Chapter 1 Introduction
PXI-8461 or PXI-8460 and NI-CAN for Windows NT 1-2 www.natinst.com
specification for CAN and is also optically isolated to 500 V. CAN
interfacing is accomplished using the Intel 82527 CAN controller chip.
The PXI-8 461 supports a wide variety of transfer rates up to 1Mb/s.
The PXI-8460 supports rates up to 125 kb/s. The CAN physical layer on the
PXI-8461 and PXI-8460 can be powered either internally (from the board)
or externally (from the bus cable power). The power source for the CAN
physical layer for each port is configured with a jumper.
PXI-8461 boards are available with two physical connector types:
• DB-9 D-Sub
• Combicon-style pluggable screw terminals
PXI-8460 boards are available with DB-9 D-Sub connectors.
The PXI-8461 and PXI-8460 use the Intel 386EX embedded processor
to implement time-critical features provided by the NI-CAN software.
The PXI-8461 and PXI-8460 communicate with the NI-CAN driver
through on-board shared memory and an interrupt.
NI-CAN Software Overview
The NI-CAN software includes a native, 32-bit multitasking Windows NT
kernel driver. The NI-CAN software is fully integrated into the
WindowsNT operating system. You can configure it through the
WindowsNT Control Panel and uninstall it through the Add/Remove
Programs applet of the Control Panel.
The NI-CAN software for Windows NT supports the concurrent use of
multiple CAN boards. For example, you can use both a PXI-8461 and
PCMCIA-CAN in the same system at the same time.
The NI-CAN software, along with the PXI hardware, transforms your
computer into a CAN interface with complete communications and bus
management capability. The NI-CAN software includes the following
components:
• Firmware (runs on embedded Intel 386EX)
• Device driver
• Diagnostic test utility
• Configuration utility