Design of a flexible distributed data acquisition controller with the 80C51FA

Abstract A distributed, analogue/digital data acquisition controller implementing the unique programmable counter array (PCA) available on the 80C51FA microcontroller together with its automatic address recognition as a low level communication protocol has been developed. Emphasis is placed on the design of a more flexible distributed controller which is capable of simultaneously handling up to 16 channels of analogue and 16 channels of digital I/O using versions of the industry standard I/O modules. Each individual channel can be independently configured as either input or output. These controllers can be linked together in a multidrop network configuration with a PC as the primary controller. An increase in product functionality at a lower cost is thereby achieved.