Chapter1 Introduction
GPIB-SCSI-Afor Solaris 1-2 ni.com
Caution Tomeet FCC emission limits for this device, you must use a shielded
(TypeX1 or X2) GPIB cable. Operating this equipment with a non-shielded cable
may interfere with radio and televisionreception.
GPIB Hardware Overview
The GPIB-SCSI-A isa high-performan cein terfaceproduct that
transparently handlesdata transfers between the SCSI and the GPIB.
The GPIB-SCSI-A is actually an 8-bit microcomputer that operates as a
full-function IEEE 488.2/SCSI Controller. It can turn any computer with
aSCSI port into a GPIB Talker/Listener/Controller or it can make any
device on the SCSI bus look like a GPIB device.
The GPIB-SCSI-A has all the softwareand l ogic required to implement
the physical and electrical characteristics of the ANSI/IEEE Standard
488.2-1987 and the ANSI Standard X3T9.2. It is able to interpret and
executecommands that you send to it over the GPIB or SCSI ports and
to perform all necessaryGPIB-to-SCSI protocol conversions.
StandardGPIB cables can connect the GPIB-SCSI-A with up to 14 devices.
Ifyou need to connect to more than 14 devices, you can add them to your
system using an IEEE 488 extenderor expander,such as the National
InstrumentsGPIB-130, GPIB-120A, or GPIB-140A. Refer to Appendix B,
Specifications, for more information about the GPIB hardware
specificationsand recomm ended operating conditions.
NI-488.2 Overview
NI-488.2for Solaris consists of a loadable driver and utilities that transform
aS un SPARC system running Solaris into an IEEE 488.2 (GPIB)
Controller with complete communications and bus management
capabilities.
NI-488.2 includes the followingcomp onents:
•C languageinterface
•Software diagnostic utility
•Interactivecontrol utility
•Interactiveconfiguration utility
NI-488.2supports multiple GPIB-SCSI-A boxes installed in a Sun SPARC
system,and is completely compatible with both IEEE 488 and IEEE 488.2
instruments.
GS.book Page 2 Tuesday,June 12, 2001 2:17 PM