The new DAQ board generation ME-5000 cobalt with revised driver software

The ME-5000 cobalt series of DAQ boards developed and released by Meilhaus Electronic in 2011 has grown again: Now all 3U CompactPCI models are also available for the PCI-Express platform. "Most modern PCs have several PCI-Express slots, whereas Standard-PCI slots are becoming increasingly obsolete," says Peter Omlor, chief of Meilhaus Electronic hardware design. "Therefore we have decided to focus on the new, modern bus platforms PCI-Express and CompactPCI, with the express versions of the CompactPCI and PXI bus to come in the future."

What is so special about the ME-5000 cobalt series PC boards and what are the differences to other, comparable I/O boards? The ME-5000 series is based on a modern FPGA design. The hardware sets out the frame, for example the number of channels, the type of channels such as digital inputs/outputs, opto-isolated digital inputs/outputs, analog inputs/outputs etc. The firmware defines the functionality of the channels. Within a firmware the functionality of channels can even change. Let’s take a digital-I/O board for example: Channels can be configured and used for frequency measurement, frequency output or for simple digital input/output in single or streaming mode. Moreover, coming firmware may offer functions like quadrature encoders or increment encoders. All ME-5000 cobalt models are delivered with a standard firmware. Additional firmware will be offered as a download option on the Meilhaus Electronic website in or can be customer specifically programmed on demand.

The ME-5000 boards can operate in single and interrupt controlled mode as currently offered in the ME series boards, or in a new, fast data streaming mode. With add-on boards the hardware can be expanded with additional channels, if needed. The functions of these additional channels are again defined by a standard or custom firmware.

The combination of the sophisticated FPGA design and the completely revised driver software ME-iDS makes these boards so extremely flexible and easy to program. ME-iDS supports the latest Windows (Linux coming soon) operating systems as well as the software development environments C/C++/C#, Delphi and Visual Basic. Also coming soon: ME-PowerLab2, driver support for LabVIEW, MCD TestManager CE and others. The ME-5000 firmware is managed with the configuration tool ME-iDC (an inherent part of the ME-iDS). Every ME-5000 series board has its own software container that contains the firmware files. The ME-iDC is used to assign a firmware from the container to the board. Thus it is possible to use two or more identical boards, each with different firmware functions within the same PC. Up to 32 firmware files per board type can be managed. The configuration of the channels (i. e. the subdevice type configuration) is also managed by the ME-iDC. The configuration is permanently saved in the boards’ EEPROM. If a board is mounted into another PC, it will work without any re-configuration with the stored settings.

Two board types from the ME-5000 cobalt family are currently available: The ME-5100 with flexible TTL digital-I/O channels and the ME-5810 with flexible opto digital-I/O channels, counters and additional functions like bit pattern comparator or a "compare" function and the all-new streaming mode. Both types come in various versions with either Compact PCI or PCIexpress interfaces to the PC. Besides these digital boards that are now available from stock, the all-new analog DAQ boards of the ME-5000 series will be available by the end of 2012.

Situated in Puchheim near Munich, Meilhaus Electronic is one of the leading European designers, producers and distributors for PC-based measurement, data acquisition and interface technology.

Since 1977 Meilhaus Electronic has been offering standard as well as customer-specific solutions for professional measurement, data acquisition and control applications. Their product range includes PC boards (PCI, PXI/CompactPCI, PCI-Express, Ethernet/LAN, USB) and modules for data acquisition, control and data transmission/communication for labs and industry, "classic" and USB/mobile measurement instruments as well as software for PC DAQ under Windows XP, 2000 and Linux.

Meilhaus Electronic GmbH
Fischerstr. 2

82178 Puchheim

Germany

0049 (0)89 890166 0
0049 (0)89 890166 77

On-line press contact person:

Mr. Christopher Stacey

WebPress@meilhaus.com

www.meilhaus.com/press

This release was published on openPR.