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Installation and Configuration Chapter 2
PC-OPDIO-16 User Manual 2-2 © National Instruments Corporation
Hardware Configuration
The PC-OPDIO-16 is completely software configurable. Typically, two types of configuration
are performed on a DAQ board—bus related and data acquisition related. To configure the
PC-OPDIO-16 bus, you only have to set the base address.
Bus-Related Configuration
The PC-OPDIO-16 works in either a Plug and Play mode or a switchless mode. These modes
dictate how the base I/O address is determined and assigned to the board.
Plug and Play Mode
The PC-OPDIO-16 is fully compatible with the industry-standard Intel/Microsoft Plug and Play
Specification version 1.0. A Plug and Play system arbitrates and assigns resources through
software, freeing you from manually setting switches and jumpers. These resources include the
board base I/O address. The PC-OPDIO-16 is configured at the factory to request these
resources from the Plug and Play Configuration Manager.
The Configuration Manager receives all of the resource requests at start up, compares the
available resources to those requested, and assigns the available resources as efficiently as
possible to the Plug and Play boards. Application software can query the Configuration Manager
to determine the resources assigned to each board without your involvement. The Plug and Play
software is installed as a device driver or as an integral component of the computer BIOS.
Switchless Mode
You can use the PC-OPDIO-16 in a non-Plug and Play system as a switchless data acquisition
(DAQ) board. A non-Plug and Play system is a system in which the Configuration Manager has
not been installed and which does not contain any non-National Instruments Plug and Play
products. You use a configuration utility to enter the base address, and the application software
assigns it to the board.
Note: Avoid resource conflicts with non-National Instruments boards. For example, do not
configure two boards for the same base address.
Base I/O Address Selection
You can configure the PC-OPDIO-16 to use base addresses in the range of 100 to 3E0 hex. The
PC-OPDIO-16 occupies 8 bytes of address space and must be located on an 8-byte boundary.
Valid addresses include 100, 108, 110, ..., 3D8, 3E0 hex. This selection is software configured
and does not require you to manually change any settings on the board.