Unibrain FireBoard 400 1394a Lynx-2 PCI Adapter (1701)

Part Number: 1701
Supports: Windows NT4/98SE/Me/2000/XP; Mac OS 9.x; Linux

FireBoard 400 is a 3-port 400Mbps FireWire Host PCI Adapter, based on the Texas Instruments TSB12LV21B (PCI Lynx 2) 1394 Link Controller to PCI Bus and TSB41AB3 1394 400Mbps PHY Layer Transceiver.
This board is by default delivered with a build-in hardware key that unlocks Unibrains Windows 1394 drivers and acts as a license for FireAPI Development Toolkit.

FireWire PCI Host Adapter Board
Unibrains FireBoard 400 Host Adapter brings high-performance FireWire technology to PCI systems. Based on the Texas Instruments TSB41AB3 FireWire triple-cable transceiver/arbiter and the TSB12LV21B (PCILynx) FireWire bus to PCI bus, the FireBoard 400 is fully compliant with the FireWire Specification and PCI 2.1. The board can connect a maximum of 63 devices and supports speeds up to 400 Mbps.

Features:

Physical Layer
- Supports Provisions of FireWire Standard for High Performance Serial Bus
- Provides Three Fully Compliant Cable Ports at 100/200/400 Mbits/sec
- Cable Ports Monitor Line Conditions for Active Connection to Remote Node
- 25.576 MHz Crystal Oscillator and PLL Provide Transmit/Receive Data at 100/200/400 Mbits/sec and Link-Layer Controller Clock at 50 MHz
- Node Power-Class Information Signaling for System Power Management
- Cable Power Presence Monitoring.
Link Layer and PCI Interface
- Supports Provisions of FireWire Standard for High-Performance Serial Bus
- Performs the Function of a FireWire Cycle Master
- Supports FireWire Transfer Rates of 100, 200 and 400 Mbit/sec
- Provides Three Sizes of Programmable FIFOs
- Provides PCI Bus Master Function for Supporting DMA Operations
- Compliant With PCI Specification 2.1
- Provides PCI Slave Function for Read/Write
- Access of Internal Registers
- Supports the plug n play (PnP) Specification
- Operates from a 3.3-V Power Supply While Maintaining 5-V Tolerant Inputs
- Extension Headers for the Local Bus
- Autoboot mode capability that allows data-moving systems to be designed to operate on the PCI bus without the need for a host CPU.
Extension Capabilities
FireBoard 400 can be extended in functionality and operability. This can be achieved combining the Autoboot mode capability and the Extension Headers of the Local Bus. You can design your custom system based on the PCILynx local bus as a biggy-back board attached to the FireBoard 400.
Configuration Serial EEPROM
Low Power Dissipation Circuitry
External Power Supply
The FireBoard 400 has an has an optional power connector in order to receive the cable power not only from the +12V of the PCI connector but also from an external power connector provided by the host PC power supply.
The FireWire connectors provide cable power voltage of +12V and ~400 mA for the 3 FireWire ports. So it is implied that if there is connected only one FireWire device then it can absorb max ~400mA, while if there are 3 FireWire devices connected in the 3 ports of our FireBoard then each device can absorb approximately ~400/3 mA. More specifically for the FireBoard 400™ that takes +12V from the power supply, there is a significant augmentation on current.
In this case the total current is around 1,5-2A depending on the power supply size. So in case of 3 devices attached to our board then the max current for each device is approximately 1,5/3 A.
Design Issues
- Logic Design
  The entire design of Unibrain’s FireBoard 400 is based on the two main FireWire chip-sets of Texas Instruments:
  - the TSB41AB3 IEEE-1394 triple-cable transceiver/arbiter and
  - the TSB12LV21B (PCILynx) IEEE-1394 bus to PCI bus
- PCB Design
  The FireBoard 400 card is a four-layer printed circuit PCI board. Two of the layers provide the signal interconnections (signal layers) while the remaining two layers provide the required power and ground interconnections (plane layers).
Operating Free-air Temperature 0dC to 45dC
Humidity 10% to 90% non condensing

Packaging:

One Fireboard 400 PCI adapter.
One 4.5m 6 pin – 6 pin 1394a cable

OS Supported:

Windows NT4/98SE/Me/2000/XP
Mac OS 9.x
Linux

Additional Links:
ubCore 3.3 Drivers (1701 only)