Rockwell Automation 6182 SDK - Manual (Page 9)

Introduction to the RAC6182 1–3
Publication 6182-UM002B-EN-P
Retentive Memory (Battery Backed RAM)
A 128 KB non-volatile memory provides application accessible storage
for state information and data logging operations. A Lithium battery
with a 10-year shelf life provides for long term data retention. It is
recommended that applications using the retentive memory monitor
battery voltage; this is easily done with system calls to the RAC6182’s
hardware monitor. If the battery voltage should start to decline, the
battery should be replaced. Battery replacement is facilitated by the
presence of a “super-cap”, which provides sufficient current to sustain
the memory data for up to eight hours following a power down of the
system.
Super I/O
The National PC97317 super I/O chip provides several key functions.
PS/2 Keyboard and Mouse Ports
The super I/O chip provides two PS/2 ports to support connection of an
external keyboard and/or mouse.
Serial Ports
The super I/O chip provides two 16550A compatible serial ports. The
CE operating system identifies these ports as COM1 and COM2.
Applications can control both COM ports via standard WIN32 API
function calls.
COM1 is provided with a DB9 connector and supports RS232 (TXD,
RXD, RTS, CTS) and RS422/485 (TX422+, TX422-, RX422+, RX422-)
signaling at standard communication data rates up to 115 Kbps. The
configuration (RS-232/RS-422/485) for this port is software-selectable.
COM1 serves as the primary serial port for application use; it remains
available to applications for serial I/O even when debug mode is enabled.
COM2 is provided with a DB9 connector and supports “standard” RS232
signaling only. COM2 may serve either as an application RS232 port or
as a debugging port. When the operating system is in debugging mode it
will output debug messages to COM2 port. An application developer or
device tester can utilize these messages to determine the current state of
the operating system, or to identify problems such as device failures or
application exceptions.
Parallel Port
The super I/O chip provides one bi-directional parallel port to support
connection of a local printer or other peripheral device.