Kontron CP346 - Manual (Page 57)

CP346 Rear I/O Modules
ID 27253, Rev. 03 © 2005 Kontron Modular Computers GmbH Page 5 - 3
P R E L I M I N A R Y
5. Rear I/O Modules
This chapter includes a description of the rear I/O modules designed for operation with the rear
I/O-capable board variant of the CP346 serial I/O controller board. The rear I/O modules are
designed to optimize the cabling of a CP346 serial communications controller operating at the ba-
sic OSI levels, as it is described in the previous chapters of this manual.
Two types of rear I/O modules for the CP346 are currently available by Kontron Modular Com-
puters. One is designed as a 4-channel serial I/O device supporting the RS232 industry stan-
dard. The other is designed as a 4-channel serial I/O device supporting the RS485 industry
standard with optoisolation. The external interfacing connectors of the two modules also differ:
• CP-RIO3-46: an RS232, non-optoisolated, rear I/O module with four RJ45 connectors
• CP-RIO3-46-OPT: an RS485, optoisolated, two-wire, rear I/O module with a single, 50-
pin, D-Sub connector
Like the non-rear I/O CP346 mainboard variants, the main functions implemented on the CP-
RIO3-46 and CP-RIO3-46-OPT rear I/O modules are the OSI layer 2 control for RS232 or
RS485 communications as well as the OSI layer 1 physical signal level adaptation for the
above mentioned interfaces, where the RS485 interface is realized for half duplex operation.
The rear I/O modules are interfaced to the CP346 mainboard via their rJ2 rear I/O interface
connector. The interface signals, which on the mainboard have been routed to the J2 connector
instead of the front panel interfaces, are at TTL level. Their physical layer adaptation (OSI Layer
1) is realized for each channel via corresponding on-board RS232 or RS485 transceivers.
Mainboard Location in the System
Location of the CP346 mainboard within a system must be considered carefully. Depending on
the number of boards, their locations in a given system, and the operating system being used
application programs may have difficulty identifying boards properly. In particular, when config-
uration changes such as board replacement, movement to another slot, etc. are made after the
initial system implementation. Therefore, any changes made to a system should be carefully
considered prior to making the change and proper operation be verified before the system is
put into operation again.
Operating Systems
The CP346 and its rear I/O modules can operate under the following operating systems:
• Windows® 2000, Windows® XP, Windows® XP Embedded,
• Linux®
• VxWorks®
Drivers are supplied for these operating systems.
Note...
When configuring a system it is recommended that all boards to be
used be installed in the system prior to installing any drivers or other
board-related software. Failure to do so may result in the non-identifi-
cation of a given board or boards.