PC/104 Board Offers Wealth Of I/O

Poised for embedded applications in rugged, space-constrained environments, the Emerald-MM-Opto PC/104 board provides four optically isolated serial ports with RS-232, RS-422, and RS-485 protocols plus 24 digital I/O lines. Optical isolation rating is 1 kVac/dc. In RS-232/422 modes, the board supplies Rx, Tx, RTS, and CTS signals, while in RS-485 mode it handles Rx and Tx signals. Each serial port is independently configurable for protocol and IRQ settings and a number of termination methods are provided. The 24 digital I/O lines feature programmable direction and user-configurable pull-up resistors. Other board features include an operating temperature range from –40°C to +85°C, a 16C2850 UART chip with 128-byte FIFOs supporting data rates up to 460 Kb/s, and auto-flow control that accommodates RS-485 operation by automatically enabling/disabling the transmitter. Available in two-port (EMM-OPT2-XT) or four-port (EMM-OPT4-XT) configurations, prices are $180 and $240 each, respectively. DIAMOND SYSTEMS CORP., Newark, CA. (510) 456-7800.