ICS Electronics announces a new Multi-Function Interface board for controlling RS-232 and RS-485 serial devices. Called the Model 9006, this new interface board adds Ethernet, GPIB and USB interfaces to serial devices. All interfaces are IEEE-488.2 compliant, respond to the 488.2 Common Commands and provide GPIB like functionality to the extent possible with the interface protocol. The Model 9006 is designed for OEM applications but also lends itself to Test Chassis and other engineering applications. Use the 9006 to give new life to older serial devices by equipping them with modern interfaces or to add a slave interface to an embedded processor for new instruments. The 9006's Ethernet port supports VXI-11 and raw socket protocol as well as an internal HTML web server. VXI-11 and raw socket commands can be used to control the 9006 and communicate with the connected Serial slave devices.
The 9006's VXI-11 and raw socket protocols can be used with VISA Libraries from Agilent or National Instruments in Window PCs or with rpc calls from Unix or Linux operating systems. The 9006's WebServer provides easy configuration from any web browser. All settings are saved in internal flash memory. The 9006's GPIB interface is IEEE-488.2 compliant. The 9006's USB interface uses Microsoft's Universal Serial Driver to avoids future driver issues as Microsoft releases new versions of Windows. The 9006 supports dumb serial devices that output periodic messages, standard serial devices and smart devices that can send the 9006 commands to tailor its operation for a smart instrument. Using the 9006's serial commands, the smart device can change the 9006's interface settings, customize the IDN response, query its status, receive local/remote change messages, and generate Service Requests or set bits in the 9006's Status Reporting Structure. The 9006 is a small 5.5 inch square board that is designed to be mounted on the rear panel of the host chassis with the connectors protruding through the rear panel. The 9006 is designed so the connector shells will make an RFI tight seal with the rear panel.
- controls RS-232 and RS-485 serial devices
