ICS-8500

The ICS-8500 offers similar features to the popular ICS-500-R/T product but in a rugged PMC format suitable for both convection (air) and conduction cooled environments. It provides both receive and transmit capability in a single product. Since front panel connectors are generally not feasible for rugged applications, the standard FPDP connector is not used and FPDP I/O is provided via the PMC P4 connector. The ICS-8500 offers a 400 MBytes/second FPDP II interface, 8 MBytes of memory and a PCI 2.2 32/64-Bit, 33/66 MHz PCI DMA interface. Since FPDP II is backwards compatible with the ANSI/VITA 17 FPDP standard, the card also supports the earlier FPDP format through an auto-sense capability. The FPDP standard was pioneered by Abaco Systems and is now widely accepted in the industry for high throughput sensor data transfer applications.

In receive mode, the board provides both FPDP/RM and FPDP/R capabilities. A key feature of the product is its ability to perform the corner turning function. This software enabled feature reorders multi-channel data from channel ordering by time to time ordering by channel. The feature is commonly required in sensor processing systems and is usually performed by digital signal processing (DSP) elements. By transferring this function to the dedicated hardware located on the ICS-8500, substantial additional DSP power is made available for other activities.

In transmit mode, the board provides an FPDP transmit function, also known as an FPDP/TM interface. The features provided by this version are similar to those provided in receive mode except that the flow of the data is in the opposite direction. The channel selection and corner turning features are not provided. However, as an additional feature, a Loop mode of operation is available, in which a fixed length of data equal to the programmed buffer length is written to both banks of the swing buffer. When triggered, this data is repetitively generated and transmitted by the FPDP output interface. The module also allows the frame rate of transmitted data to be controlled, for applications where data must be transmitted at a specified sampling rate. This is done by programming of the FPDP Strobe (clock) frequency, which can be done with fine resolution over a wide frequency range.

Recommended replacement is the SPR507B.

• FPDP II 400 MBytes/second interface
• PCI 2.2 64-bit, 66 MHz PCI interface
• 8 MBytes Buffer Memory
• FPDP I/O via PMC P4 Connector
• Rugged FPDP / FPDP II Receiver/Transmitter PMC
• Software-controlled channel selection and 'corner turning' capabilities
• Windows, Linux and VxWorks device drivers
• Sensor Processing Resource Center
• Ruggedization Levels