Citation
(1999), "Interfacing sensors to the IBM PC", Sensor Review, Vol. 19 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/sr.1999.08719aae.002
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 1999, MCB UP Limited
Interfacing sensors to the IBM PC
Interfacing sensors to the IBM PC
W.J. Tompkins and J.G. Webster (Editors)Prentice-Hall1988400 pp.ISBN 0-13-469081-8£49.99
Although this book is quite old, and no longer suitable for those who require state-of-the-art updating, it is still a very well laid out and well structured reference text, suitable for anyone who needs to connect any type of sensor to an IBM PC-compatible computer. Some of the interfacing techniques presented can also be applied to other PC peripheral hardware design.
The book gives a detailed description of a wide variety of topics, which include amplifier circuit designs, power supply considerations and methods to reduce interference, interfacing to the IBM PC bus, analogue to digital and digital to analogue converters, serial interfacing, interfacing sensors, GPIB (General Purpose Interface Bus IEEE 488) interfacing, telephone communications and LANs (Local Area Networks). Temperature, optical, displacement and flow sensors are all clearly described and illustrated, along with the associated electronic circuitry necessary for conditioning the output signal.
Three programming languages (C, BASIC and Assembly Language) are used to present the implementation of hardware and software designs into a practical sensor-IBM PC system, of which an example is given.
The appendices give information about manufacturers of interface hardware, a schematic diagram and port definitions for both the prototype data acquisition board outlined in the book, and the Tecmar Lab Master board used in various examples. The complete software listing, written in C, for a digital oscilloscope program is also provided.
Overall, this is a book worth reading for anyone with a practical interest in sensors, transducers, data conversion and interface techniques.