New External Controller Links Laptop PCs to GPIB Instruments

September 16,1993 -- Austin, TX - National Instruments announced today a
bidirectional parallel-to-IEEE 488.2 controller that can monitor and
control up to 14 GPIB devices from the parallel port of computers with few
or no plug-in slots, such as notebook computers. Engineers and scientists
can combine the National Instruments GPIB-1284CT with PCs in numerous
instrumentation applications requiring high data transfer rates, including
laboratory and production testing.

The GPIB-1284CT requires virtually no desktop space, and uses the company's
recently announced TNT4882C GPIB chip to perform the basic Talker,
Listener, and Controller functions required by the most recent GPIB
standard (IEEE 488.2) with data transfer rates up to 1 Mbytes/s for both
read and write operations. The GPIB-1284CT connects to the standard ISA
unidirectional parallel port, IBM PS/2 type bidirectional parallel port,
Intel Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP), or Enhanced Capabilities Port (ECP) on
a PC. The EPP is a feature of the Intel 386SL chipset that is designed and
used primarily in laptop and notebook computers, and can achieve data
transfer rates up to 1.5 Mbytes/s. The ECP is a bidirectional parallel
port specification developed by Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard that can
achieve data transfers up to 2 Mbytes/s using DMA.

The GPIB-1284CT parallel port is completely compatible with IEEE P1284,
Standard Signaling Method for a Bi-directional Parallel Peripheral
Interface for Personal Computers, which also defines EPP and ECP. The
GPIB-1284CT uses an internal switching power supply or optional DC power
input.

The GPIB-1284CT has an additional parallel port for transparent data
transfers to a printer. In this mode, all parallel port activity from the
computer transmits directly to the printer parallel port. The GPIB-1284CT
powers up in unidirectional parallel mode and all computer parallel port
activity transparently transfers to the printer parallel port. Users can
select all hardware options in software instead of using physical
configuration switches.

Driver Software 

The GPIB-1284CT includes the National Instruments NI-488.2 software for DOS
and Windows. NI-488.2 is an enhanced version of the company's NI-488.2
GPIB driver software that is completely IEEE 488.2 compatible. NI-488.2
has high-level functions that transparently handle GPIB protocol and
buffered DMA transfers as well as low-level functions for maximum
flexibility and configurability. The NI-488.2 software is portable across
many computer platforms and operating systems.

Pricing and Availability 

The GPIB-1284CT will be available in September for $595. For more
information, contact National Instruments, 6504 Bridge Point Parkway,
Austin, TX 78730-5039, (512) 794-0100. Or call toll free in the U.S. and
Canada at (800) 433-3488. Fax: (512) 794-8411.

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