National Instruments NI PCIe-836x Functional Unit Descriptions, LED Indicators

Chapter 3 Hardware Overview

Functional Unit Descriptions

The card edge connector allows you to use the NI PCIe-836x in a x1 or

wider PCI Express slot in a PC. The PCI Express Card Electromechanical

Specification defines this connector.

The PCI Express Base Specification defines a PCI Express switch as a

logical collection of PCI Express-to-PCI Express bridge devices. On the

NIPCIe-836 2, the upstream port of the switch is connected to the

PCI Express x1 card edge connector, and the two downstream ports are

connected to the two cabled PCI Express connectors.

The cabled PCI Express connector provides all necessary signals to connect

an NI PCIe-836x and an NI PXI-8360. These signals include the

PCI Express transmit and receive pair, the system clock, and a presence

detect signal.

The PCI Express Base Specification defines a PCI Express-to-PCI bridge

as a device that connects a PCI Express fabric and a PCI hierarchy. On the

NI PXI-8360, the PCI Express-to-PCI bridge connects the x1 PCI Express

link and the PCI bus in a PXI or CompactPCI chassis.

LED Indicators

The LEDs on MXI-Express give status information about power supplies

and link state. The NI PCIe-8362 has two tri-color LEDs, one for each port

on the panel. The NI PXI-8360 has two LEDs, one for power supply status

and one for link state.