In This Issue

Software News

CANopen News

Exhibition News

5401 Isolation Amplifier

VME64x Crates

CANopen Module

5401 16-channel
Isolation Amplifier

Following on from the last edition of Hytec News in which the capabilities of VME64x were outlined we can now bring you news of how it is currently being put to use. The Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland, in close collaboration with interested research groups from the Swiss universities and the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology, are building an advanced synchrotron light source in Switzerland to come into operation in the year 2001, it has been named SLS as acronym for Swiss Light Source. Hytec have delivered over 800 VME64x modules and IP (Industry Pack) cards, which have provision to support the GreenSprings IP standard. SLS have purchased a large quantity of 16bit ADC and DAC IP cards, which incorporate large memories. We have also developed and sold transition boards to support the range.

EPICS drivers have been developed by the Paul Scherrer Institute along with Hytec to support the VME64x range of digital I/O (8001), ADC (8401) and DAC (8402) modules. Details of these drivers are available on the EPIC drivers web site, www.aps.anl.gov/epics, PSI at, www.sls.psi.ch or from Hytec at www.hytec-electronics.co.uk

A total of 145 VME crates are being used by the Swiss Light Source at Paul Scherrer Institute. The crates are used for the Control and Data Acquisition of RF, Diagnostics, Vacuum, Power Supply and Beanlines. With such a large number of systems, crates must have a high reliability and low down time when adding or replacing a module. This is why the Paul Scherrer Institute chose to use VME64x crates, which support hot swap of I/O modules. In this system it is possible to replace or add an I/O card designed to support hot swap without shutting down the crate. The crates are also equipped with a comprehensive fan failure warning system. Standard and designed crates as shown in Fig 2 are now available from Hytec contact richard@hytec-electronics.co.uk for details

Other features of VME64x crates include the ability to support slot keying, geographical addressing, better EMC performance, more ground pins and more user defined IO pins. VME64x Industry pack carrier boards are being used which support these features allowing the choice of hundreds of IP modules.

(Much of the VME64x News is based on information taken from the Paul Scherrer Institute Scientific Report 1999.)

Software News

A replacement control system has been ordered from Hytec for the research reactor at the University of Delft in Holland. The institute, known as the Interfacultair Reactor Institut (IRI) operates a 2MW nuclear reactor with irradiation facilities and neutron beams. The control system remains based on a CAMAC interface but will use specially developed firmware in our ECC1365 Ethernet crate controller to provide stand alone monitoring for Automatic Rundown. The host computer is based on an XP900 500MHz Alpha workstation, openVMS, Vista Control Systems' Vsystem Control and Data Acquisition toolbox software. The system databases, input readers, applications software and system integration are being provided by Hytec to provide a turnkey solution.
ECC1365 Host Software for LINUX

Our ECC1365 host manager software has now been tested and is available for Red Hat LINUX version 6.1, although if any other version were required it would be considered. This provides the extensive ESONE subroutine interface that we provide for windows NT, open VMS, True64 Unix, Solaris and S.G. IRIX.

CANopen News

Hytec are pleased to report the completion of a hardware and software development project for stepper and synchro drive specialists McLennan Servo Systems Ltd. The project was to develop a Stepping Motor Controller Board (MSE595) complete with a C167 micro controller daughter board (MSE604) compatible with an existing McLennan synchro driver, and to write the controller firmware to provide a CAN-open object orientated interface for controlling stepper and synchro motors over a CAN connection. 

The software implementation is based on two CAN in Automation (CiA) draft standard protocols; referred to as CiA DS-301 and CiA DSP402. As with all things in CANopen, the actual behaviour of the implementation of each protocol is configured via a table of constants and variables called objects. All objects in CANopen are stored in a common structure, the object dictionary. Each object in the dictionary has its own properties including the size and type of data held, whether the object is readable and/or writable, whether it may be mapped, and so on.

The draft standard protocol 301 describes the operation and behaviour of CANopen enabled communications from the physical layer to the application layer. This protocol is common to all CANopen enabled devices. The DS-301 implementation on the MSE604 supports 4 receive-only process data objects (RPDOs), 4 transmit-only process data objects (TPDOs) and 1 service data object (SDO). The MSE604's ISO11898 implementation allows the user to select between baud rates through their choice of node ID. Node IDs in the range 00H-7FH operate at the principal baud rate of 125 kb/s while node IDs in the range 80H-FFH will map to the CANopen IDs 00H-7FH but run at a faster transmission rate (500kb/s). E.g. node ID 85H is equivalent to node ID 05H but at the higher speed. The draft standard protocol 402 describes the operation and behaviour of CANopen enabled motion controllers. Motion control under CANopen is achieved through a state machine that manages the orderly operation of the controller; actual motion is handled by a separate position control process that interprets trajectory information produced by the state machine.

CAMAC News

Link CAMAC to PCI Bus - Hytec is nearing completion of the development of a new dual-purpose PCI personality card for the popular 1330 and 1331 ISA PC-CAMAC interfaces and 3331 PC-VME interface. It is constructed using the PLX9052 second-generation PCI-to-legacy bus interface chip and supports communication with any of the CAMAC/VME devices in 8 or 16-bit mode. The unit will be assembled with either a 50-way connector for the 1331/3331 or a 34-way connector for the 1330. Clearly since the new card will reside on the PCI bus, new software will be required to drive it. Hytec will be preparing a Windows NT driver and it is hoped that LINUX and LabView drivers will be available possibly from a user site.

The use of the PLX9052 chip offers a number of opportunities to improve the performance of the personality card by re-mapping the registers to permit data and commands to be transferred in single 32-bit reads or writes and these possibilities will be fully investigated during the software development phase. The card will be offered with all new purchases of the controllers and as an upgrade for existing users, together with software if required. For more details, contact Peter Marshall: peter@hytec-electronics.co.uk

VME News

Labview VI for the VTR2535

A Labview Virtual Instrument has been developed for the VTR2535x which allows the capture of waveforms when the module is used in a VME crate together with the Hytec VPI13331 controller connected to a PC. Separate windows provide full mouse control and indication of operational status. Operating frequencies can be selected. Hardware or software triggers may be initiated. Waveforms captured on each of the eight channels can be superposed or displayed as separate traces.

2535 Digitizer Enhancements

The 2535 8-channel 12-bits 10MHz 512K/channel VME digitizer has been enhanced to provide read-back status of the selected range together with additional clock and trigger facilities. It is now possible to program separate pre and post-trigger clock frequencies. The trigger modes have been extended to include:-
Multiple frequency-single pass mode in which data is digitized at one programmed rate and then at another rate when triggered until a preset number of post-trigger samples have been taken or the memory is full. Pre/post-trigger mode where the memory is divided between pre-trigger samples and post-trigger samples. Multiple segment mode which allows the memory to be divided into a number of pre/post trigger buffers with a minimum size of 1K per buffer. Up to 256 trigger addresses may be recorded.

Exhibitions

Over the next few months, Hytec will be attending two exhibitions, the 2000 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference Lyon on the 17-19 October and Britain at CERN on the 14-17 November.

The 2000 IEEE Symposium at Lyon is an annual international event that brings together the scientific communities designing and utilising radiation detector systems for fundamental physics research and advanced medical imaging. Previously the exhibition, which has the patronage of the IEEE (the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) has always been held in North America, this will be the first time that it is held in Europe, in Lyon, France.
Peter Marshall of Hytec will be presenting a paper on the Hytec VME64x on the 18th October at 14.30.
For more information on this exhibition, visit the web site http://NSS2000.in2p3.fr

Britain at CERN will be held in Geneva, Switzerland at the European Particle Physics Laboratory. CERN is currently constructing the worlds largest particle accelerator, which has cost £1 billion in parts alone and is due to be completed in 2005. Hytec are looking forward to introducing their new products and services to the staff at CERN. Information on this exhibition visit the web site http://cern.web.cern.ch

On display will be Hytec's latest designs, including our new CAMAC to PCI bus connection; the updated ECC 1365 MKIV 100 Mbit Ethernet Crate Controller for CAMAC; together with the latest VME64x modules and Industry Pack cards and not forgetting samples of our standard VME, PCI, CANbus and CAMAC product ranges.

5401 16-channel Isolation Amplifier

This new 2U rack-mounting unit provides 16 channels of amplification with isolation between inputs and outputs. Performance is approaching 12 bits over the range of +10 volts to -10 volts at frequencies up to 45 KHz with gain adjustable in the range x1 to x1000. Each channel has it's own isolated power supply and active filter, all being housed in a 2U high rack mounting sealed unit.

For a full printed copy of the Hytec News please contact richard@hytec-electronics.co.uk

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Last modified: July 27, 2005