PC/104 Control Modules Enlist Popular MCU

Riding the PC/104 bus in the company of a PIC18F8722 microcontroller from Microchip Technology, the MC104P controller module provides access to external memory and interrupts in the same manner as industrial-control PCs. This allows it to support a wide variety of standard PC/104 modules that offer peripheral expansion, i.e., serial ports, 16-bit a/d converters, optically isolated I/O, Pamux I/O, VGA video, modems, and support for many industrial networks. Designed with a 40-MHz clock, the module includes hardware that complements the MCU's peripheral set and makes the peripherals available on the PC/104 stack. The PIC18F8722's peripherals includes five timers/counters, watchdog timer, 10-bit a/d converter, 1 KB of data EEPROM, 4 KB SRAM and two configurable serial communication ports. Of the two asynchronous serial ports, one is configurable as RS-232/RS-485 while the other is a dedicated RS-232 port. Four of the 10-bit a/d converter inputs are available for 0V - 5V measurement. Other features of the MC104P module include 128 KB SRAM, eight digital inputs, eight digital outputs and four additional inputs tied to either the PIC MCU's input ports or usable as IRQs from the PC/104 stack. Single-unit price is $135. CALMOTION, Chatsworth, CA. (818) 357-5826.