Serial Port Availibility During Real-Time Operation

[MSATLAB]

Hello,

    We have a dedicated computer that is being used for our Real-Time with a laptop sending the code to the computer to execute in real-time.  What we are wanting to do is control a load bank through a serial port using PLC.  So what I want to know is if the serial port on the computer's motherboard will be availible and usable for control during the Real-Time application.  Any light that could be shed on this subject would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Michael

[mikeporter]

Can you say a bit more about what the dedicated controller is? What OS is it running?

Mike...

[MSATLAB]

Well the dedicated computer is a custom computer that we are building.  It is real-time compliant.  It will be running both Windows XP and LabVIEW's RTOS, but not at the same time.  We will boot in RTOS when we need it and boot in Windows when we need that.  The motherboard has a serial port.  I would like to know if I will be able to use the serial port on the computer's motherboard during RTOS operation.  I don't know what ports are available for deterministic use during RTOS operation.  Thank you.

Michael

[mikeporter]

The serial ports should be available, but may need some special handling since serial IO tends to be very nondeterministic.

Mike...

[Brian_K.]

Hi Michael,

Mike is correct, you will be able to use your serial port.  Here is a knowledge base that talks about how to install the support :

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/B883DA19A7D8359C86256EEA00031981?OpenDocument

Hope that helps.