AIM104-386EX (ARCOM)

The AIM104-386EX is a low cost PC/104 format single board computer, based on the Intel 386EX embedded processor. The module includes 1Mbyte of onboard SRAM (which can be battery-backed from an off board source), plus 1Mbyte of factory-fitted Flash memory (supplied with ROMDOS and Flash Filing system software), four serial ports and a real time clock. Datalight's ROM-DOS is a low-cost 'workalike' of MS-DOS 6.22, with extra features for the embedded environment. The PC/104 format is an industrial form factor measuring 3.8” x 3.5” (96mm x 90mm). Standard peripheral I/O ports on the module include a 16-bit PC/104 interface; a 50-way right-angle ribbon header for serial I/O and battery connections; and a 10-way header for TTL I/O (eg keypad). Onboard peripheral functions include four serial comms ports - configured as three RS232 ports (two 16450 and one 16550), plus one non-isolated RS485 port (16550). The maximum supported rate is 115Kbaud. The AIM104-386EX also includes a 10-way header for TTL I/O for connection to simple push-button keypads or alpha-numeric displays. For time and date, AIM104-386EX has a Dallas DS1302 Real-Time Clock, which can be backed-up by an off-board battery (typically 1µA at 3.6V). RTC operation under ROM-DOS is Y2K-compliant. The on-board 500millisec event timer is used to interrupt power-down mode. It can trigger periodic recovery from power-down mode, allowing a low average current consumption. The onboard programmable watchdog timer is used for general reset. System reset will occur if the watchdog timer is allowed to time-out. The time-out period is set to 6 seconds. An enhanced 5V monitor/reset circuit provides full power-down and brown-out protection. A user-assigned jumper link provides a simple level of configuration for the application software. The utility disks, supplied with the module, includes ‘C’ library routines for setting-up and controlling the module for users who prefer not to use the ROM-DOS environment.