Test & Measurement
Smart Universal PCI board from Amplicon
The CP-102UF is a smart Universal PCI board and is compatible with all popular operating systems. It provides 2 serial ports that each support data rates up to 921.6kbps. Because 3.3V and 5V PCI buses are supported, the CP-102UF can be installed in virtually any PC or server. Using singlemode fibre, serial data transmission can be extended up to 40 km, far exceeding the 15m limit for RS-232 and even the 1.2-km limit for RS-422/485. In many industrial applications, an even bigger benefit is that optical fibre isolates the data from dangerous increases in ground potential, ground loops, and electromagnetic radiation.
UsinA simple DIP switch setting configures the CP-102UF to ''ring mode. When one node transmits a signal, the signal travels around the ring until it returns back to the transmitting unit, which then blocks the signal preventing messages from looping endlessly around the network.
David Evans, Product Development Manager at Amplicon commented, “For many years we have been highlighting the benefit of redundant rings in Ethernet networks and now we can do the same for serial based networks. The CP-102UF adds a very innovative new dimension to our Data Communications portfolio.”