Hardware Description

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Introduction Host Computer Target Computer Host-Target Connection I/O Driver Support

Introduction

The hardware environment consists of a host computer, target computer, I/O boards in the target computer, and a serial or network connection between the host and target computers. Knowing the different types of computers and I/O supported by the xPC Target software will help you to set up a real-time testing environment that meets your needs.

For a complete, fully assembled, real-time testing solution, see xPC Target Turnkey. xPC Target Turnkey combines the xPC Target software with a variety of high-performance real-time target computers.

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Host Computer

You can use any PC that runs a Windows operating system supported by MathWorks as the host computer. It must also support an available serial port or Ethernet adapter. In addition, to provide a means to boot the target computer, the host computer must have at least:

• CD or DVD drive

• Dedicated network access

• Removable drive, such as USB and SD (compact) flash drive, removable hard drive, or 3.5-inch floppy disk

For more details on the requirements of the host computer, see Host Computer Configuration.

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Target Computer

The xPC Target software supports concurrent access to up to 64 target computers with one host. A target computer can connect to only one host computer at any given time. A target computer cannot connect to multiple host computers. A target computer can be almost any PC compatible system with a 32-bit Intel^® or AMD^® processor (386 compatible or higher). It must also support a free serial port or an Ethernet adapter. In addition, the target computer must contain a removable drive, CD or DVD drive, or have the ability to belong to a dedicated network. Using the xPC Target Embedded Option software, you can transfer files from the removable drive or CD to a hard disk or flash memory.

A target computer can be one of the following:

• Desktop PC — This computer is booted from a special target boot disk or network boot image created by the xPC Target software.

  When you boot the target computer from the target boot drive or network boot image, the xPC Target software uses the resources on the target computer (CPU, RAM, and serial port or network adapter) without changing the files already stored on the hard drive.

  After you are done using your desktop computer as a target computer, you can reboot your computer without the target boot image and resume normal use of your desktop computer.

• Industrial PC — This computer is booted from a special target boot disk or network boot image, or from a hard disk or flash memory.

  When using an industrial target computer, you can select PC/104, PC/104+, CompactPCI, or single-board computer (SBC) hardware.

You do not need any special target hardware. However, the target computer must be a fully PC-compatible system and support a serial port or an Ethernet adapter compatible with the xPC Target software.

Note   Do not use a laptop PC as a target computer. For target computer hardware, consider the xPC Target Turnkey solutions.

For more details on the requirements of the target computer, see Target Computer Configuration.

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Host-Target Connection

The xPC Target product supports two connection types and communication protocols between the host computer and the target computer: serial and network.

Serial — The host and target computers are connected directly with a serial cable using their RS-232 ports. This cable is wired as a null modem link that can be up to 5 meters long and with a transfer rate between 1200 and 115200 baud.

For detailed information on setting up the hardware and software for serial communication, see Serial Communication.

Note   RS-232 Host-Target communication mode will be removed in a future release. Use TCP/IP instead.

Network — The host and target computers are connected through a network. The network can be a LAN, the Internet, or a direct connection using a crossover Ethernet cable. Both the host and target computers are connected to the network via Ethernet adapters using the TCP/IP protocol for communication.

When using a network connection, the target computer requires a supported Ethernet adapter card. The data transfer rate can be 10 megabits/second, 100 megabits/second, or 1 gigabit/second. For a list of supported cards, see Hardware for Network Communication.

For detailed information on setting up the hardware and software for network communication, see Network Communication.

Advantages of Network Communication

A host-to-target connection using network TCP/IP communication has advantages over serial RS-232 communication:

• Higher data throughput — Network communication using Ethernet can transfer data up to 100 Mbit/second instead of the maximum data transfer rate of 115 kBaud with serial communication.

• Longer distances between host and target computer — By using repeaters and gateways you do not restrict the distance between your host and target computers to the length of a serial cable. Communication over the Internet is also possible.

This manual does not include information for installing network cards or the TCP/IP protocol on your host computer. To install and configure your network cards and TCP/IP protocol, contact your system administrator.

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I/O Driver Support

The xPC Target product supports a wide range of third-party I/O boards. The list of supported I/O boards includes ISA, PCI, PCIe, PMC, PC/104, PC/104+, and CompactPCI hardware. The drivers are represented by Simulink blocks. Your interaction with the I/O boards is through these Simulink blocks and the parameter dialog boxes. MathWorks does not manufacture the boards.

Note   You are responsible for taking all required precautions and implementing safeguards when interfacing hardware with the xPC Target product. You are also solely responsible for the content of your models that controls such hardware.

I/O board library — The I/O board library contains Simulink blocks for the xPC Target product. You drag and drop blocks from the I/O library and connect I/O drivers to your model the same way you would connect any standard Simulink block.

I/O support — The I/O device library supports approximately 300 standard boards. I/O boards plug into the target computer expansion bus, PC/104 stack, or industrial PC chassis. There is also support for modules that plug into IP or PMC carrier boards. The xPC Target block library supports the following I/O functions:

• Analog input (A/D) and analog output (D/A) — Connect sensors and actuators to your target application.

• Digital input and output — Connect to switches, on/off devices, and communicate information in parallel.

• RS-232/422/485 support — Use the COM1 or COM2 ports for serial communication with external devices. You can also access multiple RS-232, RS-422, and RS-485 serial ports using Quatech^® and Commtech devices. See Serial Communications Support in the xPC Target I/O Reference.

• CAN support — You can use CAN-AC2, CAN-AC2-PCI, and CAN-AC2-104 boards from Softing^® GmbH AG with xPC Target CAN blocks to interface with a CAN field bus network. This interface provides communication through a CAN network between target applications and remote sensors and actuators.

  The xPC Target CAN blocks are compatible with CAN specifications 2.0A and 2.0B and use dynamic object mode. See CAN I/O Support and CAN I/O Support for FIFO in the xPC Target I/O Reference.

• GPIB support — Special RS-232 drivers support communication with a GPIB control module from National Instruments^® to external devices with a GPIB connector. See GPIB I/O Support in the xPC Target I/O Reference.

• UDP support — Communicate with another system using the standard UDP/IP network protocol. See UDP I/O Support in the xPC Target I/O Reference.

• Counter-Timers — Use the counter-timer blocks for measuring pulse and frequency with modulation applications.

• Watchdog — Monitor an interrupt or memory location, and reset the computer if an application does not respond. See ACCES I/O and Versalogic in the xPC Target I/O Reference.

• Incremental encoder — Change motion into numerical information for determining position, direction of rotation, and velocity.

• Shared memory — Use shared memory blocks with multiprocessing applications.

• LVDT — Use the North Atlantic Industries, Inc. 73LD3, 76CL1, 76LD1, and 76CL1 boards with xPC Target LVDT blocks to work with LVDT applications.

• ARINC-429 — Use the Condor Engineering CEI-X20 boards with xPC Target ARINC-429 blocks to interface with the ARINC 429 data bus.

• MIL-STD-1553 — Use the Condor Engineering PCI-1553 and QPCI-1553 series boards with xPC Target MIL-STD-1553 blocks to interface with the MIL-STD-1553 data bus.

• Audio — Use the audio blocks to work with audio applications. See General Standards PMC66-16AO16 and General Standards PMC-24DSI12 in the xPC Target I/O Reference.

• Thermocouple — Use the Measurement Computing™ PCI-DAS-TC board with xPC Target thermocouple blocks to work with thermocouple applications.

For information on using specific I/O driver blocks and advanced I/O support, see the xPC Target I/O Reference.

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Product Features

Real-Time Test Environment

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