Chapter2 Installingand Configuring the Device
ATE Series User Manual 2-2 ni.com
6. Insert the ATE Series device into an EISA or 16-bit ISA slot. It may
be a tight fit, butdo not force the device into place.
7. Screwthe mounting bracket of the AT E Series device to the back
panel rail of the computer.
8. Visuallyverify the installation. Make sure the device is not touching
other devicesor componen ts and is fully inserted in the slot.
9. Replace the cover.
10. Plug in and turn on the computer.
The ATE Series device is installed. Youare now ready to install and
configurethe software.
Configuring the Device
Due tot heD AQ-PnPfeatures, the AT E Series devices are completely
software configurable. Two types of configuration must be performed
on theA T E Series devices—bus-related configuration and data
acquisition-related configuration. Bus-related configuration includes
setting the base I/O address, DMA channels, and interrupt channels. Data
acquisition-related configuration, explained in Chapter 3, Hardware
Overview,i ncludes such settings as AI polarity and range, AO reference
source,and othersettings. For more information about data
acquisition-related configuration, refer to the NI-DAQ user manual.

Bus Interface

The ATE Seriesdevices work in either a Plug and Play mode or a
switchless mode. These modes dictate how the base I/O address, DMA
channels,and interrupt channels are determined and assigned to the device.

Plug and Play

The ATE Series devices are fully compatible with the industry-standard
Plug and Play ISA specification. A Plug and Play system arbitrates and
assigns resources through software, freeing you from manually setting
switchesand jumpers. These resources include the device base I/O address,
DMA channels, andi nterrupt channels. Each AT E Series device is
configuredat the factory to request these resources from the Plug and Play
Configuration Manager.
TheConfiguration Manager receives all of the resource requests at start up,
compares the availableresources to those requested, and assigns the
availableresources as efficiently as possible to the Plug and Play devices.