A flexible, real-time processing engine for PC systems and PCI passive backplanes, PCI-913 provides real-time interfaces and a real-time environment to a PCI-based system that typically runs a non-deterministic operating system such as Windows 95 or NT. It also features flexible I/O with the Squall II Module Interface and supports Cyclone's Breeze Development Environment and real-time operating systems from leading industry sources. The PCI-913 expands system processing power by off-loading I/O tasks from the host processor and can be used as a real-time engine for applications such as telecommunications, networking and video.