Moxa Technologies CP-118EL - Manual (Page 6)

PCI Express Board User’s Manual Introduction
1-2
Overview
MOXA’s new PCI Express Multiport Serial Boards, named CP-118EL, CP-168EL, and CP-104EL,
are designed for POS and ATM applications and for use by industrial automation system
manufacturers and system integrators. The boards are compatible with all popular operating
systems, and each of them supports data rates of up to 921.6 Kbps, and provides full modem
control signals, ensuring compatibility with a wide range of serial peripherals. In addition,
CP-118EL, CP-168EL, and CP-104EL work with PCI Express
×1, allowing the boards to be
installed in any available PCI Express slot (including
Ч1, Ч2, Ч4, Ч8, Ч16, Ч32).
PCI Express Solution
The boards comply with PCI Express Spec. 1.1. The serial transmission mode (RS-232, RS-422,
2-wire RS-485, or 4-wire RS-485) for each port is set with onboard switches (CP-118EL has DIP
Switches, CP-168EL and CP-104EL are RS-232 only), but the ports’ transmission parameters are
configured after the boards are installed. The PCI BIOS automatically assigns the IRQ and I/O
addresses. For this reason, you must plug the boards into the computer before installing the drivers.
For more PCI Express information, refer to the “Technical Reference” appendix.
Surge Protection
The PCI Express boards come with built-in 15 KV ESD surge protection to prevent damage to the
boards from lightning or high potential voltage. The surge protection feature makes the PCI
Express boards suitable for industrial, factory-type applications, and for use with applications that
are subject to severe weather conditions.
ADDC™ (Automatic Data Direction Control) for RS-485
To make 2-wire RS-485 half-duplex connections easier to manage, ADDC™ (Automatic Data
Direction Control) intelligence is built into the CP-118EL board, eliminating the need for software
interference. Windows applications can be set up to manage RS-485 ports without writing
additional code to control the half-duplex protocol.
Operating System Support
The PCI Express boards are compatible with all major industrial platforms, including Windows
2000/XP/2003, DOS, and Linux. MOXA device drivers are provided for smoother installation,
configuration, and performance. In this manual, we provide installation details for Windows
2003/XP, Windows 2000, DOS, Linux, and SCO.
Visit MOXA’s website at www.moxa.com to download the latest drivers and user’s manuals for all
of MOXA’s products.
MOXA Serial Comm Tool
For application development, MOXA provides an easy-to-use serial communication library called
PComm that runs under Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/95/98. Use this library to develop your own
applications with Visual Basic, Visual C++, Borland Delphi, etc. Utilities, such as Data Scope,
Monitor, Terminal Emulator, and Diagnostics are included to make it easier to debug, monitor
communication status, provide terminal emulation, and transfer files.