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New 16-channel 32 bit Industry Pack Scaler

Hytec is expanding its Industry Pack (IP) range with the introduction of the 8512 scaler. The 8512 comprises sixteen 32 bit scalers which can optionally be daisy chained at run-time to form double width 64 bit counters. Any scaler can be clocked externally (DC-20MHz) or by the onboard 10MHz clock. Combined with the 8002 VME64x IP Carrier Card, up to sixty four 32bit or thirty two 64bit scalers can be accommodated in a single VME64 slot.

The scalers are gated by a hardware Enable signal and by individual software programmable Arm control bits. Individual pre-set limits can be programmed to use scalers as timers. On reaching the limit interrupt can be generated and the Arm bit cleared.Groups of scalers may be allocated to one of the time interval channels. Their Arm bits are also cleared when the controlling scaler count limit is reached. All counters may be read "on-the-fly" at any time.
The module comes with backwards compatible EPICS driver support, which includes the Channel Access transparent use of 64 bit scalers.

In addition, the driver allows the definition of a so called scaler set. This allows the user to define an EPICS scaler record which accesses a subset of the physical scalers on a given 8512 card.
Multiple EPICS records may access disjunct subsets of scalers on the same card at the same time.
Scaler sets sharing the same card are completely independent of each other, except that the hardware Arm signal (clock enable) to the card controls all scaler sets on a given card.This concept introduces unprecedented flexibility in use. Software drivers are available including EPICS drivers.

100 Mbit Ethernet Crate Controller

As part of Hytec's ongoing development program an upgraded and enhanced version of our popular Ethernet CAMAC Controller, the ECC 1365 MKIV has completed final testing and passed into production. The MKIV combines the processing power of a Motorola 68060 50MHz CPU with a PCI bridged latest generation Ethernet interface. Now capable of 10 or 100Mbit Ethernet operation in either full or half duplex mode using the standard UTP connection (no BNC or AUI). It will now 'auto negotiate' to obtain the highest efficiency connection. The faster CPU combined with 100Mbit Level 1 Ethernet allows significantly faster block mode operation. The new 'Fast CAMAC' mode of operation is also supported. Increased use of surface mount technology and lower component count leads to a more reliable and robust design.

CAMAC/VME link to PCI

Hytec's popular low-cost PC interfaces have been upgraded. The 5331 PCI Personality card for the 1330/1331 and the 3330/3331 Interface provides a connection to the PCI bus for CAMAC and VME users. Software driver upgrades for WIN 95 and 98, NT V4, 2000 and LINUX are available.

ular Ethernet CAMAC Controller, the ECC 1365 MKIV has completed final testing and passed into production. The MKIV combines the processing power of a Motorola CPU with a PCI bridged latest generation Ethernet interface. Now capable of 10 or either full or half duplex mode using the standard UTP connection (no BNC or AUI). It will now 'auto negotiate' to obtain the highest efficiency connection. The faster CPU combined with 100MHz Ethernet allows significantly faster block mode operation. The new 'Fast CAMAC' mode of operation is also supported. Increased use of surface mount technology and lower component count leads to a more reliable and robust design.

New Transient Recorders

14 bit 10 MHz 2536
The recently introduced VTR 2536 Transient Recorder, simultaneously samples and digests the voltage signals present on eight inputs with a resolution of 14 bits and records the data sequentially in its on-board SRAM (128K or 512K samples per second) at a speed of 10 MHz.

"This combination of high resolution and speed makes the 2536 what is believed to be one of the first modules available with these capabilities."

60 MHz Transient Recorder 2537
In response to the increasing demand for higher speed measurements the VTR2537 Transient Recorder will operate at 60 MHz acquisition rate . It will be capable of digitising the voltage signals present on eight inputs with a resolution of 12 bits and then record the data sequentially on its on-board SRAM, which is able to accept up to 1M samples per channel. Upon its completion the VTR 2537 will be one of the few modules capable of achieving this speed, strengthening Hytec's reputation for being at the forefront of developments in this area.

IP Stepper Motor Controller

Also underway is the development of a stepper motor IP card which will have 4 TTL outputs and programmable speed and ramp. There will more information in the next issue of Hytec News. If you have an interest in this area please contact peter@hytec-electronics.co.uk.

Vista News

Vista Control Systems hosted a very successful 'Vista User Group' meeting in Los Alamos in June this year. Vista users from all over the world converged on Best Western Hilltop House Hotel for a week of technical seminars, product development updates, user application profiles and enthusiastic discussion groups and workshops. Presentations on Vsystems new V4.3, due for release in early 2002 showed the new Java browser interface, ODBC link and the new OPC standardised process control interface. Mark Woodward from Hytec was there to answer any ECC 1365 and Hytec knob box integration questions and to support the ongoing close relationship between Hytec and Vista. 'A very useful and successful meeting' says Mark.

Bus Isolators and Extenders
Bus Isolators are innovative tools for use in developing and testing PC add-on boards. They allow the boards under test to be added and removed from the system bus, without having to power down the whole system. Bus Extenders offer tremendous time and labour cost savings, during product development and production testing. The Bus Isolation Extender will also serve to protect the motherboard from being damaged by bad adapter boards. The Bus Isolation Extender is the best solution for quickly performing functional testing without expensive set-ups. Hytec are European distributors for Adex Electronics whose extenders are being used by thousands of PC board manufacturers, system integrators and engineering companies around the world.

Opto-Isolated Transition Card in VME64x

Expanding Hytec's VME64x series of analogue and digital I/O modules, the latest addition to this range is the VTB 8305 isolated digital input/output Transition Board. The 8305 Transition Board has been developed to provide complete opto-isolation of up to 64 digital I/O signals for use with the 8001 Carrier Board. Four 50-way SCSI sockets each provide connection to 16 input or output signals together with their input/output data strobes. The board includes sites for fitting DC-DC converters to power the plant side of the opto-isolators.

Recent Installations

Hytec has ongoing systems projects with Wylfa Nuclear Power Station and Empower Training Ltd. The Remote Emergency Indication System (REIC) is an upgrade and computer system replacement for an existing system. The system uses Vista's Vsystem software for Windows 2000 and interfaces to existing Solartron / Mowbray Instrument Measurement Pods (IMPs). Hytec has considerable experience interfacing to Solartron IMPs and configuring sophisticated data loggers and alarming schemes. Empower training, a newly formed power station control room personnel training company, uses a sophisticated hardware and software simulator to provide hands-on training. Both coal and oil power station models are supported and Hytec have been contracted to both move the simulator and port the simulator software from Encore computers to PCs using Windows 2000. The simulator move involved dismantling the complete hardware desk assembly (one unit weighing over 5 tons) and dismantling walls etc., and physically moving the components, and then re-assembling the whole simulator in a new location. The dismantling, move and re-assembly are now complete with re-commissioning underway. The software upgrade is ongoing and involves moving the entire model code (written in Fortran) across to a Windows 2000 environment (using Visual Fortran). This tedious yet demanding process will be ongoing for some months yet. The upgrade involves replacing the older system crate CAMAC hardware (CAMAC branches et al) with Hytec ECC1365 Ethernet CAMAC controllers.

"The work involved dismantling hardware (one unit weighing over 5 tons), walls etc. and physically moving the components, and then re-assembling the whole simulator in a new location."

DSP VME64x Carrier Boards

 Hytec are in the process of developing two new I.P. carrier boards that incorporate Digital Signal Processing (DSP) chips to allow front end data processing on incoming data. The first is the 8003 that will provide 4 I.P. sites and include a SHARC DSP processor. The second will be a new double width CAMAC module with 4 IP carrier sites, a SHARC DSP and a dual-port memory for CAMAC interfacing. In both designs, the DSP processor will boot itself either from an internal Flash EPROM or from a front panel 'link' port. The Flash EPROM will be writeable and readable from both the host (CAMAC or VME) bus or from the DSP itself. The entire internal memory of the DSP processor will, in the case of the VME64x board at least, be accessible from the host bus. The CAMAC unit will use a separate dual-ported memory. A mechanism will also be in place for the DSP to pass interrupts to and from the host system. These designs are being developed in collaboration with the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland.

 Opto-Isolated Transition Card

Staff Update

Hytec is pleased to welcome a new members of staff, Clive Kidd and a temporary appointment, Walter Scott, who will remain a Linux, EPICS consultant to Hytec.

Clive Kidd

Originally from Liverpool, Clive graduated from Leicester University with a degree in Physics and Astrophysics in 1992 and after freelancing as a technician in the Audio-Visual field for a couple of years, he moved into the world of Geographical Information Systems and satellite imagery in particular. Fancying a more technical, 'hands on' role, Clive left that field with a view to building on the FORTRAN programming experience gained at University. After completing some formal 'C' training, he started with SPX Corporation UK (better known in the UK as Allen, OTC, Dieseltune or Bear) in Northamptonshire as a Software Development Engineer working on products as diverse as engine computer fault-finding equipment, hand-held electronic automotive diagnostic tools and PC based exhaust gas analysers. Clive was involved in many ground-up projects, including software and electronic design and even the odd spot of mechanical design as well. Sadly, as part of their European cut-backs, he was made redundant at the end of 2000 but was able to secure some freelance software work to buy some time whilst looking for a suitable opportunity. Determined to stay in the Engineering / Electronics industry, and equally determined to avoid the trendy growth areas of web design and e-commerce, Hytec and their involvement with many of the big physics projects looked to be an interesting proposition, and Clive was pleased to join Hytec at the start of July.

Walter Scott (Scotty)

 The South African born Scotty studied Computer Science at the Eidgenoessiche Technische Hochschule (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland, specialising in theoretical computer science and system software, with an emphasis on parallel and distributed high performance computing. This led him to pursue a Ph.D. in Computational Chemistry at the ETH, during which he co-developed a table-top supercomputer called MUSIC. Comprised of 63 Motorola 96000 signal processors in a VME crate, MUSIC achieved a peak performance of over 3 Gigaflops in 1992. Later on, he helped co-develop the widely used GROMOS96 biomolecular simulation package (over 500 licences in academia and industry on all continents). After his Ph.D., Scotty moved to the States (University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Mass.) for three years, where he helped develop an explanation for HIV-1 drug resistance in AIDS patients. Scotty lives in Oxford with his Canadian wife, Suzana. In his spare time, Scotty is building a 16ft sailing canoe cum cradle in the living room.

Richard Tatham

 Hytec's managing director is recovering well and is now back at his desk. He would like to thank everybody who sent their good wishes during this time.

Hytec's VME64x modules are fully hot-swap enabled with auto power-up and use Industry Packs (IP) for extra functionality. IP cards provide flexible I/O functionality in a compact credit card size card. The expanding range includes 8-channel ADC, 16-channel DAC, 32-channel Scaler and Stepper Motor Controller. EPICS support for hot- swap functionality is available.

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