NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #26/NN_1992_26.iso/spool/comp/sys/sun/hardware/5440

Internet Message Format | 1992-11-10 | 1.6 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!mcsun!uknet!cam-eng!jpmg
From: [e-mail] (Patrick Gosling)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.sun.hardware
Subject: analogue high speed data acquisition (sbus)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 10 Nov 92 17:54:03 GMT
Sender: [e-mail] (Patrick Gosling)
Organization: Cambridge University Engineering Department, UK
Lines: 25
Nntp-Posting-Host: dsl.eng.cam.ac.uk

It is looking likely that I will shortly be needing to acquire analogue
data at fairly high bandwidths, preferably onto a sun.  The machine will be
a SparcStation 10/30, and can either be stacked out with enough memory to
cope with several seconds of the data, or with a disk that can handle the
10Mb fast+wide SCSI that the 10/30 supports.

The kind of bandwidth of signal that I believe I will be needing to cope with
is 6MHz, although the signal is to some extent similar to video, in having
inter-"frame" and inter-"line" blanks.  (ie, it will be necessary for the
ADC to cope with 6MHz bandwidth, but the transfer rate via the Sbus will
probably be lower, possibly significantly lower, than that).  8 bit ADC will
probably be sufficient.

I will need to be doing a small amount of other processing simultaneously
(basically logging low rate data on one of the serial line tty's), so the
board would probably need some buffering.

I have this horrible suspicion that I'm pushing the limitations of what
existing sbus boards will cope with ...

Any information, sales pitches (please use email), advice, warnings or
whatever, gratefully received.  I'll summarize if anyone asks me to.


-patrick.