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Chapter 1 Introduction and Quick Start
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National Instruments Corporation 1-5 VXI/VME-PCI8022 for Solaris
The VME-MXI-2 module is a single-slot, double-height VMEbus
device with optional VMEbus System Controller functions. It uses
address mapping to convert MXIbus cycles into VMEbus cycles and
vice versa, just like the VXI-MXI-2. By connecting to the PCI-MXI-2
board, it links the PCI bus to the VMEbus. The VME-MXI-2 can
automatically determine if it is located in the first slot of a VMEbus
chassis and if it is the MXIbus System Controller.
Also, the VXI-MXI-2 and VME-MXI-2 automatically terminate the
MXIbus if installed as the first or last device in the MXIbus. If installed
in the middle of the MXIbus, both the VXI-MXI-2 and VME-MXI-2
automatically disable MXIbus termination. In addition, you can have up
to 64 MB of onboard DRAM on the VXI-MXI-2 and VME-MXI-2
modules that can either be shared with the VXI/VMEbus and MXIbus
or used as a dedicated data buffer.
The PCI-MXI-2, VXI-MXI-2, and VME-MXI-2 products achieve
high-performance block transfer rates by integrating the MITE custom
ASIC, a sophisticated dual-channel DMA controller with standard
interfaces for VXI, VME, MXI, and PCI. By using MITE DMA to
transfer data and commands to and from devices, the MITE frees up a
computer’s microprocessor to perform other tasks such as data analysis
and presentation. In addition to DMA, the MITE incorporates both the
new Synchronous MXI protocol and VME64 MBLT (8-byte block
transfers in which both the address bus and data bus are used to transfer
data) directly into the ASIC to perform the fastest transfer operation to
instruments.
Software Description
The NI-VXI bus interface software for the PCI-MXI-2 and Solaris 2.x
includes a Resource Manager, graphical and text-based versions of an
interactive VXI resource editor program, a comprehensive library of
software routines for VXI/VME programming, and graphical and
text-based versions of an interactive control program for interacting
with VXI/VME. You can use this software to seamlessly program
multiple-mainframe configurations and have software compatibility
across a variety of VXI/VME controller platforms.
The NI-VXI software is a 32-bit driver designed for Solaris 2.5.1 or
higher compatible operating systems.