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National Instruments has two ver-
sions of the MXI interface that are
usable in a host controller. The older
VXI-MXI-1 slot 0 controller and its
host card (the AT-MXI interface) do
not operate correctly with E6432A,
due to the AT-MXI interface’s inabili-
ty to access more than 64k of A24
address space. (Remember, a mini-
mum of 256k is required.) The
newer MXI interface from National
Instruments (the VXI-MXI-2 inter-
face) and its host controller card
(the PCI-MXI interface) work
properly with all of the application
programs listed.
A new serial interface for VXI based
on IEEE-1394 is available from
Agilent (the E8491A). This interface
has nearly the same performance as
MXI-2 in many applications. The
E8491A is supported for use with
the E6432A.
Embedded controllers are available
from both Agilent and National
Instruments. Those controllers that
contain the Intel Pentium® processor
and run Microsoft Windows NT 4.0
are supported for use with the
E6432A.
Initializing the Instrument
After installing the interfaces and
drivers using the procedures given in
the user documentation, it is time to
apply power to the VXI mainframe
and check out the system.
Register-based devices typically
do not contain a processor and
firmware that perform bootstrap and
self-test functions at power on. These
functions are jointly executed by the
host controller and the device. For
the E6432A, the functions are per-
formed when the host controller
issues the ViInitialize function call
through the plug&play driver. When
power is first applied to the E6432A,
the red FAIL LED is lit. This LED
remains lit until a successful
completion of the ViInitialize
function call. Within this function
call are commands that:
●
issue the bootstrap commands
to initialize the onboard assist
processor
●
perform a comprehensive
digital self-test
●
perform a limited analog self-test
●
preset the instrument to
a known state
●
query the error buffers for
any error conditions
●
issue the command to extinguish
the red FAIL LED after a
successful completion
In the programming examples shown
later, we will show that in VEE,
the ViInitialize function call is sent
automatically at the first call to
the instrument. In NI LabView, the
ViInitialize function call must be
sent explicitly as the first call to
the instrument.
The Soft Front Panel
All functions of the E6432A are
represented in the soft front panel
(SFP). The online help system docu-
ments the SFP and the plug&play
driver completely. The E6432A SFP
is accessed through the Start menus
of Windows NT. If no VXI interface
is installed on the computer, or the
hardware is not present, the SFP
may be run in Demo Mode as a
learning and demonstration tool.
The online help system will be
fully functional.
Pentium is a U.S. registered trademark of Intel Corporation.