MSCB Hardware

RS-485 Bus
Submaster SCS-SM1
General purpose node SCS100
Mini piggy-back node SCS101
LCD module SCS-LCD1
High voltage node SCS-HV1
Planned modules

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Several prototypes modules have been developed at PSI. This page summarizes their features and contains the schematics and PCB layout necessary to build these modules. The supplied "software" in form of schematics and layouts is goverend by the GNU public license, which means that one can freely use and distribute the files, as long as they are kept under the GPL. The files were produced by the P-CAD system.

RS-485 Bus

The MSCB system uses the RS-485 bus as a physical mediumin half duplex mode. This bus uses a ground line and two wires (A and B) which carry a differential signal to minimize the influence of noise. In the MSCB system, the bus also carries three power lines (for +5V, +12V and -12V supply) and four general purpose digital lines, which are application specific. The bus uses a 10-wire flat ribbon cable with crimp connectors. Following figure shows the pin assignment on the bus:

Pin1Pin2Pin3Pin4Pin5Pin6Pin7Pin8Pin9Pin10
Data AData B-15V+15V+5VGNDResetInterruptreservedreserved

The RS-485 bus is used in many industrial applications and other field buses. Some nice introduction can be found here and here.

Due to the differential signalling, it is relatively immune to noise when using twisted pair cables. Depending on the speed, the bus can easily be run at distances from 100m to a few km. If the bus becomes long (> serveral hundred meters), a bus termination is required which matches the impedance of the twisted pair cable. The bus runs at a speed of 345600 Baud but can be slowed down if necessary. Unlike the RS-232 standard, the RS-485 is a multi-drop half-duplex bus, which means that many nodes can be connected to the same bus, but only one node at a time can send data. The RS-485 tranceivers in the SCS100 and SCS101 nodes present "1/8 load" to the bus, which means that 256 nodes can be directly connected to the same bus segment. If more nodes are needed, repeaters have to be used.

It should be noted that the MSCB bus only needs the A,B and GND wires to function, if the node power is supplied locally, and the interrupt and reset functionality is not necessary. In this case, simple two wire shielded twisted pair cable can be used. It is then recommended to use opto-couplers after the RS-485 transceivers to avoid ground loops.

In order to set the A and B line to a defined level in case no node is active, two pull up / pull down resistors are required. These resistors, together with a 100 Ohm termination resistor, are per definition implemented at that point where the power is applied to the bus, to avoid double termination as shown in the following figure:

When looking at the RS-485 line "A" (pin 1) with a scope, following bit pattern can be seen:

After a negative start bit, we have 8 data bits with the LSB first, positive logic. The bit 9 is set only in addressing commands, followed by a positive stop bit. Line "B" is inverted.

Submaster SCS-SM1

In principle one could use a simple RS232-RS485 converter to talk to the MSCB bus from a PC. The problem lies in the usage of bit 9 of the RS232 protocol. It is not possible to switch this bit on and off fast enough in the UART of the PC. In addition, the 8051 microcontrollers support bit rates not in common with standard PC bit rates like 345600 baud. A further problem lies in the transmission of large data buffers. While modern UARTs have usually a 16 byte FIFO, one might still get a buffor overrun if large data buffers are received at high bit rates. To overcome this problems, the so-called "submaster" SM1 has been developed. It connects to the parallel port of the PC and to the MSCB bus on the other side. It contains its own microcontroller which handles the handshake with the PC and features large enough buffers to avoid data loss. To decouple the MSCB bus from the PC ground, all bus signals use optocouplers.

In addition the SM1 module contains a power supply which can be used to power 10-20 nodes on the bus. Three unregulated voltages of +6V, +15V and -15V are supplied, so that small 78L05 type regulators can be used on the nodes to produce a clean +5V power supply.

A front panel button can be used to distribute an interrupt signal to all nodes on the bus, which can be used for example to switch of high voltages in an emergency case. Since this button is directly connected to a dedicated bus line, it works even if the microcontroller of the SM1 is malfunctioning.

Power: 220V or 110V
Connection to PC: Standard Sub-D 25 connector
Internal microcontroller: Cygnal C8051F236 running at 11.0592MHz
Power supply to bus: +6V, 1.5A, unregulated; +15V, -15V, 0.2A, unregulated
Bus connection: decoupled via optocouplers
Front panel elements: 3 LED (power, activity, error), reset and interrupt button
MSCB bus connectors: 1 (front side) plus 2 (back side)
Other connectors: JTAG for programming the Cygnal microcontroller and interface to SCS-LCD1 module
(very roughly) estimated price of parts: 50US$

Schematics, as PDF file, Layout

General purpose node SCS100

As a starting point, a general purpose node using the Analog Devices ADuC812 microcontroller has been designed. This node contains the RS485 bus receiver, +5V, +12V and -12V voltage regulators, a quartz, and LED, a temperature sensor (LM35) and an interface connector to the SCS-LCD1 module which can also be used to program the microcontroller. Since the microcontroller's ADC and DAC units have a range of 0..2.5V, two quad operation amplifiers are contained on the node which can be programmed for any gain and offset in the range of -12V to +12V. In addition, the amplifiers can be configured as low pass filters for noisy input signals. A prototype area is supplied for futher extensions like relais or optocouplers.

Size (without connector): (LWH) 96mm x 32mm x 13mm
Power supply: received from bus, regulated to +5V, +12V and -12V
Microcontroller: Analog Devices ADuC812 running at 11.0592MHz
LED: On when node is addressed
Temperature sensors: LM35, thermocouple inside the ADuC812
Connectors: 10-pin MSCB and 16-pin interface to SCS-LCD1 module and for ADuC812 programming
Ports: 8-bit TTL I/O (P2 of microcontroller), 8 channels ADC 12 bit, 200kHz, 2 channels DAC 12 bit
OpAmps: two quad op-amps (LM324 or OP400 for higher precision with offset and drifts in the microvolt region)
Prototype area:25mm x 30mm
Price of parts and assembly: ~25US$

Schematics, as PDF file, Layout

Mini piggy-back node SCS101

The SCS101 node is similar to the SCS100 node, except that it misses the space for the operational amplifiers and the prototype grid. It is ment for piggy-back applications where the board can be plugged onto a larger board, or for applications where the DAC/ADC range of 0..2.5V is sufficient.

Size (without connector): (LWH) 40mm x 32mm x 13mm
Power supply: received from bus, regulated to +5V, +12V and -12V
Microcontroller: Analog Devices ADuC812 running at 11.0592MHz
LED: On when node is addressed
Temperature sensors: LM35, thermocouple inside the ADuC812
Connectors: 10-pin MSCB and 16-pin interface to SCS-LCD1 module and for ADuC812 programming
Ports: 5-bit TTL I/O (partial P2 of microcontroller), 8 channels ADC 12 bit, 200kHz, 2 channels DAC 12 bit Price of parts and assembly: ~23US$

Schematics (same as SCS100, second page), as PDF file, Layout

LCD module SCS-LCD1

Both the SCS-SM1 and the SCS100/101 nodes feature a 16-pin connector, which carries 8 IO bits and power. The SCS-LCD1 module uses this port to connect a standard industrial LCD display plus some switches and buttons to the microcontroller on the nodes. In the standard software, the LCD display is used for debugging, but it can be freely used for application specific purposes.

Size (without connector): (LWH) 145mm x 38mm x 23mm
Power supply: +5V received from connector
LCD display: Anag Vision AV2020, 20x2 character, backlight or similar display with HD44780/KS0066 controller
Switches: 4, accessible by SCS100/SCS101/SCS-SM1 microcontroller
Button: 4, accessible by SCS100/SCS101/SCS-SM1 microcontroller
Price of parts and assembly: ~40 US$

Schematics, as PDF file

High voltage node

For several experiments at our institute, we need hundreds of cheap high voltate (0..2500V) channels to drive photomultipliers. Therefore a new system based on the MSCB has been developed. It uses special nodes with the ADuC812 microcontroller, a RS-485 tranceiver and optocouplers to regulate an external voltage down to zero. Therefore, all channels can use a single powerful high voltage source, and regulate the voltage down to the necessary value for the different photomultipliers. Using two quad optocouplers in series, each with collector- emmiter voltage of max. 200V, one can regulate voltages from 0..1600V. Using three quad optocouplers one reaches 0..2400V. Since each channel contains its own microcontroller with dedicated ADC and DAC channels, one can implement drift corrections and temperature compensations in software running on the microcontrollers. The channels are directly connected to the MSCB bus and can be controlled by the SCS-SM1 submaster.

A motherboard houses 12 channels and a 19" crate houses 16 boards, which makes 192 channels for a 19" crate. Each channel is connected to a LED on the fron panel for status display and to a HV connector at the back plane.

To compensate for temperature drifts in the DAC/ADC, a global high accuracy reference voltage is distributed through the crate, which is measured at every node. This allows a software correction for various drifts. In addition to that, the integrated temperature sensor of the microcontroller is used to compensate temperature drifts of some resistors.

The development of this system is still in progress so the quoted numbers are preliminary.

Size: 6U height motherboard housing 12 channels
Power supply: +5V, -5V from backplane and global HV 0..2400V
Accuracy (target value): +-0.3V at 1000V between 20deg.C and 40deg.C absolute, reproducibility and stability <0.1V
Price per channel of a full crate: 35 US$

Positive HV: Schematics, as PDF file, Layout
Negative HV: Schematics, as PDF file, Layout

Planned modules

General purpose node with Cygnal C8051F000

This node will be similar to the SCS100, but using the Cygnal microcontroller, which is better suited for application development due to its JTAG debug and download interface. This microcontroller can also be reprogrammed over the MSCB bus.

Submaster without power supply

This will be a small submaster similar to the SCS-SM1, but without an integrated power supply. Instead, it will be powered directly from the bus. This module will be used together with the HV system, which produces its own power.

Jaly 18th, 2001, S. Ritt