Introduction; Description / Block Diagram - CommTech FASTCOM 422/4-PCI Hardware Reference Manual

INTRODUCTION

The Fastcom: 422/4-PCI adapter is the fastest, most advanced four-channel RS-422/485 adapter in the industry.
Primarily designed for commercial, industrial, and OEM applications, the Fastcom: 422/4-PCI features four
discrete RS-422/485 channels, complete with RTS and CTS hand-shaking signals for each channel.
The advanced universal asynchronous receiver and transmitter (UART) chip used on the Fastcom: 422/4-PCI is
fully register-compatible with standard 16C550 UARTs, but provides extraordinary 128 byte FIFOs for receive
and transmit buffering. This buffering is extremely valuable when working with RS-422/485 communications
within high-overhead operating systems such as Windows NT and Windows 98. The advanced UART on the
Fastcom: 422/4-PCI is capable of all standard baud rates plus a high-speed mode capable of up to an
amazing 1.5 Mbaud.
Software drivers for Windows 98/NT/2000/XP and Linux are supplied. Multiple Fastcom: 422/4-PCI adapters can
be installed in all operating systems.
The Fastcom RS-422-PCI family also includes the two-channel Fastcom: 422/2-PCI and the isolated ground
single-channel Fastcom: IG422/1-PCI. ISA bus versions are also available.
The following is the basic structure of the Fastcom: 422/4-PCI:
PCI
INTERFACE
CONTROLLER
PCI BUS
CHANNEL 1 (OF 4)
CLOCK
CONTROL
REGISTER
422/485
CONTROL
REGISTER
CS
A0-A2
DATA
INTERRUPT
CLOCK
3
RS-422
RS-485
DB9
TX
RX
RTS
CTS