National Instruments AT E Series - Manual (Page 23)

Chapter 2 Installing and Configuring the Device
© National Instruments Corporation 2-3 AT E Series User Manual
Application software can query the Configuration Manager to determine
the resources assigned to each device without your involvement. The Plug
and Play software is installed as a device driver or as an integral component
of the computer BIOS.
Switchless Data Acquisition
You can use an AT E Series device in a non-Plug and Play system as a
switchless DAQ device. A non-Plug and Play system is a system in which
the Configuration Manager has not been installed and which does not
contain any non-NI Plug and Play products. You use a configuration utility
to enter the base address, DMA, and interrupt selections, and the
application software assigns them to the device.
Note Avoid resource conflicts with non-NI devices. For example, do not configure two
devices for the same base address.
Base I/O Address Selection
The AT E Series devices can be configured to use base addresses in the
range of 20 to FFE0 hex. Each AT E Series device occupies 32 bytes of
address space and must be located on a 32-byte boundary. Therefore, valid
addresses include 100, 120, 140, ..., 3C0, 3E0 hex. This selection is
software configured and does not require you to manually change any
settings on the device.
DMA Channel Selection
The AT E Series devices can achieve high transfer rates by using up to
three 16-bit DMA channels. You can use these DMA channels for data
transfers with the AI, AO, and general-purpose counter sections of the
device. The AT E Series devices can use only 16-bit DMA channels, which
correspond to channels 5, 6, and 7 in an ISA computer and channels 0, 1,
2, 3, 5, 6, and 7 in an EISA computer. These selections are all software
configured and do not require you to manually change any settings on the
device.
Interrupt Channel Selection
The AT E Series devices can increase bus efficiency by using an interrupt
channel. You can use an interrupt channel for event notification without the
use of polling techniques. AT E Series devices can use interrupt channels
3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 12, and 15. These selections are all software configured
and do not require you to manually change any settings on the device.