a look in your mainboard manual for further information on this topic.

Because normally the interrupt line is fixed for one PCI slot it is simply necessary to use another slot for the critical board to force a new interrupt allocation. You have to search a configuration where all critical boards have only exclusive access to one interrupt.

Depending on the system, using the Spectrum board with a shared interrupt may degrade performance a little. Each interrupt needs to be checked by two drivers. For this reason when using time critical FIFO mode even the Spectrum board should have an exclusively access to one interrupt line.

Important Notes on Driver Versions 2.22 and Control Center 1.41 and newer

With Windows driver version V2.22 and later required internal driver changes were needed, such that Windows 2000 is no longer compatible with the WDM driver version.

Windows 2000 users should use the driver version 2.11 (available as separate download from the Spectrum homepage), because with driver version V2.22 on, this operating system is no longer supported.

Windows 2000 users should also use the Control Center version 1.41 (available as separate download from the Spectrum homepage), because with driver version V1.42 on, this operating system is no longer supported.

Windows 2000 Software Driver Installation

Windows 2000

Installation

When installing the board in a Windows 2000 system the Spectrum board will be recognized automatically on the next start-up.

The system offers the direct installation of a driver for the board.

Let Windows search automatically for the best driver for your system.

Select the CD that was delivered with the board as installation source. The driver files are located on CD in the directory \Driver\win32.

Version control

The hardware assistant shows you the exact board type that has been found like the M2i.2021 in the example.

The drivers can be used directly after installation. It is not necessary to restart the system. The installed drivers are linked in the device manager.

Below you’ll see how to examine the driver version and how to update the driver with a newer version.

If you want to check which driver version is installed in the system this can be easily done in the device manager. Therefore please start the device manager from the control panel and show the properties of the installed driver. On the property page Windows 2000 shows the date and the version of the installed driver. After clicking the driver details button the detailed version information of the driver is shown. This information is also available through the control center.

24 M3i.48xx / M3i.48xx-exp Manual

Software Driver Installation Windows 2000

Driver - Update

If a new driver version should be installed no Spectrum board is allowed to be in use by any software. So please stop and exit all software that could access the boards.

A new driver version is directly installed from the device manager. Therefore please open the properties page of the driver as shown in the section before. As next step click on the update driver button and follow the steps of the driver installation in a similar way to the previous board and driver installation.

Please select the path where the new driver version was unzipped to. If you’ve got the new driver version on CD please select the \Driver\win32 path on the CD containing the new driver version.

The new driver version can be used directly after installation without restarting the system. Please keep in mind to update the driver of all installed Spectrum boards.

Important Notes on Driver Versions 2.22 and Control Center 1.41 and newer

With Windows driver version V2.22 and later required internal driver changes were needed, such that Windows 2000 is no longer compatible with the WDM driver version.

Windows 2000 users should use the driver version 2.11 (available as separate dwonload from the Spectrum homepage), because with driver version V2.22 on, this operating system is no longer supported.

Windows 2000 users should also use the Control Center version 1.41 (available as separate dwonload from the Spectrum homepage), because with driver version V1.42 on, this operating system is no longer supported.

Windows XP 32 (64 Bit discontinued) Software Driver Installation

Windows XP 32 (64 Bit discontinued)

Installation

When installing the board in a Windows XP system the Spectrum board will be recognized automatically on the next start-up.

The system offers the direct installation of a driver for the board.

Do not let Windows automatically search for the best driver, because sometimes the driver will not be found on the CD. Please take the option of choosing a manual installation path instead.

Allow Windows XP to search for the most suitable driver in a specific directory. Select the CD that was delivered with the board as installation source. The driver files are located on CD in the directory \Driver\win32 for Windows XP 32 Bit or \Driver\win64 for Windows XP 64 Bit.

The hardware assistant shows you the exact board type that has been found like the M2i.2021 in the example.

The drivers can be used directly after installation. It is not necessary to restart the system. The installed drivers are linked in the device manager.

Below you’ll see how to examine the driver version and how to update the driver with a newer version.

Version control

26 M3i.48xx / M3i.48xx-exp Manual

Software Driver Installation Windows XP 32 (64 Bit discontinued)

On the property page Windows XP shows the date and the version of the installed driver.

After clicking the driver details button the detailed version information of the driver is shown. This information is also available through the Spectrum Control Center.

Driver - Update

If a new driver version should be installed no Spectrum board is allowed to be in use by any software. So please stop and exit all software that could access the boards.

Please select the path where the new driver version was unzipped to. If you’ve got the new driver version on CD please select either the \Driver\win32 or \Driver\win64 path on the CD containing the new driver version.

The new driver version can be used directly after installation without restarting the system. Please keep in mind to update the driver of all installed Spectrum boards.

Windows 7, 32/64 Bit Software Driver Installation

Windows 7, 32/64 Bit

Installation

When installing the card in a Windows 7 system, it will be recognized automatically on the next start-up. The system tries at first to automatically search and install the drivers from the Microsoft homepage.

This mechanism will fail at first for the „DPIO Module“ device, as shown on the right, because the Spectrum drivers are not available via Microsoft, so simply close the dialog.

Afterwards open the device manager from the Windows control panel, as shown on the right.

Find the above mentioned „DPIO Module“, rightclick and select „Update Driver Software...“

Do not let Windows 7 automatically search the for the best driver, because it will search the internet and not find a proper driver. Please take the option of browsing the computer manually for the driver software instead. Allow Windows 7 to search for the most suitable driver in a specific directory.

Now simply select the root folder of the CD that was delivered with the board as installation source and enable the „Include subfolders“ option.

Alternatively you can browse to the installations folders. The driver files are located on CD in the directory \Driver\win32 for Windows 7 32 Bit or \Driver\win64 for Windows 7 64 Bit.

28 M3i.48xx / M3i.48xx-exp Manual

Software Driver Installation Windows 7, 32/64 Bit

On the upcoming Windows security dialog select install. To prevent Windows 7 to always ask this question for future updates, you can optionally select to always trust software from Spectrum.

The hardware assistant then shows you the exact board type that has been found like the M3i.2132 in the example.

The drivers can be used directly after installation. It is not necessary to restart the system. The installed drivers are linked in the device manager.

Below you’ll see how to examine the driver version and how to update the driver with a newer version.

Version control

On the property page Windows 7 shows the date and the version of the installed driver.

After clicking the driver details button the detailed version information of the driver is shown. This information is also available through the Spectrum Control Center.

Driver - Update

The driver update under Windows 7 is exact the same procedure as the initial installation. Please follow the steps above, starting from the device manager, select the Spectrum card to be updated, right-click and select „Update Driver Software...“ and follow the steps above.

Linux Software Driver Installation

Linux

Overview

The Spectrum M2i/M3i/M4i/M4x cards and digitizerNETBOX/generatorNETBOX products are delivered with Linux drivers suitable for Linux installations based on kernel 2.4, 2.6, 3.x or 4.x, single processor (non-SMP) and SMP systems, 32 bit and 64 bit systems. As each Linux distribution contains different kernel versions and different system setup it is in nearly every case necessary, to have a directly matching kernel driver for card level products to run it on a specific system. For digitizerNETBOX/generatorNETBOX products the library is suffcient and no kernel driver has to be installed.

Spectrum delivers pre-compiled kernel driver modules for a number of common distributions with the cards. You may try to use one of these kernel modules for different distributions which have a similar kernel version. Unfortunately this won’t work in most cases as most Linux system refuse to load a driver which is not exactly matching. In this case it is possible to get the kernel driver sources from Spectrum. Please contact your local sales representative to get more details on this procedure.

The Standard delivery contains the pre-compiled kernel driver modules for the most popular Linux distributions, like Suse, Debian, Fedora and Ubuntu. The list with all pre-compiled and readily supported distributions and their respective kernel version can be found under: http://spectrum-instrumentation.com/de/supported-linux-distributions or via the shown QR code.

The Linux drivers have been tested with all above mentioned distributions by Spectrum. Each of these distributions has been installed with the default setup using no kernel updates. A lot more different distributions are used by customers with self compiled kernel driver modules.

Standard Driver Installation

The driver is delivered as installable kernel modules together with libraries to access the kernel driver. The installation script will help you with the installation of the kernel module and the library.

This installation is only needed if you are operating real locally installed cards. For software emulated demo cards, remotely installed cards or for digitizerNETBOX/generatorNETBOX products it is only necessary to install the libraries as explained further below.

It is necessary to have the root rights for installing a driver.

Call the install.sh <install_path> script

This script will install the kernel module and some helper scripts to a given directory. If you do not specify a directory it will use your home directory as destination. It is possible to move the installed driver files later to any other directory.

The script will give you a list of matching kernel modules. Therefore it checks for the system width (32 bit or 64 bit) and the processor (single or smp). The script will only show matching kernel modules. Select the kernel module matching your system. The script will then do the following steps:

• copy the selected kernel module to the install directory (spcm.o or spcm.ko)

• copy the helper scripts to the install directory (spcm_start.sh and spc_end.sh)

• copy and rename the matching library to /usr/lib (/usr/lib/libspcm_linux.so)

Udev support

Once the driver is loaded it automatically generates the device nodes under /dev. The cards are automatically named to /dev/spcm0, / dev/spcm1,...

You may use all the standard naming and rules that are available with udev.

Start the driver

Starting the driver can be done with the spcm_start.sh script that has been placed in the install directory. If udev is installed the script will only load the driver. If no udev is installed the start script will load the driver and make the required device nodes /dev/spcm0... for accessing the drivers. Please keep in mind that you need root rights to load the kernel module and to make the device nodes!

Using the dedicated start script makes sure that the device nodes are matching your system setup even if new hardware and drivers have been added in between. Background: when loading the device driver it gets assigned a „major“ number that is used to access this driver. All device nodes point to this major number instead of the driver name. The major numbers are assigned first come first served. This means that installing new hardware may result in different major numbers on the next system start.

30 M3i.48xx / M3i.48xx-exp Manual

+ 106 hidden pages

Spectrum M3i.4830-exp, M3i.4860-exp, M3i.4840-exp, M3i.4840, M3i.4831 Hardware Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Introduction

Preface

Overview

General Information

Different models of the M3i.48xx series

Additional options

Star-Hub

BaseXIO (versatile digital I/O)

The Spectrum type plate

Hardware information

Block diagram

Technical Data

Dynamic Parameters

Order Information

Hardware Installation

System Requirements

Warnings

ESD Precautions

Cooling Precautions

Sources of noise

Installing the board in the system

Installing a single board without any options

Installing a board with digital inputs/outputs mounted on an extra bracket

Installing a board with option BaseXIO

Installing multiple boards synchronized by star-hub option

Software Driver Installation

Interrupt Sharing

Important Notes on Driver Versions 2.22 and Control Center 1.41 and newer

Windows 2000

Installation

Version control

Driver - Update

Windows XP 32 (64 Bit discontinued)

Installation

Version control

Driver - Update

Windows 7, 32/64 Bit

Installation

Version control

Driver - Update

Linux

Overview

Standard Driver Installation