National Instruments GPIB-PC - Manual (Page 5)

©National Instruments Corp. v GPIB-PC User Manual
Preface
Introduction to the GPIB
The GPIB is a link, or bus, or interface system, through which
interconnected electronic devices communicate.
History of the GPIB
The original GPIB was designed by Hewlett-Packard (where it is called
the HP-IB) to connect and control programmable instruments
manufactured by Hewlett-Packard. Because of its high data transfer
rates of from 250 kilobytes to 1 megabyte per second, the GPIB quickly
gained popularity in other applications such as intercomputer
communication and peripheral control. It was later accepted as the
industry standard IEEE-488. The versatility of the system prompted the
name General Purpose Interface Bus.
National Instruments expanded the use of the GPIB among users of
computers manufactured by companies other than Hewlett-Packard.
National Instruments specialized both in high performance, high-speed
hardware interfaces, and in comprehensive, full-function software that
helps users bridge the gap between their knowledge of instruments and
computer peripherals and of the GPIB itself.
The GPIB-PC Family
The GPIB-PC family consists of GPIB interface hardware products,
software, documentation, and other items for several types of personal
computers.
What Your Package Should Contain
Unless you have a special application, your GPIB-PC package consists
of the following:
• A GPIB-PC interface board for your personal computer. Each
board has a model name such as GPIB-PCIIA. This manual uses
GPIB-PC to refer generally to all models of the GPIB-PC
interface board.