Spectrum Brands MC.31xx User manual

SPECTRUM SYSTEMENTWICKLUNG MICROELECTRONIC GMBH · AHRENSFELDER WEG 13-17 · 22927 GROSSHANSDORF · GERMANY
PHONE: [phone] · FAX: [phone] · E-MAIL: [e-mail] · INTERNET: http://www.spectrum-instrumentation.com
MC.31xx
fast 12 bit transient recorder,
A/D converter board
for CompactPCI bus
Hardware Manual
Software Driver Manual
English version April 27, 2006

(c) SPECTRUM SYSTEMENTWICKLUNG MICROELECTRONIC GMBH
AHRENSFELDER WEG 13-17, 22927 GROSSHANSDORF, GERMANY
SBench is a registered trademark of Spectrum Systementwicklung Microelectronic GmbH.
Microsoft, Visual C++, Visual Basic, Windows, Windows 98, Windows NT, Window 2000 and Windows XP are trademarks/registered
trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
LabVIEW, DASYLab, Diadem and LabWindows/CVI are trademarks/registered trademarks of National Instruments Corporation.
MATLAB is a trademark/registered trademark of The Mathworks, Inc.
Agilent VEE, VEE Pro and VEE OneLab are trademarks/registered trademarks of Agilent Technologies, Inc.
FlexPro is a registered trademark of Weisang GmbH & Co. KG.

3
Introduction....................................................................................................................... 6
Preface ............................................................................................................................................................................... 6
General Information ............................................................................................................................................................. 6
Different models of the MC.31xx series................................................................................................................................... 7
Additional options................................................................................................................................................................ 9
Digital inputs.................................................................................................................................................................. 9
Extra I/O (Option -XMF).................................................................................................................................................. 9
Starhub ....................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Timestamp ................................................................................................................................................................... 10
The Spectrum type plate ...................................................................................................................................................... 11
Hardware information......................................................................................................................................................... 12
Block diagram.............................................................................................................................................................. 12
Dynamic Parameters ..................................................................................................................................................... 13
Order information......................................................................................................................................................... 13
Hardware Installation ..................................................................................................... 14
System Requirements .......................................................................................................................................................... 14
Warnings.......................................................................................................................................................................... 14
ESD Precautions ........................................................................................................................................................... 14
Cooling Precautions...................................................................................................................................................... 14
Sources of noise ........................................................................................................................................................... 14
Installing the board in the system.......................................................................................................................................... 14
Installing a single board without any options.................................................................................................................... 14
Installing a board with digital inputs/outputs.................................................................................................................... 15
Installing a board with extra I/O (Option -XMF) ............................................................................................................... 15
Installing multiple boards synchronized by starhub............................................................................................................ 16
Installing multiple synchronized boards ........................................................................................................................... 17
Software Driver Installation............................................................................................. 18
Interrupt Sharing ................................................................................................................................................................ 18
Windows 98 ..................................................................................................................................................................... 19
Installation ................................................................................................................................................................... 19
Version control ............................................................................................................................................................. 19
Driver - Update............................................................................................................................................................. 20
Windows 2000 ................................................................................................................................................................. 21
Installation ................................................................................................................................................................... 21
Version control ............................................................................................................................................................. 21
Driver - Update............................................................................................................................................................. 22
Windows XP...................................................................................................................................................................... 23
Installation ................................................................................................................................................................... 23
Version control ............................................................................................................................................................. 23
Driver - Update............................................................................................................................................................. 24
Windows NT..................................................................................................................................................................... 25
Installation ................................................................................................................................................................... 25
Adding boards to the Windows NT driver ....................................................................................................................... 25
Driver - Update............................................................................................................................................................. 25
Linux................................................................................................................................................................................. 26
Overview .................................................................................................................................................................... 26
Installation ................................................................................................................................................................... 26
Software ......................................................................................................................... 28
Software Overview............................................................................................................................................................. 28
First Test with SBench.......................................................................................................................................................... 28
C/C++ Driver Interface....................................................................................................................................................... 29
Header files ................................................................................................................................................................. 29
Microsoft Visual C++ .................................................................................................................................................... 29
Borland C++ Builder ..................................................................................................................................................... 29
Linux Gnu C................................................................................................................................................................. 29
Other Windows C/C++ compilers ................................................................................................................................. 30
National Instruments LabWindows/CVI........................................................................................................................... 30
Driver functions ............................................................................................................................................................ 30
Delphi (Pascal) Programming Interface .................................................................................................................................. 32
Type definition ............................................................................................................................................................. 32
Include Driver............................................................................................................................................................... 32
Examples..................................................................................................................................................................... 32
Driver functions ............................................................................................................................................................ 32
Visual Basic Programming Interface ...................................................................................................................................... 34
Include Driver............................................................................................................................................................... 34
Visual Basic Examples................................................................................................................................................... 34
VBA for Excel Examples ................................................................................................................................................ 34
Driver functions ............................................................................................................................................................ 34

4
Programming the Board .................................................................................................. 36
Overview .......................................................................................................................................................................... 36
Register tables ................................................................................................................................................................... 36
Programming examples....................................................................................................................................................... 36
Error handling.................................................................................................................................................................... 36
Initialization....................................................................................................................................................................... 37
Starting the automatic initialization routine ...................................................................................................................... 37
PCI Register ................................................................................................................................................................. 37
Hardware version......................................................................................................................................................... 38
Date of production........................................................................................................................................................ 38
Serial number .............................................................................................................................................................. 38
Maximum possible sample rate ...................................................................................................................................... 38
Installed memory .......................................................................................................................................................... 38
Installed features and options ......................................................................................................................................... 38
Used interrupt line ........................................................................................................................................................ 39
Used type of driver ....................................................................................................................................................... 39
Powerdown and reset ......................................................................................................................................................... 40
Analog Inputs.................................................................................................................. 41
Channel Selection .............................................................................................................................................................. 41
Important note on channels selection............................................................................................................................... 41
Channel rerouting .............................................................................................................................................................. 42
Setting up the inputs ........................................................................................................................................................... 43
Input ranges................................................................................................................................................................. 43
Input offset................................................................................................................................................................... 44
Overrange bit .............................................................................................................................................................. 45
Input termination........................................................................................................................................................... 45
Automatical adjustment of the offset settings..................................................................................................................... 45
Standard acquisition modes ............................................................................................ 47
General Information ........................................................................................................................................................... 47
Programming..................................................................................................................................................................... 47
Memory, Pre- and Posttrigger ......................................................................................................................................... 47
Starting without interrupt (classic mode)........................................................................................................................... 48
Starting with interrupt driven mode ................................................................................................................................. 49
Data organization ........................................................................................................................................................ 50
Sample format.............................................................................................................................................................. 50
Reading out the data with SpcGetData............................................................................................................................ 51
FIFO Mode....................................................................................................................... 53
Overview .......................................................................................................................................................................... 53
General Information...................................................................................................................................................... 53
Background FIFO Read ................................................................................................................................................. 53
Speed Limitations.......................................................................................................................................................... 53
Programming..................................................................................................................................................................... 54
Software Buffers ........................................................................................................................................................... 54
Buffer processing.......................................................................................................................................................... 55
FIFO mode .................................................................................................................................................................. 56
Example FIFO acquisition mode ..................................................................................................................................... 56
Data organization ........................................................................................................................................................ 56
Sample format.............................................................................................................................................................. 57
Clock generation ............................................................................................................. 58
Overview .......................................................................................................................................................................... 58
Internally generated sample rate .......................................................................................................................................... 58
Standard internal sample rate ........................................................................................................................................ 58
Using plain quartz without PLL........................................................................................................................................ 59
External clocking................................................................................................................................................................ 60
Direct external clock ..................................................................................................................................................... 60
External clock with divider ............................................................................................................................................. 61
Trigger modes and appendant registers .......................................................................... 62
General Description............................................................................................................................................................ 62
Software trigger ................................................................................................................................................................. 62
External TTL trigger ............................................................................................................................................................. 62
Edge triggers ............................................................................................................................................................... 63
Pulsewidth triggers........................................................................................................................................................ 64
Channel Trigger ................................................................................................................................................................. 66
Overview of the channel trigger registers......................................................................................................................... 66
Triggerlevel.................................................................................................................................................................. 67
Detailed description of the channel trigger modes............................................................................................................. 69

5
Option Multiple Recording ............................................................................................... 77
Recording modes ............................................................................................................................................................... 77
Standard Mode............................................................................................................................................................ 77
FIFO Mode .................................................................................................................................................................. 77
Trigger modes.................................................................................................................................................................... 77
Resulting start delays..................................................................................................................................................... 78
Option Gated Sampling ................................................................................................... 79
Recording modes ............................................................................................................................................................... 79
Standard Mode............................................................................................................................................................ 79
FIFO Mode .................................................................................................................................................................. 79
Trigger modes.................................................................................................................................................................... 79
General information and trigger delay ............................................................................................................................ 79
End of gate alignement ................................................................................................................................................. 80
Alignement samples per channel .................................................................................................................................... 80
Resulting start delays..................................................................................................................................................... 81
Number of samples on gate signal ................................................................................................................................. 81
Allowed trigger modes .................................................................................................................................................. 81
Example program............................................................................................................................................................... 82
Option Timestamp ........................................................................................................... 83
General information ........................................................................................................................................................... 83
Limits .......................................................................................................................................................................... 83
Timestamp modes............................................................................................................................................................... 83
Standard mode ............................................................................................................................................................ 83
StartReset mode............................................................................................................................................................ 83
RefClock mode (optional) .............................................................................................................................................. 84
Timestamp Status................................................................................................................................................................ 84
Reading out timestamp data ................................................................................................................................................ 84
Functions for accessing the data ..................................................................................................................................... 84
Data format ................................................................................................................................................................. 85
Example programs ............................................................................................................................................................. 86
Standard acquisition mode ............................................................................................................................................ 86
Acquisition with Multiple Recording ................................................................................................................................ 86
Option Extra I/O ............................................................................................................. 87
Digital I/Os....................................................................................................................................................................... 87
Channel direction ......................................................................................................................................................... 87
Transfer Data ............................................................................................................................................................... 87
Analog Outputs.................................................................................................................................................................. 87
Programming example ........................................................................................................................................................ 88
Option Digital inputs ....................................................................................................... 89
Synchronization (Option) ................................................................................................. 90
The different synchronization options .................................................................................................................................... 90
Synchronization with option cascading ........................................................................................................................... 90
Synchronization with option starhub ............................................................................................................................... 90
The setup order for the different synchronization options ......................................................................................................... 91
Setup Order for use with standard (non FIFO) mode and equally clocked boards ................................................................. 91
Setup synchronization for use with FIFO mode and equally clokked boards............................................................................... 94
Additions for synchronizing different boards .................................................................................................................... 96
Additions for equal boards with different sample rates ...................................................................................................... 99
Resulting delays using different boards or speeds ............................................................................................................. 99
Appendix ...................................................................................................................... 100
Error Codes..................................................................................................................................................................... 100
Pin assignment of the multipin connector ............................................................................................................................. 101
Extra I/O with external connector(Option -XMF) ............................................................................................................. 101
Option “Digital inputs“................................................................................................................................................ 101
Pin assignment of the multipin cable ................................................................................................................................... 102

6 MC.31xx Manual
Preface Introduction
Introduction
Preface
This manual provides detailed information on the hardware features of your Spectrum instrumentation board. This information includes tech-
nical data, specifications, block diagram and a connector description.
In addition, this guide takes you through the process of installing your board and also describes the installation of the delivered driver package
for each operating system.
Finally this manual provides you with the complete software information of the board and the related driver. The reader of this manual will
be able to integrate the board in any PC system with one of the supported bus and operating systems.
Please note that this manual provides no description for specific driver parts such as those for LabVIEW or MATLAB. These drivers are pro-
vided by special order.
For any new information on the board as well as new available options or memory upgrades please contact our website
http://www.spectrum-instrumentation.com. You will also find the current driver package with the latest bug fixes and new features on our site.
Please read this manual carefully before you install any hardware or software. Spectrum is not responsible
for any hardware failures resulting from incorrect usage.
General Information
The MC.31xx series allows recording of up to 8 channels in the middle speed segment. Due to the proven design a wide variety of 12 bit
A/D converter boards for CompactPCI bus can be offered. These boards are available in several versions and different speed grades making
it possible for the user to find a individual solution.
These boards offer two, four or eight channels with sample rates of 1 MS/s, 10 MS/s or 25 MS/s. As an option 4 digital inputs per channel
can be recorded synchronously. The installed memory of up to 256 MSample will be used for fast data recording. It can completely be used
by the current active channels. If using slower sample rates the memory can be switched to a FIFO buffer and data will be transferred online
to the PC memory or to hard disk.
Several boards of the MC.xxxx series may be connected together by the internal standard synchronisation bus to work with the same time
base.
Application examples: Laboratory equipment, Super-sonics, LDA/PDA, Radar, Spectroscopy.

Introduction Different models of the MC.31xx series
(c) Spectrum GmbH 7
Different models of the MC.31xx series
The following overview shows the different available models of the MC.31xx series. They differ in the number of mounted acquisition modules
and the number of available channels. You can also see the model dependant allocation of the input connectors.
• MC.3110
• MC.3120
• MC.3130
• MC.3111
• MC.3121
• MC.3131

8 MC.31xx Manual
Different models of the MC.31xx series Introduction
• MC.3112
• MC.3122
• MC.3132

Introduction Additional options
(c) Spectrum GmbH 9
Additional options
Digital inputs
This option allows the user to acquire additional digital channels synchronous and
phase-stable along with the analog data.
Therefore the analog data is filled up with the digital bits up to 16 Bit data width. This
leads to a possibility of acquiring 4 additional digital bits per channel with 12 bit res-
olution boards, and 2 additional digital bits per channel with 14 bit resolution boards.
The connectors for these digital inputs are mounted on an additional bracket. The fig-
ures show the option on boards with either one or two modules.
Extra I/O (Option -XMF)
With this simple-to-use enhancement it is possible to control a wide range of external
instruments or other equipment. Therefore you have 24 digital I/O and the 4 analog
outputs available.
The extra I/O option is useful if an external amplifier should be controlled, any kind
of signal source must be programmed, an antenna must be adjusted, a status informa-
tion from external machine has to be obtained or different test signals have to be rout-
ed to the board.
The additional inputs and outputs are mounted on an extra bracket. The figure shows
the allocation of the two connectors. The shown option is mounted exemplarily on a
board with two modules. Of course you can also combine this option as well with a
board that is equipped with only one module.
It is not possible to use this option together with the star hub or times-
tamp option, because there is just space for one piggyback module on
the on-board expansion slot.

10 MC.31xx Manual
Additional options Introduction
Starhub
The star hub module allows the synchronisation of up to 16 MC boards. It is possible
to synchronise boards of the same type with each other as well as different types.
The module acts as a star hub for clock and trigger signals. Each board is connected
with a small cable of the same length, even the master board. That minimises the clock
skew between the different boards. The figure shows the piggyback module mounted
on the base board schematically without any cables to achieve a better visibility.
Any board could be the clock master and the same or any other board could be the
trigger master. All trigger modes that are available on the master board are also avail-
able if the synchronisation star hub is used.
The cable connection of the boards is automatically recognised and checked by the
driver at load time. So no care must be taken on how to cable the boards. The pro-
gramming of the star hub is included in the standard board interface and consists of
only 3 additional commands.
It is not possible to use this option together with the timestamp or extra
I/O option, because the is just space for one piggyback module on the
on-board expansion slot.
Timestamp
The timestamp module was designed to record the exact time information between trig-
ger events.
The timestamp reset command sets an internal counter to zero. The counter is running
with the same resolution as the sample rate. On each trigger event a timestamp is re-
corded in an extra FIFO. The recorded timestamps are read out asynchronously to the
board sampling.
If the absolute time information is of interest it is possible to synchronise the timestamp
counter with a 1 Hz "seconds" signal of a radio clock or a GPS receiver. In that case
the 64 bit timestamp information is split up in two parts. The one part counts the
number of seconds starting with the reset command, the other part is set to zero on
every rising edge of the seconds signal and specifies the exact time position in relation
to the seconds signal.
The figure shows the piggyback module installed on the on-board expansion slot. The
shown option is mounted exemplarily on a board with two modules.
It is not possible to use this option together with the star hub or extra
I/O option, because the is just space for one piggyback module on the
on-board expansion slot.

Introduction The Spectrum type plate
(c) Spectrum GmbH 11
The Spectrum type plate
The Spectrum type plate, which consists of the following components, can be found on all of our boards.
The board type, consisting of the two letters describing the bus (in this case MC for the CompactPCI bus) and the model number.
The size of the on-board installed memory in MSamples. In this example there are 8 MS (16 MByte) installed.
The serial number of your Spectrum board. Every board has a unique serial number.
The board revision, consisting of the base version and the module version.
A list of the installed options. A complete list of all available options is shown in the order information. In this example the options
’Multiple recording’ and ’Extra I/O with external outputs’ are installed.
The date of production, consisting of the calendar week and the year.
Please always supply us with the above information, especially the serial number in case of support request. That
allows us to answer your questions as soon as possible. Thank you.

12 MC.31xx Manual
Hardware information Introduction
Hardware information
Block diagram
Technical Data
Resolution 12 bit Dimension 160 x 233 mm (Standard 6U)
Differential linearity error ≤1 LSB (ADC) Width (Standard) 1 slot
Integral linearity error ≤2.5 LSB (ADC) Width (with digital inputs) 2 slots
Multi: Trigger to 1st sample delay fix Connector 3 mm SMB male
Multi: Recovery time < 20 samples Input impedance 50 Ohm / 1 MOhm || 25 pF
ext. Trigger accuracy 1 Samples Overvoltage protection (range ≤±1 V) ±5 V
int. Trigger accuracy 1 Sample Overvoltage protection (range > ±1 V) ±50 V
Ext. clock: delay to internal clock 42 ns ±2 ns Warm up time 10 minutes
input signal with 50 ohm termination max 5 V rms Operating temperature 0°C - 50°C
Digital Inputs input impedance 110 Ohm @ 2.5 V Storage temperature -10°C - 70°C
Digital Inputs delay to analog sample -4 samples Humidity 10% to 90%
Min internal clock 1 kS/s
Min external clock 1 kS/s Power consumption 5 V @ full speed max. 3.3 A (16.5 Watt)
Power consumption 5 V @ power down max. 2.5 A (12.5 Watt)
Trigger input:Standard TTL level Low: -0.5 > level < 0.8 V
High: 2.0 V > level < 5.5 V
Trigger pulse must be valid > 2 clock periods.
Clock input: Standard TTL level Low: -0.5 V > level < 0.8 V
High: 2.0 V > level < 5.5 V
Rising edge. Duty cycle: 50% ± 5%
Trigger output Standard TTL, capable of driving 50 Ohm.
Low < 0.4 V (@ 20 mA, max 64 mA)
High > 2.4 V (@ -20 mA, max -48 mA)
One positive edge after the first internal trigger
Clock output Standard TTL, capable of driving 50 Ohm
Low < 0.4 V (@ 20 mA, max 64 mA)
High > 2.4 V (@ -20 mA, max -48 mA)
Input range ±50 mV ±100 mV ±200 mV ±500 mV ±1 V ±2 V ±5 V ±10 V
Software programmable offset ±50 mV ±100 mV ±200 mV ±500 mV ±1 V ±2 V ±5 V ±10 V
Offset error < 1 LSB, adjustable by user
Gainerror <1%<1%<1%<1%<1%<1%<1%<1%
Noise (rms): 50 Ohm, 25 MS/s < 1.5 LSB < 1.2 LSB < 1.0 LSB < 1.0 LSB < 1.0 LSB < 1.0 LSB < 1.0 LSB < 1.0 LSB
Crosstalk 500 kHz signal, ±50 mV input, 50 Ohm < -70 dB
MC.3110
MC.3111
MC.3112 MC.3120
MC.3121
MC.3122 MC.3130
MC.3131
MC.3132
max internal clock 1 MS/s 1 MS/s 10 MS/s 10 MS/s 25 MS/s 25 MS/s
max external clock 1 MS/s 1 MS/s 10 MS/s 10 MS/s 25 MS/s 25 MS/s
-3 dB bandwidth > 500 kHz > 500 kHz > 5 MHz > 5 MHz > 12.5 MHz > 12.5 MHz

Introduction Hardware information
(c) Spectrum GmbH 13
Dynamic Parameters
Dynamic parameters are measured at ± 1 V input range (if no other range is stated) and 50 Ohm termination with the samplerate specified in the table. Measured parameters are aver-
aged 20 times to get typical values. Test signal is a pure sine wave of the specified frequency with > 99% amplitude. SNR and RMS noise parameters may differ depending on the quality
of the used PC. SNR = Signal to Noise Ratio, THD = Total Harmonic Distortion, SFDR = Spurious Free Dynamic Range, SINAD = Signal Noise and Distortion, ENOB = Effective Number
of Bits. For a detailed description please see application note 002.
Order information
MC.3110
MC.3111
MC.3112 MC.3120
MC.3121
MC.3122 MC.3130
MC.3131
MC.3132
Test - Samplerate 1 MS/s 1 MS/s 10 MS/s 10 MS/s 25 MS/s 25 MS/s
Testsignal frequency 90 kHz 90 kHz 1 MHz 1 MHz 1 MHz 1 MHz
SNR (typ) > 67.5 dB > 66.9 dB > 64.9 dB > 64.9 dB > 63.1 dB > 62.4 dB
THD (typ) < -62.8 dB < -62.8 dB < -62.5 dB < -62.5 dB < -62.5 dB < -62.5 dB
SFDR (typ), excl harm. > 80.8 dB > 80.5 dB > 80.5 dB > 78.5 dB > 79.5 dB > 79.3 dB
SINAD (typ) > 61.5 dB > 61.4 dB > 60.5 dB > 60.5 dB > 59.8 dB > 59.4 dB
ENOB (based on SINAD) > 9.9 LSB > 9.9 LSB > 9.8 LSB > 9.8 LSB > 9.6 LSB > 9.6 LSB
Order No Description Order No Description
MC3110 MC.3110 with 8 MSample memory and drivers/SBench 5.x MC3xxx-16M Option: 16 MSample memory instead of 8 MSample standard mem
MC3111 MC.3111 with 8 MSample memory and drivers/SBench 5.x MC3xxx-32M Option: 32 MSample memory instead of 8 MSample standard mem
MC3112 MC.3112 with 8 MSample memory and drivers/SBench 5.x MC3xxx-64M Option: 64 MSample memory instead of 8 MSample standard mem
MC3120 MC.3120 with 8 MSample memory and drivers/SBench 5.x MC3xxx-128M Option: 128 MSample memory instead of 8 MSample standard mem
MC3121 MC.3121 with 8 MSample memory and drivers/SBench 5.x MC3xxx-256M Option: 256 MSample memory instead of 8 MSample standard mem
MC3122 MC.3122 with 8 MSample memory and drivers/SBench 5.x MC3xxx-up Additional handling costs for later memory upgrade
MC3130 MC.3130 with 8 MSample memory and drivers/SBench 5.x
MC3131 MC.3131 with 8 MSample memory and drivers/SBench 5.x MC3xxx-mr Option Multiple Recording: Memory segmentation
MC3132 MC.3132 with 8 MSample memory and drivers/SBench 5.x MC3xxx-gs Option Gated Sampling: Gate signal controls acquisition
MC3xxx-dig Additional 4 synchronous digital inputs per channel, incl. cable
MC3xxx-smod Star Hub: Synchronisation of 2 - 16 boards, one option per system
MC3xxx-time Timestamp option: Extra memory for trigger time MC31xx-dl DASYLab driver for MC.31xx series
MCxxxx-xmf Extra I/O, external connector: 24 DI/O, 4 Analog out, incl. cable MC31xx-hp VEE driver for MC.31xx series
MC31xx-lv LabVIEW driver for MC.31xx series
MC3xxx-cs Synchronisation of 2 - 4 boards, one option per system MATLAB MATLAB driver for all MI.xxxx, MC.xxxx and MX.xxxx series.
Cab-3f-9m-80 Adapter cable: SMB female to BNC male 80 cm Cab-3f-9f-80 Adapter cable: SMB female to BNC female 80 cm
Cab-3f-9m-200 Adapter cable: SMB female to BNC male 200 cm Cab-3f-9f-200 Adapter cable: SMB female to BNC female 200 cm

14 MC.31xx Manual
System Requirements Hardware Installation
Hardware Installation
System Requirements
All Spectrum MC.xxxx instrumentation boards are compliant to the CompactPCI 6U standard and require in general one free slot. Depending
on the installed options additional free slots can be necessary.
Warnings
ESD Precautions
The boards of the MC.xxxx series contain electronic components that can be damaged by electrostatic discharge (ESD).
Before installing the board in your system or even before touching it, it is absolutely necessary to bleed of
any electrostatic electricity.
Cooling Precautions
The boards of the MC.xxxx series operate with components having very high power consumption at high speeds. For this reason it is abso-
lutely required to cool this board sufficiently. It is strongly recommended to install an additional cooling fan producing a stream of air across
the boards surface. In most cases CompactPCI systems are already equipped with sufficient cooling power. In that case please make sure
that the air stream is not blocked.
During longer pauses between the single measurements the power down mode should be called to reduce the heat production.
Sources of noise
The boards of the MC.xxxx series should be placed far away from any noise producing source (like e.g. the power supply). It should espe-
cially be avoided to place the board in the slot directly adjacent to another fast board (like the graphics controller).
Installing the board in the system
Installing a single board without any options
The locks on the top and bottom side of CompactPCI boards need to be unlocked and opened before installing the board into a free slot of
the system. Therefore you need to press the little buttons on the inside of the fasteners and move them outwards (see figure). Now slowly insert
the card into the host system using the key ways until both locks snap in with a „click“.
While inserting the board take care not to tilt it.
After the board’s insertion fasten the two screws carefully, without overdoing.

Hardware Installation Installing the board in the system
(c) Spectrum GmbH 15
Installing a board with digital inputs/outputs
The locks on the top and bottom side of both CompactPCI brackets need to be unlocked and opened before installing the board into a free
slot of the system. Therefore you need to press the little buttons on the inside of the fasteners and move them outwards (see figure). Now slowly
insert the card into the host system using the key ways until both locks snap in with a „click“.
While inserting the board take care not to tilt it.
After the board’s insertion fasten the four screws of both brackets carefully, without overdoing. The figure shows an example of a board with
two installed modules.
Installing a board with extra I/O (Option -XMF)
The locks on the top and bottom side of both CompactPCI brackets need to be unlocked and opened before installing the board into a free
slot of the system. Therefore you need to press the little buttons on the inside of the fasteners and move them outwards (see figure). Now slowly
insert the card into the host system using the key ways until both locks snap in with a „click“.
While inserting the board take care not to tilt it.
After the board’s insertion fasten the four screws of both brackets carefully, without overdoing. The figure shows exemplarily a board with
two installed modules.

16 MC.31xx Manual
Installing the board in the system Hardware Installation
Installing multiple boards synchronized by starhub
Hooking up the boards
Before mounting several synchronized boards for a multi channel system into the
chassis you have to hook up the boards with their synchronization cables first.
Spectrum ships the boards together with the needed amount of synchronization ca-
bles. All of them are matched to the same length, to achieve a zero clock delay
between the boards.
Only use the included flat ribbon cables.
All of the boards, including the board that carrys the starhub piggy-back module,
must be wired to the starhub as the figure is showing exemplarily for three synchro-
nized boards.
As you can see, all boards have a notch to get the cables to the other boards.
Please only use these notches to lay the cables to avoid damage to the cables when
inserting the boards into the host system.
It does not matter which of the 16 connectors on the starhub module you use for
which board. The software driver will detect the types and order of the synchro-
nized boards automatically. The right figure shows the three cables mounted next
to each other only to achieve a better visibility.
As some of the synchronization cables are not secured against wrong plugging you should take
care to have the pin 1 markers on the multiple connectors and the cable on the same side, as the
figure on the right is showing.
Mounting the wired boards
The locks on the top and bottom side of all CompactPCI brackets need to be unlocked and opened before installing the boards into the slots
of the system. Therefore you need to press the little buttons on the inside of the fasteners and move them outwards (see figure). Now slowly
insert the boards into the host system using the key ways until both locks snap in with a „click“.
While inserting the boards take care not to cant them and make sure that the cables are not squeezed by the
backplane or any other components.
After the board’s insertion fasten the screws of all brackets carefully, without overdoing. The figure shows exemplarily a board with two in-
stalled modules.

Hardware Installation Installing the board in the system
(c) Spectrum GmbH 17
Installing multiple synchronized boards
Hooking up the boards
Before mounting several synchronized boards for a multi
channel system into the chassis you have to hook up the
boards with their syncronization cables first. Spectrum
ships the boards together with the needed synchronization
cable.
All of the possible four boards must be wired with deliv-
ered synchronization cable. The figure is showing that ex-
emplarily for three synchronized boards. As you can see,
all boards have a notch to get the cables from one board
to the other. Please take care that the cable lays within
these notches to avoid damages to the cable when insert-
ing the boards into the host system.
The outer boards have a soldered termination for the sync
bus. These boards are marked with an additional sticker.
Only mount the cluster of synchronized boards
in a row with the dedicated boards on the outer
sides.
Mounting the wired boards
The locks on the top and bottom side of all CompactPCI brackets need to be unlocked and opened before installing the boards into the slots
of the system. Therefore you need to press the little buttons on the inside of the fasteners and move them outwards (see figure). Now slowly
insert the boards into the host system using the key ways until both locks snap in with a „click“.
While inserting the boards take care not to cant them and make sure that the cable is not squeezed by the
backplane or any other components.
After the board’s insertion fasten the screws of all brackets carefully, without overdoing. The figure shows exemplarily a board with two in-
stalled modules.

18 MC.31xx Manual
Interrupt Sharing Software Driver Installation
Software Driver Installation
Before using the board a driver must be installed that matches the operating system. The installation is done in different ways depending on
the used operating system. The driver that is on CD supports all boards of the MI, MC and MX series. That means that you can use the same
driver for all boards of theses families.
Interrupt Sharing
This board uses a PCI interrupt for DMA data transfer and for controlling the FIFO mode. The used interrupt line is allocated by the PC BIOS
at system start and is normally depending on the selected slot. Because there is only a limited number of interrupt lines available on the PCI
bus it can happen that two or more boards must use the same interrupt line. This so called interrupt sharing must be supported by all drivers
of the participating equipment.
Most available drivers and also the Spectrum driver for your board can manage interrupt sharing. But there are also some drivers on the
market that can only use one interrupt exclusively. If this equipment shares an interrupt with the Spectrum board, the system will hang up if
the second driver is loaded (the time is depending on the operating system).
If this happens it is necessary to reconfigure the system in that way that the critical equipment has an exclusive access to an interrupt.
On most systems the BIOS shows a list of all installed PCI boards with their allocated interrupt lines directly after system start. You have to
check whether an interrupt line is shared between two boards. Some BIOS allow the manual allocation of interrupt lines. Have a look in your
mainboard manual for further information on this topic.
Because normally the interrupt line is fixed for one PCI slot it is simply necessary to use another slot for the critical board to force a new
interrupt allocation. You have to search a configuration where all critical boards have only exclusive access to one interrupt.
Depending on the system, using the Spectrum board with a shared interrupt may degrade performance a little. Each interrupt needs to be
checked by two drivers. For this reason when using time critical FIFO mode even the Spectrum board should have an exclusively access to
one interrupt line.

Software Driver Installation Windows 98
(c) Spectrum GmbH 19
Windows 98
Installation
When installing the board in a Win-
dows 98 system the Spectrum board
will be recognized automatically on
the next start-up.
The system offers the direct installa-
tion of a driver for the board.
Let Windows search automatically
for the best driver for your system.
Select the CD that was delivered
with the board as installation source.
The driver files are located on CD in
the directory
\Driver\Win98_2k_XP.
The hardware assistant shows you
the exact board type that has been
found like the MI.3020 in the exam-
ple. Older boards (before june
2004) show „Spectrum Board“ in-
stead.
The drivers can be used directly after installation. It is not necessary to restart the system.
The installed drivers are linked in the device manager. Below you’ll see how to examine
the driver version and how to update the driver with a newer version.
Version control
If you want to check which driver version is installed
in the system this can be easily done in the device
manager. Therefore please start the device manager
from the control panel and show the properties of the
installed driver.
On the property page Windows 98 shows the date
of the driver.

20 MC.31xx Manual
Windows 98 Software Driver Installation
After clicking the driver info button the detailed version information of the driver is shown. In the case
of a support question this information must be presented together with the board’s serial number to
the support team to help finding a fast solution.
Driver - Update
If a new driver version is to be installed no Spectrum board should be in use. So please stop and exit all software that could access the boards.
New drivers are available at http://www.spectrum-instrumentation.com. After down loading the driver unzip it to a temporary folder.
A new driver version is directly in-
stalled from the device manager.
Therefore please open the properties
page of the driver as shown in the
section before. As next step click on
the update driver button and follow
the steps of the driver installation in
a similar way to the previous board
and driver installation.
Please select the path where the new
driver version was unzipped to. If
you’ve got the new driver version on
CD please select the
\Driver\Win98_2k_XP path on the
CD containing the new driver ver-
sion.
The new driver version can be used directly after installation without restarting the system.
Please keep in mind to update the driver of all installed Spectrum boards.