Quatech Serial CompactPCI Boards

Quatech Serial CompactPCI Boards Description:

Quatech's complete line of CompactPCI serial communication boards leverages Quatech's extensive experience with PCI communication board design, to take advantage of the convenience and industrial and embedded potential offered by CompactPCI.

Quatech is one of only a few suppliers to offer CompactPCI cards designed solely for data communication. This approach minimizes the cost and complexity of adding additional functionality to CompactPCI systems. As a result, Quatech's communication boards are ideal for OEM applications where cost and reliability are primary considerations.

To provide a full range of serial protocols and connectivity, the line includes eight uniquely configured CompactPCI communication boards. The boards are available with two or four ports, in RS-232 and RS-422/RS-485 versions. The 2-port cards are accessed via D-9 connectors or RJ45-10 shielded modular connectors. The 4-port cards are also available with RJ45-10 connectors or with a single D-37 output connector that can be converted to four D-9 ports using an optional cable. All ports are protected by 2500 VRMs isolation. Quatech's 10-pin modular connector is designed to implement all handshaking signals, providing a significant advantage over boards using the older 6-pin modular jack that sacrifices the CTS-DSR and DTR-RTS handshaking lines. For enhanced performance in heavy multi-tasking environments, the boards have standard 16750 UARTs -- high-performance transmitter chips -- with 64-byte FIFOs. The deep FIFO memory allows applications to run more efficiently by increasing communication speed and lowering CPU overhead. The RS-232 boards operate at up to 460.8 kbps and the RS-433/485 boards can reach speeds up to 921.6 kbps.

All Quatech CompactPCI boards strictly adhere to the CompactPCI design specification. They emphasize tight specification compliance, because when working with the Plug & Play CompactPCI bus, a non-compliant card has the potential to disrupt an entire system. For user convenience, Quatech's CompactPCI data communication boards provide access to I/O in the front of the card, a feature not always found in competing products. Basic Hot-Swap capability is also supported.