Acromag combines ADC, DAC, digitial I/O and counters on AP730
The latest AcroPack rugged mini PCIe I/O module from Acromag has a mix of analogue and digital input and output channels on a single mPCIe-based module. The military-grade measurement and control module’s feature mix is intended for high-density, high-reliability data acquisition and control applications.
The AP730 multi-function I/O module performs analogue input, analog output, discrete I/O and counter/timer functions. A variety of carrier cards can host up to four modules and are available in PCIe, VPX, XMC, CompactPCI-Serial, and mini-ITX embedded computing platforms. The boards are designed for commercial off-the shelf (COTS) applications in defence, aerospace, and industrial systems to provide a high-density mix of I/O signal interfaces in compact computing environments. According to Acromag, the AP730’s single-module combination of analogue and digital I/O functions, enables system integrators to use remaining carrier mezzanine slots for serial, Ethernet, avionics, and CAN interfaces, or FPGA signal processing with other AcroPack modules.
Each AP730 module features a high-density mix of 28 I/O channels and 32bit counter/timers in a 30 x 70mm card. Eight differential analogue inputs (0 to 10V, ±10V ranges) feed a 16bit ADC capable of sampling at nearly 800kHz. Four analogue output channels have individual 16bit DACs with a 7.5 microsecond settling time. Programmable I/O ranges, sequencing, interrupts, memory allocation, and other controls are supported, as well as external triggering. The bi-directional digital I/O is configured as two eight-channel groups with TTL-compatible thresholds and programmable change-of-state or level interrupts. Counter/timers perform quadrature, frequency, and period measurement functions as well as pulse width modulation (PWM) and waveform generation operations. DMA transfer support efficiently moves data between module memory and the PCIe bus to relieve the system CPU and increase performance.
The AP730 is expected to find applications in projects which require more efficient size, weight, and power (SWaP) computing, for example interfacing a mix of signals in the tightest footprint on PCIe servers, VPX chassis or small form factor computers.
AcroPack mezzanine modules improve on the mini PCI Express architecture by adding a down-facing 100-pin connector that securely routes the I/O through a carrier card without any loose internal cabling, explains Acromag. Carrier cards for rack-mount, field-deployable, industrial chassis, desktop and small mezzanine computing platforms enable engineers to combine up to four I/O function modules on a single computer board. More than 25 models are available for data acquisition, signal processing, test and measurement, command/control, and network communication applications. Software tools support embedded applications running on Linux, Windows, or VxWorks operating systems.
