Using NAT7210 in 9914 mode

[JeffCo]

We have an NAT7210 on a prototype "proof of concept" board. We are considering going with an NAT9914 in our final design instead of the 7210 for a couple of reasons. One issue is that we have space limitations on our final design and the NAT9914 comes in smaller device packages than the 7210. We are also concerned about end-of-life expectancy for the 7210.

According to the 7210 reference manual, the NAT7210 chip can be programmed for 9914 mode. We would like to switch to this mode on our prototype board so we can write and test firmware for the 9914 chip that will be in our final design. The question I have is - when the NAT7210 is programmed for 9914 mode does the physical pinout of the chip change? In other words, when the NAT7210 is in 9914 mode does the pinout match the documentation for the NAT7210 40-pin DIP package or does it switch to match the documenation for the NAT9914 40-pin DIP package? The pinout of the 2 chips are actually quite different with a few pins having slightly different functionality and even the common pins mapping out to different pin locations.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

Jeff

[Steven_T]

Jeff,

The physical pinouts do not change at all when the NAT7210 is put into 9914 mode.  So the same pinout is used.  However, the register map is now completely different (some of the registers even have different bits).  The manual for the NAT7210 can be found here http://www.ni.com/pdf/manuals/370875a.pdf.

This manual outlines the registers as well as goes over some of the operations necessary to get the NAT7210 to perform different GPIB controller operations.

I hope this helps,
Steven T.