I/O performance is imperative in instrument control. The computer should always be waiting for the instrument and not the other way around.  The TAMS 71488 can deliver all the speed that your instruments need.   

By moving software functions into hardware and concentrating on improving the performance of small transactions the 71488 is able to offer real world performance improvements. 

In tests with a workstation running HP-UX 11i and an HP/Agilent 81110A Pulse/Pattern Generator small transactions of iwrite and the associated iread on the 71488 were measured at 391 transactions/sec; a factor of 4.5 times faster than the TAMS 70488 card in identical tests.  While the greatest performance improvement is visible in small transactions, the maximum speed has not been compromised.

Using a single number to characterize performance of GPIB, or any type of I/O operation can be misleading.  There are many factors that affect actual performance: the amount of data being transferred; the size of data blocks; the difference between read and write speeds; programming language; the computer being used; etc. As a result, we do not recommend basing any decisions on maximum transfer rate.  However, to conform to the industry standard of specifying maximum I/O speed, the TAMS 71488 card can be specified to exceed 1MB/s.

The TAMS 71488 is fully compliant with the PCI specifications for 3.3V and 5V PCI/PCI-X slots and delivers the highest possible level of throughput.  The card operates with 32 bit or 64 bit signaling specified at 33, 66, 100 or 133MHz, allowing complete configuration flexibility.  Whether you are using BASIC/11i, or programming in C with the SICL or VISA library, your code will now run at full performance.