Pluggable interface cards

The pluggable interface cards, made by EA, offer a unified usability for current and future series of devices. They can be used as the situation requires it. Just plug them (with some restrictions when using two cards at once) and the devices offer either a

RS232
CAN
GPIB
Ethernet
USB
Profibus

or a parameterisable analogue interface. There are no or just a few preferences to set before use. All interface cards are galvanically isolated up to 2000V.

The digital variants for CAN, USB, RS232, GPIB, Ethernet or Profibus offer a plenty of possibilities to the user when it is required to control, measure and monitor multiple device of various kinds. They even allow to network our devices to a system. A unique feature is the gateway functionality (PSI 9000 series only). This links the CAN bus system mit either USB or RS232, so that devices that are networked via CAN can be controlled by a PC with a simple serial connection (COM port) or with USB. The data transmission speed is then, of course, limited by the characterics of the serial connection and does not reach full CAN speed. For optimal performance and to use the full spectrum of CAN it is recommended to take a pure CAN solution.

Another interesting feature is the System Link Mode, available at the interface cards for RS232 and USB and currently only supported by the new digital power supplies of the series PSI 9000. If multiple power supplies are connected to a master-slave operation (serial and/or parallel connection), this additional digital communication line is used to build a true master-slave system at which one device is assigned to be the master unit and which will show all the summed up actual values and also display the set values correctly, so the system acts like one single unit. This also applies for alerts.

The analogue interface card (supported by the series PSI 9000 and PSI 8000) is parameterisable. That means, that the analogue and digital inputs/outputs can be configured to suit the needs of your application. For example, you can control the power supply by a system using the 0...5V range, while the device is using the common 0...10V range. The digital outputs can be used as alerting outputs for various errors like OT, OVP etc. Mor information in the user instruction guide.

The digital interface card IF-G1 (GPIB/IEEE) differs from the other interface by using the standardised SCPI instruction set only. This enables simple integration of the device(s) into existing IEEE systems on one side, but also results in a reduced command list on the other side. The average data transmission speed of this card is very fast, the total command execution time lies at approx. 10-20ms, depending on the command used.

The digital interface card IF-E1 (Ethernet) for the connection to common networks with 10/100Mbit offer a HTTP server and SCPI language. The network card is almost auto-configuring and only requires three basic parameters for network access. An additional USB offers the complete functionality of a USB card of type IF-U1 (see above). The web interface provides the ability to access important device data like set values, actual values and status. A command line enables the user to remotely control the device (power supply or electronic load) via the network. This enables easy integration and creation of control and monitoring applications.

New since mid 2010 is the Profibus interface card IF-PB1. With this card the user can integrate supported power supply and electronic load series comfortably into a field bus network. It is compatible to DPV0 and DPV1, supports bus speeds of 9.6kBit/s...12MBit/s and up to 32 devices per bus segment. Identification of the units is done with included generic station device (GSD) files.

Following device series support all or some of these interface cards:

^{We also provide ready-to-use LabView VIs for with USB, RS232, GPIB and Ethernet, which can be used implement our device into existing LabView applications or to easily create new control applications which control the device via the interface cards. The VIs support, depending on the device type, all important functions of the device.
Supported device types: power supplies, electronic loads}

Short overview and feature comparison: Interface Cards

Data sheet: Interface cards

To the USB driver for IF-Ux / IF-Ex

Applies to:

IF-U1 / IF-U2
IF-R1 / IF-R2
IF-C1 / IF-C2
IF-E1 / IF-E2
IF-G1
IF-A1
IF-PB1

User guide: Interface Cards