Diamond Systems DS-MPE-SER4OPT : DS-MPE-OPT4232 Ruggedized 4-Port Opto-Isolated RS-232 Serial PCIe MiniCard Module

RS-232 is still the interface on a great deal of equipment, and a long RS-232 cable between grounds that differ can carry damaging current back into the host. The DS-MPE-OPT4232 is the four-port RS-232 build in the Diamond Systems DS-MPE-SER4OPT series, an opto-isolated serial MiniCard that fits a full-size PCIe MiniCard socket and isolates its ports from system ground.

A quad XR17V354 UART with a PCIe interface drives the four ports. Each is 16C550 compatible with 256-byte transmit and receive FIFOs and runs through an SP336 multi-mode transceiver at up to 1 Mbps in RS-232 mode. Because the card uses the MiniCard socket rather than a stack connector, it adds serial ports to a host without taking a PC/104 or PCIe/104 position.

On the DS-MPE-OPT4232 all four ports are preconfigured for RS-232. Each pair is isolated by up to 500 V from system ground, using integrated isolated power and data components, careful layout and an insulation film on the underside to prevent contact with components on the host board. Signals leave on two miniature latching connectors, two ports per connector, and the CK-SER4M cable kit is included. The DS-MPE-OPT4485 carries four RS-485 ports instead, and the DS-MPE-OPT4M22 mixes two of each.

Power is 3.3 V DC at 0.462 W from the MiniCard socket. The DS-MPE-OPT4232 operates from -40 to 85 °C at 5 to 95% humidity, non-condensing, and Diamond Systems can custom-configure the card with 0 ohm resistors in place of jumper blocks for high-vibration installations. Drivers cover Windows 7, XP, Vista and 2000 and Linux 2.6 kernels.