From srider@BIX.com Sat Feb 27 11:07:03 1993 Received: from bos1a.delphi.com (delphi.com) by toadflax.cs.ucdavis.edu (4.1/UCD.CS.2.1) id AA09235; Sat, 27 Feb 93 11:06:56 PST Received: from bix.com by delphi.com (PMDF #3207 ) id <01GV7W7F039C90ND5M@delphi.com>; Sat, 27 Feb 1993 14:06:28 EST Date: 27 Feb 1993 13:58:28 -0500 (EST) From: srider@BIX.com Subject: product announcement To: announce@cs.ucdavis.edu Message-Id: <9302271358.memo.41865@BIX.com> Sat, 27 Feb 1993 13:58:29 -0500 (EST) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT X-Cosy-To: announce@cs.ucdavis.edu Status: RO Dan, here is my announcement for the Triceratops board, mailed from my bix account as specified by jeh@raster.kodak.com -Scott ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ** "Triceratops" multiport I/O Zorro cards for Amiga 2000, 3000 & 4000 ** Serial hardware: * Two serial ports, each with separate 16-byte transmit and receive FIFO (first in, first out) buffers. This hardware and device driver combination is smart enough to _not_ interrupt the CPU for every byte sent or received. This has two benefits: first, since the CPU has more than a single character time to respond it is much less likely to drop characters. Second, since less frequent interrupts are required, more of the CPU is available for other programs to run. Each FIFO has an adjustable trigger depth, where it will interrupt the CPU after so many bytes are sent or received. Each port also has selectable start bit length, stop bit length, word length and parity. Handshaking is selectable with both XON/XOFF and hardware (RTS/CTS) protocols available. * Baud rates individually programmable from DC to 691,200, including MIDI rate. * Full nine-wire serial and handshake using DB-9 "AT" style connectors. * Optional MIDI interface mounts internally, connects to second serial port. (Or connect your own to the DB-9) Parallel hardware: * One bidirectional parallel port compatible with the Amiga internal port. Support software: * cereal.device -- supports up to 32 units of Triceratops serial channels. * extprint.device -- output-only parallel port driver for up to 8 units. * SerPrefs -- c: utility to set serial port characteristics. * IOWedge -- c: utility to enable use of the Triceratops board with software that does not support external I/O ports. (Requires DOS 2.x/3.x) * NewPortHandler -- l: port-handler that allows use of cereal.device and extprint.device in mountlist entries. The Triceratops board's FIFO-based serial ports permit high-performance transfers without the overhead associated with the internal port. In addition, printer output through the Triceratops parallel port frees the internal port for use in parnet or digitizing. The card itself is a double-sided, plated and masked full-length board with one DB-9 male connector (first serial port) and a DB-25 female connector (parallel port). A ten pin connector on the card is for the supplied 2nd DB-9 male connector which is attached to its own backplane runner. Currently, no parallel-input device exists as all digitizing programs currently bypass the parallel.device and go directly to the resource. For those interested in developing digitizing input drivers or a triceratops ParNet-handler, full hardware-level programming details of the serial and parallel ports is included in the documentation. Available in quantity beginning March 1st, 1993. Price: $125.00 ppd This device has been tested in several machines over many months and is a nice addition for those requiring more than the internal ports can provide. For more information, send inquiries to: E-mail: srider@bix.com US Mail: Scott Advanced Microdesigns 1618 Russell Court Fairmont, WV 26554 (USA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------