The new board will look like this:
(click on the picture to get a larger version)
As you can see the CPU is in the same position as the IOx board with the headers around it which has the exact same pinout. There are 8 thermocouple amplifier circuits at the right, with the accompanying ADC conditioner circuits closer to the middle of the board, which will use the same plug in screw terminals as the ones on this board:
For those requiring less than 8 EGT circuits, the unused circuits will be unpopulated but the ADC conditioner connected to it will be populated and will be available for any device giving a compatible analog signal. That will also leave a connector position free to be used for other purposes if desired. The solder pads for these are located besides the thermocouple amplifier circuits.
On the left of the board, you will see the other connectors and circuits. At the bottom, there is the power jack which uses a barrel connector compatible with wall warts which will make it easy to plug the board on the bench or in the car. Above the CPU and headers is the jack for the CAN bus. This is a 3.5mm jack that is compatible with the USB-CAN adapter plug. There is also a 2-pin header for other types of connections. On the right of the circuit, you'll see a 3-position DIP switch which will be used to enable/disable the CAN terminating resistor when using multiple CAN devices and allow to connect or disconnect the power supply to a external CAN device such as the USB-CAN adapter (this powers the CAN transceiver to completely isolate the USB and laptop from the CAN bus).
The circuit above that is the RS-232 serial connection which uses a 2.5mm stereo jack that is compatible with the LC-1 cable plug. That will make connecting an Innovate chain as simple as connecting another Innovate product. But it can also be used for other compatible serial devices. And at the top is the USB port which is based on the FTDI chip and is isolated from the rest of the board (same as on the logger board). This port can be used to communicate with the CAN-EGT+ CPU from the PC for configuration and logging or as a passthrough to communicate with whatever device is connected to the RS-232 port.
There is also a place for an I2C bus extender (P82B715) which is located in the middle of the board between the CPU and ADC conditioners. This will be left unpopulated and is for a through hole chip so can easily be added by the user. It will allow someone to take the I2C bus lines and bring them outside the box to another box with up to 20 meters of wire length (depending on certain criteria). Another bus extender chip will be needed in the remote box but that should allow full use of the bus once the code is done to support additional devices (such as infrared temperature detectors) or for an external SLC OEM box using the current code.
And there is a large proto area to add circuits to use the available I/O ports.
Finally, this board will fit the same enclosure as the IOx but if a logger board is to be added, it will require the use of the taller case due to the height of the connectors. There is also the option of using the board as a part of a custom setup and this should be made easier through the use of the four mounting holes. This means the board does not need to be inserted in a slot but can be located anywhere.
I should have the first boards in a few weeks but it will be in very limited numbers. So if you are interested let me know.
Jean
