Spectrum M2i.3020 User manual

SPECTRUM INSTRUMENTATION GMBH · AHRENSFELDER WEG 13-17 · 22927 GROSSHANSDORF · GERMANY
PHONE: [phone] · FAX: [phone] · E-MAIL: [e-mail] · INTERNET: www.spectrum-instrumentation.com
M2i.30xx
M2i.30xx-exp
fast 12 bit transient recorder,
A/D converter board
for PCI-X, PCI and PCI Express bus
Hardware Manual
Software Driver Manual
English version May 24, 2018

(c) SPECTRUM INSTRUMENTATION GMBH
AHRENSFELDER WEG 13-17, 22927 GROSSHANSDORF, GERMANY
SBench, digitizerNETBOX and generatorNETBOX are registered trademarks of Spectrum Instrumentation GmbH.
Microsoft, Visual C++, Visual Basic, Windows, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7,
Windows 8, Windows 10 and Windows Server 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.
Delphi and C++Builder are trademarks or registered trademarks of Embarcadero Technologies, Inc.
Keysight VEE, VEE Pro and VEE OneLab are trademarks/registered trademarks of Keysight Technologies, Inc.
FlexPro is a registered trademark of Weisang GmbH & Co. KG.
PCIe, PCI Express, PCI-X and PCI-SIG are trademarks of PCI-SIG.
PICMG and CompactPCI are trademarks of the PCI Industrial Computation Manufacturers Group.
PXI is a trademark of the PXI Systems Alliance.
LXI is a registered trademark of the LXI Consortium.
IVI is a registered trademark of the IVI Foundation
Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Intel and Intel Xeon are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation.
AMD and Opteron are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices.
NVIDIA, CUDA, GeForce, Quadro and Tesla are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation.

3
Introduction....................................................................................................................... 9
Preface ............................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Overview ............................................................................................................................................................................ 9
General Information ............................................................................................................................................................. 9
Different models of the M2i.30xx series ................................................................................................................................ 10
Additional options.............................................................................................................................................................. 12
Star-Hub...................................................................................................................................................................... 12
System Star-Hub ........................................................................................................................................................... 12
BaseXIO (versatile digital I/O) ....................................................................................................................................... 13
Digital inputs................................................................................................................................................................ 13
The Spectrum type plate ...................................................................................................................................................... 14
Hardware information......................................................................................................................................................... 15
Block diagram.............................................................................................................................................................. 15
Technical Data ............................................................................................................................................................. 16
Dynamic Parameters ..................................................................................................................................................... 18
Hardware Installation ..................................................................................................... 20
System Requirements .......................................................................................................................................................... 20
Warnings.......................................................................................................................................................................... 20
ESD Precautions ........................................................................................................................................................... 20
Cooling Precautions...................................................................................................................................................... 20
Sources of noise ........................................................................................................................................................... 20
Installing the board in the system.......................................................................................................................................... 21
Installing a single board without any options.................................................................................................................... 21
Installing a board with digital inputs/outputs mounted on an extra bracket .......................................................................... 23
Installing a board with option BaseXIO ........................................................................................................................... 24
Installing multiple boards synchronized by star-hub option ................................................................................................. 25
Software Driver Installation............................................................................................. 26
Windows .......................................................................................................................................................................... 26
Before installation......................................................................................................................................................... 26
Running the driver Installer............................................................................................................................................. 26
After installation ........................................................................................................................................................... 27
Linux................................................................................................................................................................................. 28
Overview .................................................................................................................................................................... 28
Standard Driver Installation............................................................................................................................................ 28
Standard Driver Update ................................................................................................................................................ 29
Compilation of kernel driver sources (option) ................................................................................................................... 29
Update of self compiled kernel driver .............................................................................................................................. 29
Library only ................................................................................................................................................................. 29
Control Center ............................................................................................................................................................. 30

4
Software ......................................................................................................................... 31
Software Overview............................................................................................................................................................. 31
Card Control Center ........................................................................................................................................................... 31
Discovery of Remote Cards and digitizerNETBOX/generatorNETBOX products.................................................................... 32
Wake On LAN of digitizerNETBOX/generatorNETBOX .................................................................................................... 32
Netbox Monitor ........................................................................................................................................................... 33
Hardware information................................................................................................................................................... 33
Firmware information .................................................................................................................................................... 34
Software License information.......................................................................................................................................... 34
Driver information......................................................................................................................................................... 35
Installing and removing Demo cards ............................................................................................................................... 35
Feature upgrade........................................................................................................................................................... 35
Software License upgrade.............................................................................................................................................. 36
Performing card calibration ........................................................................................................................................... 36
Performing memory test ................................................................................................................................................. 36
Transfer speed test........................................................................................................................................................ 36
Debug logging for support cases .................................................................................................................................... 37
Device mapping........................................................................................................................................................... 37
Firmware upgrade........................................................................................................................................................ 38
Compatibility Layer (M2i cards only) .................................................................................................................................... 38
Usage modes............................................................................................................................................................... 38
Abilities and Limitations of the compatibility DLL ............................................................................................................... 39
Accessing the hardware with SBench 6................................................................................................................................. 39
C/C++ Driver Interface....................................................................................................................................................... 39
Header files ................................................................................................................................................................. 40
General Information on Windows 64 bit drivers............................................................................................................... 40
Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0, 2005 and newer 32 Bit........................................................................................................... 40
Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 and newer 64 Bit.................................................................................................................. 40
C++ Builder 32 Bit ....................................................................................................................................................... 41
Linux Gnu C/C++ 32/64 Bit ......................................................................................................................................... 41
C++ for .NET............................................................................................................................................................... 41
Other Windows C/C++ compilers 32 Bit ........................................................................................................................ 41
Other Windows C/C++ compilers 64 Bit ........................................................................................................................ 41
National Instruments LabWindows/CVI........................................................................................................................... 42
Driver functions .................................................................................................................................................................. 42
Delphi (Pascal) Programming Interface .................................................................................................................................. 47
Driver interface ............................................................................................................................................................ 47
Examples..................................................................................................................................................................... 48
Visual Basic Programming Interface and Examples ................................................................................................................. 49
Driver interface ............................................................................................................................................................ 49
Examples..................................................................................................................................................................... 50
.NET programming languages ............................................................................................................................................. 51
Library ........................................................................................................................................................................ 51
Declaration.................................................................................................................................................................. 51
Using C#..................................................................................................................................................................... 51
Using Managed C++/CLI.............................................................................................................................................. 52
Using VB.NET .............................................................................................................................................................. 52
Using J# ...................................................................................................................................................................... 52
Python Programming Interface and Examples......................................................................................................................... 53
Driver interface ............................................................................................................................................................ 53
Examples..................................................................................................................................................................... 54
Java Programming Interface and Examples............................................................................................................................ 55
Driver interface ............................................................................................................................................................ 55
Examples..................................................................................................................................................................... 55
LabVIEW driver and examples ............................................................................................................................................. 56
MATLAB driver and examples.............................................................................................................................................. 56

5
Programming the Board .................................................................................................. 57
Overview .......................................................................................................................................................................... 57
Register tables ................................................................................................................................................................... 57
Programming examples....................................................................................................................................................... 57
Initialization....................................................................................................................................................................... 58
Initialization of Remote Products........................................................................................................................................... 58
Error handling.................................................................................................................................................................... 58
Gathering information from the card..................................................................................................................................... 59
Card type.................................................................................................................................................................... 59
Hardware version......................................................................................................................................................... 60
Production date ............................................................................................................................................................ 60
Last calibration date (analog cards only) ......................................................................................................................... 60
Serial number .............................................................................................................................................................. 61
Maximum possible sampling rate ................................................................................................................................... 61
Installed memory .......................................................................................................................................................... 61
Installed features and options ......................................................................................................................................... 61
Miscellaneous Card Information ..................................................................................................................................... 62
Function type of the card ............................................................................................................................................... 62
Used type of driver ....................................................................................................................................................... 62
Reset................................................................................................................................................................................. 63
Analog Inputs.................................................................................................................. 64
Channel Selection .............................................................................................................................................................. 64
Important note on channels selection............................................................................................................................... 65
Setting up the inputs ........................................................................................................................................................... 65
Input ranges................................................................................................................................................................. 65
Input offset................................................................................................................................................................... 66
Input termination........................................................................................................................................................... 67
Automatic adjustment of the offset settings ....................................................................................................................... 67
Read out of input features .............................................................................................................................................. 68
Acquisition modes ........................................................................................................... 69
Overview .......................................................................................................................................................................... 69
Setup of the mode ........................................................................................................................................................ 69
Commands........................................................................................................................................................................ 70
Card Status.................................................................................................................................................................. 71
Acquisition cards status overview ................................................................................................................................... 71
Generation card status overview .................................................................................................................................... 71
Data Transfer ............................................................................................................................................................... 72
Standard Single acquisition mode ........................................................................................................................................ 74
Card mode.................................................................................................................................................................. 74
Memory, Pre- and Posttrigger ......................................................................................................................................... 74
Example ...................................................................................................................................................................... 74
FIFO Single acquisition mode .............................................................................................................................................. 75
Card mode.................................................................................................................................................................. 75
Length and Pretrigger.................................................................................................................................................... 75
Difference to standard single acquisition mode................................................................................................................. 75
Example FIFO acquisition .............................................................................................................................................. 75
Limits of pre trigger, post trigger, memory size ....................................................................................................................... 76
Buffer handling .................................................................................................................................................................. 77
Data organisation .............................................................................................................................................................. 80
Sample format.............................................................................................................................................................. 80
Converting ADC samples to voltage values ...................................................................................................................... 80
Clock generation ............................................................................................................. 82
Overview .......................................................................................................................................................................... 82
The different clock modes .............................................................................................................................................. 82
Clock Mode Register..................................................................................................................................................... 83
Internally generated sample rate .......................................................................................................................................... 83
Standard internal sampling clock (PLL)............................................................................................................................. 83
Using plain Quartz1 without PLL ..................................................................................................................................... 84
Using plain Quartz2 without PLL (optional)....................................................................................................................... 84
External reference clock ...................................................................................................................................................... 85
Oversampling .................................................................................................................................................................... 85
External clocking................................................................................................................................................................ 86
Direct external clock ..................................................................................................................................................... 86
External clock with divider ............................................................................................................................................. 87

6
Trigger modes and appendant registers .......................................................................... 89
General Description............................................................................................................................................................ 89
Trigger Engine Overview..................................................................................................................................................... 89
Trigger masks .................................................................................................................................................................... 89
Trigger OR mask .......................................................................................................................................................... 89
Trigger AND mask........................................................................................................................................................ 91
Software trigger ................................................................................................................................................................. 92
Force- and Enable trigger .................................................................................................................................................... 92
Delay trigger ..................................................................................................................................................................... 93
External TTL trigger ............................................................................................................................................................. 93
Edge and level triggers ................................................................................................................................................. 94
Pulsewidth triggers........................................................................................................................................................ 95
Channel Trigger ................................................................................................................................................................. 96
Overview of the channel trigger registers......................................................................................................................... 96
Channel trigger level..................................................................................................................................................... 98
Pulsewidth counter ........................................................................................................................................................ 99
Detailed description of the channel trigger modes............................................................................................................. 99
Mode Multiple Recording ............................................................................................... 106
Recording modes ............................................................................................................................................................. 106
Standard Mode.......................................................................................................................................................... 106
FIFO Mode ................................................................................................................................................................ 106
Limits of pre trigger, post trigger, memory size ..................................................................................................................... 107
Multiple Recording and Timestamps.............................................................................................................................. 107
Trigger Modes ................................................................................................................................................................. 108
Trigger Counter.......................................................................................................................................................... 108
Trigger Output ........................................................................................................................................................... 108
Programming examples..................................................................................................................................................... 108
Mode Gated Sampling................................................................................................... 109
Acquisition modes ............................................................................................................................................................ 109
Standard Mode.......................................................................................................................................................... 109
FIFO Mode ................................................................................................................................................................ 109
Limits of pre trigger, post trigger, memory size ..................................................................................................................... 110
Gated Sampling and Timestamps ................................................................................................................................. 110
Trigger............................................................................................................................................................................ 111
Trigger Output ........................................................................................................................................................... 111
Edge and level triggers ............................................................................................................................................... 111
Pulsewidth triggers...................................................................................................................................................... 114
Channel triggers modes .............................................................................................................................................. 115
Programming examples..................................................................................................................................................... 119
Timestamps ................................................................................................................... 120
General information ......................................................................................................................................................... 120
Example for setting timestamp mode: ............................................................................................................................ 120
Limits ........................................................................................................................................................................ 121
Timestamp modes............................................................................................................................................................. 121
Standard mode .......................................................................................................................................................... 121
StartReset mode.......................................................................................................................................................... 122
Refclock mode............................................................................................................................................................ 122
Reading out the timestamps ............................................................................................................................................... 123
General..................................................................................................................................................................... 123
Data Transfer using DMA ............................................................................................................................................ 124
Data Transfer using Polling .......................................................................................................................................... 125
Comparison of DMA and polling commands.................................................................................................................. 126
Data format ............................................................................................................................................................... 126
Combination of Memory Segmentation Options with Timestamps ........................................................................................... 127
Multiple Recording and Timestamps.............................................................................................................................. 127
Example Multiple Recording and Timestamps................................................................................................................. 127
Gated Sampling and Timestamps ................................................................................................................................. 128
Example Gated Sampling and Timestamps .................................................................................................................... 128
ABA Mode and Timestamps......................................................................................................................................... 128

7
ABA mode (dual timebase) ............................................................................................ 130
General information ......................................................................................................................................................... 130
Standard Mode.......................................................................................................................................................... 130
FIFO Mode ................................................................................................................................................................ 131
Limits of pre trigger, post trigger, memory size ..................................................................................................................... 131
Example for setting ABA mode: .................................................................................................................................... 132
Reading out ABA data ...................................................................................................................................................... 132
General..................................................................................................................................................................... 132
Data Transfer using DMA ............................................................................................................................................ 133
Data Transfer using Polling .......................................................................................................................................... 134
Comparison of DMA and polling commands.................................................................................................................. 135
ABA Mode and Timestamps......................................................................................................................................... 135
Option BaseXIO............................................................................................................. 137
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................... 137
Different functions............................................................................................................................................................. 137
Asynchronous Digital I/O............................................................................................................................................ 137
Special Input Functions................................................................................................................................................ 138
Transfer Data ............................................................................................................................................................. 138
Programming Example ................................................................................................................................................ 138
Special Sampling Feature ............................................................................................................................................ 138
Electrical specifications................................................................................................................................................ 138
Option Star-Hub ............................................................................................................ 139
Star-Hub introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 139
Star-Hub trigger engine ............................................................................................................................................... 139
Star-Hub clock engine ................................................................................................................................................. 140
Software Interface ............................................................................................................................................................ 140
Star-Hub Initialization.................................................................................................................................................. 140
Setup of Synchronization and Clock ............................................................................................................................. 142
Setup of Trigger ......................................................................................................................................................... 143
Trigger Delay on synchronized cards ............................................................................................................................ 143
Run the synchronized cards ......................................................................................................................................... 143
Error Handling ........................................................................................................................................................... 144
Excluding cards from trigger synchronization ................................................................................................................. 144
SH-Direct: using the Star-Hub clock directly without synchronization.................................................................................. 144
Option System Star-Hub ................................................................................................ 146
Overview ........................................................................................................................................................................ 146
Cabling the system components ......................................................................................................................................... 146
Setting up the master system ........................................................................................................................................ 146
Setting up slave systems .............................................................................................................................................. 147
Connecting the systems ............................................................................................................................................... 147
Programming................................................................................................................................................................... 148
Necessary setup steps ................................................................................................................................................. 148
Select synchronization mode........................................................................................................................................ 148
Compensate injected trigger delays .............................................................................................................................. 149
Programming example ................................................................................................................................................ 149
Option Digital inputs ..................................................................................................... 150
Sample format............................................................................................................................................................ 150
Converting ADC samples to voltage values .................................................................................................................... 150
Option Digital Differential Inputs ................................................................................... 152
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................... 152
Sample format ................................................................................................................................................................. 152
Converting ADC samples to voltage values .................................................................................................................... 153
Card Setup...................................................................................................................................................................... 153
Trigger limitations....................................................................................................................................................... 153
Programming ............................................................................................................................................................. 153
Option Remote Server ................................................................................................... 155
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................... 155
Installing and starting the Remote Server ............................................................................................................................. 155
Windows .................................................................................................................................................................. 155
Linux......................................................................................................................................................................... 155
Detecting the digitizerNETBOX .......................................................................................................................................... 155
Discovery Function...................................................................................................................................................... 155
Finding the digitizerNETBOX/generatorNETBOX in the network....................................................................................... 156
Troubleshooting.......................................................................................................................................................... 156
Accessing remote cards .................................................................................................................................................... 157

8
Appendix ...................................................................................................................... 158
Error Codes..................................................................................................................................................................... 158
Spectrum Knowledge Base .......................................................................................................................................... 159
Continuous memory for increased data transfer rate ............................................................................................................. 160
Background ............................................................................................................................................................... 160
Setup on Linux systems ................................................................................................................................................ 161
Setup on Windows systems.......................................................................................................................................... 161
Usage of the buffer ..................................................................................................................................................... 162
Pin assignment of the multipin connector ............................................................................................................................. 163
Option “Digital inputs“................................................................................................................................................ 163
Pin assignment of the multipin cable ................................................................................................................................... 164
IDC footprints............................................................................................................................................................. 164
Details on M2i cards clock and trigger I/O section .............................................................................................................. 165

Introduction Preface
(c) Spectrum GmbH 9
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 have ded-
icated manuals, which are available on CD or on the Spectrum website.
For any new information on the board as well as new available options or memory upgrades please contact our website
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.
Overview
The PCI bus was first introduced in 1995. Nowadays it is the most common platform for PC based instrumentation boards. The very
wide range of installations world-wide, especially in the consumer market, makes it a platform of good value. Its successor is the
2004 introduced PCI Express standard. In today’s standard PC there are usually two to three slots of both standards available for
instrumentation boards. Special industrial PCs offer up to a maximum of 20 slots. The common PCI/PCI-X bus with data rates of up
to 133 MHz x 64 bit = 1 GByte/s per bus, is more and more replaced by the PCI Express standard with up to 4 GByte/s data transfer rate
per slot. The Spectrum M2i boards are available in two versions, for PCI/PCI-X as well as for PCI Express. The 100% software compatible
standards allow to combine both standards in one system with the same driver and software commands.
Within this document the name M2i is used as a synonym for both versions, either PCI/PCI-X or PCI Express. Only passages that
differ concerning the bus version of the M2i.xxxx and M2i.xxxx-exp cards are mentioned separately. Also all card drawings will
show the PCI/PCI-X version as example if no differences exist compared to the PCI Express version.
General Information
The M2i.30xx series offer a wide range of very fast 12 bit A/D converter boards for PCI-X, PCI and PCI Express (PCIe) bus. Due to the well-
planned design these boards are available in several versions and different speed grades. That makes it possible for the user to find an
individual solution.
These boards offer one to four channels with a maximum sample rate of 200 MS/s. As an option 4 digital inputs per channel can be recorded
synchronously. The installed memory of up to 2 GSample will be used for fast data recording. It can completely be used by the currently
active channels. If using slower sample rates the memory is switched to a FIFO buffer and data will be transferred online to the PC memory
or to hard disk.
Several boards of the M2i.xxxx series may be connected together by the internal standard synchronisation bus in combination with one of
the star-hub options to work with the same time base.
Application examples: Laboratory equipment, Supersonic, LDA/PDA, Radar, Spectroscopy.

10 M2i.30xx / M2i.30xx-exp Manual
Different models of the M2i.30xx series Introduction
Different models of the M2i.30xx series
The following overview shows the different available models of the M2i.30xx series. They differ in the number mounted acquisition modules
and the number of available channels. You can also see the model dependent allocation of the output connectors.
• M2i.3010
• M2i.3020
• M2i.3010-exp
• M2i.3020-exp
• M2i.3011
• M2i.3012
• M2i.3021
• M2i.3022
• M2i.3031
• M2i.3011-exp
• M2i.3012-exp
• M2i.3021-exp
• M2i.3022-exp
• M2i.3031-exp
• M2i.3015
• M2i.3025
• M2i.3027
• M2i.3015-exp
• M2i.3025-exp
• M2i.3027-exp

Introduction Different models of the M2i.30xx series
(c) Spectrum GmbH 11
• M2i.3013
• M2i.3014
• M2i.3016
• M2i.3023
• M2i.3024
• M2i.3026
• M2i.3033
• M2i.3013-exp
• M2i.3014-exp
• M2i.3016-exp
• M2i.3023-exp
• M2i.3024-exp
• M2i.3026-exp
• M2i.3033-exp

12 M2i.30xx / M2i.30xx-exp Manual
Additional options Introduction
Additional options
Star-Hub
The star hub piggy-back module al-
lows the synchronisation of up to 16
M2i cards. It is possible to synchro-
nize cards of the same type with
each other as well as different types.
Two different versions of the star-hub
module are available. A minor one
for synchronizing up to five boards
of the M2i series, without the need
for an additional system slot. The
major version (option SH16) allows
the synchronization of up to 16
cards with the need for an addition-
al slot.
The module acts as a star hub for
clock and trigger signals. Each
board is connected with a small ca-
ble of the same length, even the master board. That minimizes the clock skew between the different cards. The figure shows the piggy-back
module mounted on the base board schematically without any cables to achieve a better visibility. It also shows the locations of the available
connectors for the two different versions of the star-hub option.
Any of the connected cards can be the clock master and the same or any other card can be the trigger master. All trigger modes that are
available on the master card are also available if the synchronization star-hub is used.
The cable connection of the boards is automatically recognized and checked by the driver when initializing the star-hub module. So no care
must be taken on how to cable the cards. The star-hub module itself is handled as an additional device just like any other card and the pro-
gramming consists of only a few additional commands.
System Star-Hub
The System Star-Hub (SSH) option al-
lows to synchronize clock and trig-
ger information between Star-Hubs
located in multiple PC systems.
Therefore one system is set up as the
System-Master, generating the trig-
ger and clock signals, which then
are distributed to all System-Slave
systems, and additionally also to the
System-Master itself, to minimize
phase delays.
All connected Star-Hubs therefore
have one additional PCI bracket in-
stalled, that allows to feed in clock
and trigger signals coming from the
System-Master distribution card (not
shown in the drawing). This bracket
comes pre-connected with your
M2i.xxxx or M2i-xxxx-exp card.M2i
For the System-Master there is addi-
tionally a clock and trigger distribu-
tion card included providing MMCX connectors on its bracket, to connect to up to 17 different systems (including the System-Master itself).
The installation and cabling from and to this System-Master distribution card will be shown in the according synchronization chapter later in
this manual.

Introduction Additional options
(c) Spectrum GmbH 13
BaseXIO (versatile digital I/O)
The option BaseXIO is simple-to-use
enhancement to the cards of the M2i
series. It is possible to control a wide
range of external instruments or
other equipment by using the eight
lines as asynchronous digital I/O.
The BaseXIO option is useful if an
external amplifier should be control-
led, any kind of signal source must
be programmed, if status informati-
on from an external machine has to
be obtained or different test signals
have to be routed to the board.
In addition to the I/O features, these
lines are also for special functions.
Two of the lines can be used as ad-
ditional TTL trigger inputs for com-
plex gated conditions, one line can
be used as an reference time signal
(RefClock) for the timestamp option.
The BaseXIO MMCX connectors are mounted on-board. To gain easier access, these lines are connected to an extra bracket, that holds eight
SMB male connectors. For special purposes this option can also be ordered without the extra bracket and instead with internal cables.
The shown option is mounted exemplarily on a board with two modules and with the extra bracket. Of course you can also combine this
option as well with a board that is equipped with only one module.
Digital inputs
This option allows the user to ac-
quire 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 possibili-
ty of acquiring 4 additional digital
bits per channel with 12 bit resolu-
tion boards, and 2 additional digital
bits per channel with 14 bit resolu-
tion boards.
The connectors for these digital out-
puts are mounted on an additional
bracket. The figures show the option
on boards with either one or two
modules.

14 M2i.30xx / M2i.30xx-exp Manual
The Spectrum type plate Introduction
The Spectrum type plate
The Spectrum type plate, which consists of the following components, can be found on all of our boards. Please check whether the printed
information is the same as the information on your delivery note. All this information can also be read out by software:
The board type, consisting of the two letters describing the bus (in this case M2i for the PCI-X bus) and the model number.
The size of the on-board installed memory in MSample or GSample. In this example there are 1 GS = 1024 MSample (2 GByte =
2048 MByte) installed.
The serial number of your Spectrum board. Every board has a unique serial number.
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, Gated Sampling, Timestamp and Star-Hub 5 are installed.
The base card version, consisting of the hardware version (the part before the dot) and the firmware version (the part after the dot).
The version of the analog/digital front-end module. Consisting of the hardware version (the part before the dot) and the firmware
version (the part after the dot)
The date of production, consisting of the calendar week and the year.
The version of the extension module if one is installed. Consisting of the hardware version (the part before the dot) and the firmware
version (the part after the dot). In our example we have the Star-Hub 5 extension module installed. Therefore the version of the ex-
tension module is filled on the type plate. If no extension module is installed this part is left open.
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.

Introduction Hardware information
(c) Spectrum GmbH 15
Hardware information
Block diagram

16 M2i.30xx / M2i.30xx-exp Manual
Hardware information Introduction
Technical Data
Analog Inputs
Trigger
Clock
BaseXIO Option
Resolution 12 bit
Input Range software programmable ±200 mV, ±500 mV, ±1 V, ±2 V, ±5 V, ±10 V
Input Mode fixed bipolar, single-ended
Input Offset software programmable ±100% of input range in steps of 1%
ADC Differential non linearity (DNL) ADC only ±1 LSB
ADC Integral non linearity (INL) ADC only ±1 LSB
Offset error (full speed) after warm-up and calibration ≤ 0.1% of range
Gain error (full speed) after warm-up and calibration ≤ 1% of current value
Crosstalk: 1 MHz Signal, 50 Ωtermination all input ranges ≤-70 dB on adjacent channels
Analog Input impedance software programmable 50 Ω or 1 MΩ|| 25 pF
Analog input coupling fixed DC
Over voltage protection (active card) ranges ≤ ±1 V ±5 V
Over voltage protection (active card) ranges > ±1 V ±50 V
Input signal with 50 Ωtermination max 5 V rms
Channel selection software programmable 1, 2 or 4 (maximum is model dependent)
Available trigger modes software programmable Channel Trigger, External, Software, Window, Pulse, Re-Arm, Or/And, Delay
Trigger level resolution software programmable 10 bit
Trigger edge software programmable Rising edge, falling edge or both edges
Trigger pulse width software programmable 0 to [64k - 1] samples in steps of 1 sample
Trigger delay software programmable 0 to [64k - 1] samples in steps of 1 sample
Multi, Gate: re-arming time <4 samples (+ programmed pretrigger)
Pretrigger at Multi, ABA, Gate, FIFO software programmable 4 up to [8176 Samples / number of active channels] in steps of 4
Posttrigger software programmable 4 up to [8G - 4] samples in steps of 4 (defining pretrigger in standard scope mode)
Memory depth software programmable 8 up to [installed memory / number of active channels] samples in steps of 4
Multiple Recording/ABA segment size software programmable 8 up to [installed memory / 2 / active channels] samples in steps of 4
Trigger output delay One positive edge after internal trigger event
Internal trigger accuracy 1 sample
External trigger accuracy ≤ 100 MS/s 1 sample
External trigger accuracy > 100 MS/s 2 samples
External trigger type (input and output) 3.3V LVTTL compatible (5V tolerant with base card hardware version > V20)
External trigger input Low ≤ 0.8 V, High ≥ 2.0 V, ≥ 8 ns in pulse stretch mode, ≥ 2 clock periods all other modes
External trigger maximum voltage -0.5 V up to +5.7 V (internally clamped to 5.0V, 100 mA max. clamping current)
Trigger impedance software programmable 50 Ohm / high impedance (> 4kOhm)
External trigger output type 3.3 V LVTTL
External trigger output levels Low ≤ 0.4 V, High ≥ 2.4 V, TTL compatible
External trigger output drive strength Capable of driving 50 ohm load, maximum drive strength ±128 mA
Clock Modes software programmable internal PLL, internal quartz, external clock, external divided, external reference clock, sync
Internal clock range (PLL mode) software programmable 1 kS/s to max using internal reference, 50kS/s to max using external reference clock
Internal clock accuracy ≤ 20 ppm
Internal clock setup granularity ≤1% of range (100M, 10M, 1M, 100k,...): Examples: range 1M to 10M: stepsize ≤100k
External reference clock range software programmable ≥1.0 MHz and ≤125.0 MHz
External clock impedance software programmable 50 Ohm / high impedance (> 4kOhm)
External clock range see „Dynamic Parameters“ table below
External clock delay to internal clock 5.4 ns
External clock type/edge 3.3V LVTTL compatible, rising edge used
External clock input Low level ≤ 0.8 V, High level ≥ 2.0 V, duty cycle: 45% - 55%
External clock maximum voltage -0.5 V up to +3.8 V (internally clamped to 3.3V, 100 mA max. clamping current)
(not 5V tolerant)
External clock output type 3.3 V LVTTL
External clock output levels Low ≤ 0.4 V, High ≥ 2.4 V, TTL compatible
External clock output drive strength Capable of driving 50 ohm load, maximum drive strength ±128 mA
Synchronization clock divider software programmable 2 up to [8k - 2] in steps of 2
ABA mode clock divider for slow clock software programmable 8 up to 524280 in steps of 8
BaseXIO modes software programmable Asynch digital I/O, 2 additional trigger, timestamp reference clock, timestamp digital inputs
BaseXIO direction software programmable Each 4 lines can be programmed in direction
BaseXIO input TTL compatible: Low ≤ 0.8 V, High ≥ 2.0 V
BaseXIO input impedance 4.7 kOhm towards 3.3 V
BaseXIO input maximum voltage -0.5 V up to +5.5 V
BaseXIO output type 3.3 V LVTLL
BaseXIO output levels TTL compatible: Low ≤ 0.4 V, High ≥ 2.4 V
BaseXIO output drive strength 32 mA maximum current, no 50 Ω loads

Introduction Hardware information
(c) Spectrum GmbH 17
Digital Inputs Option
Connectors
Environmental and Physical Details
PCI/PCI-X specific details
PCI Express specific details
Certification, Compliance, Warranty
Power Consumption
MTBF
Digital data acquisition modes software programmable 4 digital inputs per active analog channel
Digital inputs delay to analog sample -11 Samples
Input Impedance 110 Ωat 2.5 V
Maximum voltage -0.3 V up to +5.5 V (internally clamped to 3.3V and ground, 200 mA max. clamping current)
Input voltage Low ≤0.8 V, High > 2.0 V (TTL compatible)
Analog Inputs 3 mm SMB male (one for each single-ended input) Cable-Type: Cab-3f-xx-xx
Trigger Input/Output programmable direction 3 mm SMB male (one connector) Cable-Type: Cab-3f-xx-xx
Clock Input/Output programmable direction 3 mm SMB male (one connector) Cable-Type: Cab-3f-xx-xx
Option Digital Inputs/Outputs 40 pole half pitch (Hirose FX2 series) Cable-Type: Cab-d40-xx-xx
Option BaseXIO 8 x 3 mm SMB male on extra bracket, internally 8 x MMCX female
Dimension (PCB only) 312 mm x 107 mm (full PCI length)
Width (Standard or with option star-hub 5) 1 full size slot
Width (star-hub 16) additionally back of adjacent neighbour slots
Width (with option BaseXIO) additionally extra bracket on neighbour slot
Width (with option -digin, -digout or -60xx-AmpMod) additionally half length of adjacent neighbour slot
Weight (depending on version) 290g (smallest version) up to 460g (biggest version with all options, including star-hub)
Warm up time 10 minutes
Operating temperature 0°C to 50°C
Storage temperature -10°C to 70°C
Humidity 10% to 90%
PCI / PCI-X bus slot type 32 bit 33 MHz or 32 bit 66 MHz
PCI / PCI-X bus slot compatibility 32/64 bit, 33-133 MHz, 3,3 V and 5 V I/O
Sustained streaming mode > 245 MB/s (in a PCI-X slot clocked at 66 MHz or higher)
PCIe slot type x1 Generation 1
PCIe slot compatibility x1/x4/x8/x16 (Some x16 PCIe slots are for graphic cards only and can not be used)
Sustained streaming mode > 160 MB/s
EMC Immunity Compliant with CE Mark
EMC Emission Compliant with CE Mark
Product warranty 5 years starting with the day of delivery
Software and firmware updates Life-time, free of charge
PCI / PCI-X PCI EXPRESS
3.3 V 5 V Total 3.3V 12V Total
M2i.30x0 (256 MSample memory) 2.2 A 0.8 A 11.3 W 0.4 A 1.0 A 13.3 W
M2i.30x1, 30x2 (256 MSample memory) 2.3 A 0.9 A 12.1 W 0.4 A 1.1 A 14.5 W
M2i.30x5, 30x7 (256 MSample memory) 2.5 A 1.1 A 13.8 W 0.4 A 1.2 A 15.7 W
M2i.30x3, 30x4, 30x6 (256 MSample memory) 2.6 A 1.4 A 15.6 W 0.4 A 1.4 A 18.1 W
M2i.3026 (2 GSample memory) max power 3.7 A 1.4 A 19.2 W 0.4 A 2.0 A 25.3 W
MTBF 500000 hours

18 M2i.30xx / M2i.30xx-exp Manual
Hardware information Introduction
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.
M2i.3011
M2i.3013
M2i.3021
M2i.3023
M2i.3031
M2i.3033
M2i.3010
M2i.3012
M2i.3014
M2i.3020
M2i.3022
M2i.3024
M2i.3027
M2i.3015
M2i.3016
M2i.3025
M2i.3026
min internal clock 1 kS/s 1kS/s 1kS/s 1kS/s 1kS/s 1kS/s 1kS/s
max internal clock 40 MS/s 50 MS/s 62.5 MS/s 80 MS/s 105 MS/s 160 MS/s 200 MS/s
min external clock 1 MS/s 1 MS/s 1 MS/s 1 MS/s 1 MS/s 1 MS/s 1 MS/s
max external clock 40 MS/s 50 MS/s 62.5 MS/s 80 MS/s 105 MS/s 80 MS/s 105 MS/s
-3 dB bandwidth DC to 20 MHz DC to 25 MHz DC to 30 MHz DC to 40 MHz DC to 40 MHz DC to 40 MHz DC to 40 MHz
Zero noise level (< 125 MS/s) < 1.1 LSB rms < 1.1 LSB rms < 1.4 LSB rms < 1.5 LSB rms < 1.5 LSB rms < 2.0 LSB rms < 2.0 LSB rms
Zero noise level (> 125 MS/s) n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. < 3.0 LSB rms < 3.0 LSB rms
Test - sampling rate 40 MS/s 50 MS/s 60 MS/s 80 MS/s 100 MS/s 80 MS/s 100 MS/s
Testsignalfrequency 1MHz4MHz1MHz4MHz1MHz4MHz1MHz9MHz1MHz9MHz1MHz9MHz1MHz9MHz
SNR (typ) (dB) 66.2 64.8 65.2 64.5 64.5 63.5 65.2 63.3 65.1 63.0 65.0 62.8 65.0 62.5
THD (typ) (dB) -74.0 -71.0 -72.3 -71.0 -70.5 -68.9 -72.2 -66.5 -72.0 -66.1 -69.8 -65.9 -69.5 -65.8
SFDR (typ), excl. harm. (dB) 80.4 77.9 80.2 77.8 80.0 78.0 79.0 77.9 78.0 77.5 78.2 77.0 77.8 76.9
ENOB based on SNR (bit) 10.7 10.5 10.6 10.4 10.5 10.3 10.6 10.2 10.6 10.2 10.5 10.1 10.4 10.1
ENOB based on SINAD (bit) 10.6 10.3 10.5 10.2 10.3 10.1 10.4 10.1 10.4 10.1 10.4 10.0 10.3 9.9

Introduction Hardware information
(c) Spectrum GmbH 19
Order InformationThe card is delivered with 256 MSample on-board memory and supports standard acquisition (Scope), FIFO ac-
quisition (streaming), Multiple Recording, Gated Sampling, ABA mode and Timestamps. Operating system drivers for Windows/Linux 32 bit
and 64 bit, examples for C/C++, LabVIEW (Windows), MATLAB (Windows and Linux), LabWindows/CVI, IVI, .NET, Delphi, Visual Basic,
Java, Python and a Base license of the oscilloscope software SBench 6 are included. Drivers for other 3rd party products like VEE or DASYLab
may be available on request.
Adapter cables are not included. Please order separately!
(1) : Just one of the options can be installed on a card at a time.
(2) : Third party product with warranty differing from our export conditions. No volume rebate possible.
PCI Express (PCIe) PCI Express PCI/PCI-X Standard mem 1 channel 2 channels 4 channels
PCI/PCI-X M2i.3010-exp M2i.3010 256 MSample 80 MS/s
M2i.3011-exp M2i.3011 256 MSample 40 MS/s 40 MS/s
M2i.3012-exp M2i.3012 256 MSample 80 MS/s 40 MS/s
M2i.3013-exp M2i.3013 256 MSample 40 MS/s 40 MS/s 40 MS/s
M2i.3014-exp M2i.3014 256 MSample 80 MS/s 80 MS/s 40 MS/s
M2i.3015-exp M2i.3015 256 MSample 160 MS/s 80 MS/s
M2i.3016-exp M2i.3016 256 MSample 160 MS/s 80 MS/s 40 MS/s
M2i.3020-exp M2i.3020 256 MSample 100 MS/s
M2i.3021-exp M2i.3021 256 MSample 50 MS/s 50 MS/s
M2i.3022-exp M2i.3022 256 MSample 100 MS/s 50 MS/s
M2i.3023-exp M2i.3023 256 MSample 50 MS/s 50 MS/s 50 MS/s
M2i.3024-exp M2i.3024 256 MSample 100 MS/s 100 MS/s 50 MS/s
M2i.3025-exp M2i.3025 256 MSample 200 MS/s 100 MS/s
M2i.3026-exp M2i.3026 256 MSample 200 MS/s 100 MS/s 50 MS/s
M2i.3027-exp M2i.3027 256 MSample 100 MS/s 100 MS/s
M2i.3031-exp M2i.3031 256 MSample 60 MS/s 60 MS/s
M2i.3033-exp M2i.3033 256 MSample 60 MS/s 60 MS/s 60 MS/s
Memory Order no. Option
M2i.xxxx-512MS Memory upgrade to 512 MSample (1 GB) total memory
M2i.xxxx-1GS Memory upgrade to 1 GSample (2 GB) total memory
Options Order no. Option
M2i.xxxx-diff Digital differential mode for combining two single-ended channels to one differential channel.
M2i.xxxx-SH5 (1) Synchronization Star-Hub for up to 5 cards, only 1 slot width
M2i.xxxx-SH16 (1) Synchronization Star-Hub for up to 16 cards
M2i.xxxx-SSHM (1) System-Star-Hub Master for up to 15 cards in the system and up to 17 systems, PCI 32 Bit card,
sync cables and extra bracket for clock and trigger distribution included
M2i.xxxx-SSHMe (1) System-Star-Hub Master for up to 15 cards in the system and up to 17 systems, PCI Express card,
sync cables and extra bracket for clock and trigger distribution included
M2i.xxxx-SSHS5 (1) System-Star-Hub Slave for 5 cards in one system, one slot width all sync cables + bracket included
M2i.xxxx-SSHS16 (1) System-Star-Hub Slave for 16 cards in system, two slots width, all sync cables + bracket included
M2i.3xxx-dig Additional synchronous digital inputs (4 per analog channel) including Cab-d40-idc-100
M2i.xxxx-bxio Option BaseXIO: 8 digital I/O lines usable as asynchronous I/O, timestamp ref-clock and additional
external trigger lines, additional bracket with 8 SMB connectors
M2i-upgrade Upgrade for M2i.xxxx: later installation of option -M2i.xxxx-1GS, -SH5, -SH16 or -bxio
Services Order no.
Recal Recalibration at Spectrum incl. calibration protocol
Cables Order no.
for Connections Length to BNC male to BNC female to SMA male to SMA female to SMB female
Analog/Clock/Trigger 80 cm Cab-3f-9m-80 Cab-3f-9f-80 Cab-3f-3mA-80 Cab-3f-3fA-80 Cab-3f-3f-80
Analog/Clock/Trigger 200 cm Cab-3f-9m-200 Cab-3f-9f-200 Cab-3f-3mA-200 Cab-3f-3fA-200 Cab-3f-3f-200
Probes (short) 5 cm Cab-3f-9f-5
to 2x20 pole IDC to 40 pole FX2
Digital signals (option) 100 cm Cab-d40-idc-100 Cab-d40-d40-100
Amplifiers Order no. Bandwidth Connection Input Impedance Coupling Amplification
SPA.1412 (2) 200 MHz BNC 1 MOhm AC/DC x10/x100 (20/40 dB)
SPA.1411 (2) 200 MHz BNC 50 Ohm AC/DC x10/x100 (20/40 dB)
SPA.1232 (2) 10 MHz BNC 1 MOhm AC/DC x100/x1000 (40/60 dB)
SPA.1231 (2) 10 MHz BNC 50 Ohm AC/DC x100/x1000 (40/60 dB)
Information External Amplifiers with one channel, BNC/SMA female connections on input and output, manually adjustable offset, man-
ually switchable settings. An external power supply for 100 to 240 VAC is included. Please be sure to order an adapter
cable matching the amplifier connector type and matching the connector type for your A/D card input.
Software SBench6 Order no.
SBench6 Base version included in delivery. Supports standard mode for one card.
SBench6-Pro Professional version for one card: FIFO mode, export/import, calculation functions
SBench6-Multi Option multiple cards: Needs SBench6-Pro. Handles multiple synchronized cards in one system.
Volume Licenses Please ask Spectrum for details.
Software Options Order no.
SPc-RServer Remote Server Software Package - LAN remote access for M2i/M3i/M4i/M4x/M2p cards
SPc-SCAPP Spectrum’s CUDA Access for Parallel Processing - SDK for direct data transfer between Spectrum card
and CUDA GPU. Includes RDMA activation and examples. Signed NDA needed for access.

20 M2i.30xx / M2i.30xx-exp Manual
System Requirements Hardware Installation
Hardware Installation
System Requirements
All Spectrum M2i/M3i.xxxx instrumentation cards are compliant to the PCI standard and require in general one free full length slot. This can
either be a standard 32 bit PCI legacy slot, a 32 bit or a 64 bit PCI-X slot. Depending on the installed options additional free slots can be
necessary.
All Spectrum M2i/M3i.xxxx-exp instrumentation cards are compliant to the PCI Express 1.0 standard and require in general one free full
length PCI Express slot. This can either be a x1, x4, x8 or x16 slot. Some x16 PCIe slots are for the use of graphic cards only and can not
be used for other cards. Depending on the installed options additional free slots can be necessary.
Warnings
ESD Precautions
The boards of the M2i/M3i.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 off
any electrostatic electricity.
Cooling Precautions
The boards of the M2i/M3i.xxxx series operate with components having very high power consumption at high speeds. For this reason it is
absolutely required to cool this board sufficiently.
For all M2i/M3i cards it is strongly recommended to install an additional cooling fan producing a stream of air across the boards
surface. In most cases professional PC-systems are already equipped with sufficient cooling power. In that case please make sure
that the air stream is not blocked.
Sources of noise
The analog acquisition and generator boards of the M2i/M3i.xxxx series should be placed far away from any noise producing source (like
e.g. the power supply). It should especially be avoided to place the board in the slot directly adjacent to another fast board (like the graphics
controller).