RME Cardbus Laptop PCMCIA Card for Hammerfall DSP, from RME

HDSP INTERFACES: 100% Plug & Play compatible Hammerfall hardware design: mono channels in block mode, organized in 32 bit ASIO double buffers ASIO poured in hardware! 0 (zero!)% CPU load when using the maximum number of channels (52) Byte swap for Mac included in hardware Automatic hardware selftest when booting Hardware update via software (virtual EPROM update) Complete interrupt sharing HDSP PCI: Short PCI 2.0 compliant PCI card Zero wait state PCI Busmaster interface (130 MB/s transfer rate in both directions) 32 bit, 3.3 V compatible Output: IEEE 1394 connector Package contents: PCI card, cable 4.5 meter (15 ft) IEEE 1394, internal cable 3-pole HDSP CARDBUS - MOBILE KIT: PCMCIA type II, 32 bit CardBus card Zero wait state PCI Busmaster interface (130 MB/s transfer rate in both directions) Current load: ca. 300 mA Output: Closed LAN connector Package contents: PCMCIA type II card, cable 4.5 meter (15 ft) (Closed LAN to IEEE 1394), switching power supply 100 V-240 V/12 V - 1.25 A, card cable, battery cable

THE CARDBUS INTERFACE For some time now, laptops have become powerful enough for even ambitious hard disk recording thanks to high computing power and powerful hard drives. Up to now, a powerful interface was missing though. USB is neither offering the necessary bandwidth, nor the desired compatibility. Available PCMCIA solutions at the moment are nearly always designed as 16 bit PC Card and therefore only make use of the ISA bus.

For the Hammerfall DSP System RME developed a world-exclusive PCMCIA type II card in Zero wait state CardBus Busmaster technology. With up to 130 MB/s transfer rate in both directions the same basic performance is provided on a notebook as a PCI card would offer on a desktop computer. Additionally the card offers highest compatibility by being 100% Plug & Play compatible under Windows and MacOS, and being able to share interrupts. The card itself will only use one interrupt (IRQ) for all functions (audio/MIDI.)

The connection between CardBus card and I/O box is established using ordinary firewire cable (closed LAN to IEEE 1394.) The data transfer does not use Firewire protocol, but our own proprietary bus protocol. The supplied cable is 4.5 m (15 ft.) long, a cable length up to 10 m (33 ft.) has been successfully tested. A specially designed Repeater can be used to reach cable lengths of up to 20 m (66 ft.) The CardBus card does not provide power to the attached I/O-box. Therefore a hi-tech switching power supply is included.

THE PCI INTERFACE

Based on the legendary Hammerfall PCI core with its innovative zero CPU load technology the new PCI core is even more optimized for more performance. Thanks to the latest chip technology internal hi-speed RAM can be used faster and more efficient than external SRAM. Furthermore the PCI card includes two Sync-connectors for synchronization of multiple interfaces.

The PCI engine of the Hammerfall DSP System is built on a Zero wait state PCI Busmaster core. With up to 130 MB/s transfer rate in both directions the maximum performance available on the 32 bit PCI bus is used. Additionally the card offers highest compatibility by being 100% Plug & Play compatible under Windows and MacOS, and being able to share interrupts. The card itself will only use one interrupt (IRQ) for all functions (audio/MIDI.)

The connection between PCI card and I/O box is established using ordinary firewire cable (IEEE 1394, 6-pole.) The data transfer does not use Firewire protocol, but our own proprietary bus protocol. The supplied cable is 4.5 m (15 ft.) long, a cable length up to 10 m (33 ft.) has been successfully tested. A specially designed Repeater can be used to reach cable lengths of up to 20 m (66 ft.) The PCI card operates as power supply for the attached I/O-box.