The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 17, 1999
Filed:
Nov. 26, 1997
James W Edwards, Austin, TX (US);
William R Pitts, Round Rock, TX (US);
Michael S Butler, Austin, TX (US);
National Instruments Corporation, Austin, TX (US);
Abstract
An improved dual-connector cable for connecting a computer to a serial instrumentation bus. In one embodiment, the serial instrumentation bus is a fieldbus, preferably either a Foundation fieldbus or a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus. The cable comprises a first terminal located at a first end of the cable for coupling the cable to the computer. The first terminal comprises a device connector which is configured to connect the first terminal to a connector on the computer. The cable also comprises a second terminal located at a second end of the cable for coupling the cable to the serial instrumentation bus. The second terminal comprises interface circuitry for interfacing the cable with the serial instrumentation bus. The second terminal further comprises a first bus connector that is electrically coupled to the serial instrumentation interface circuitry. The first bus connector is configured to connect to a mating connector for coupling to the serial instrumentation bus. The second terminal further comprises a second bus connector that is electrically coupled to the serial instrumentation interface circuitry. The second bus connector is configured to connect to the serial instrumentation bus. In one embodiment, the first bus connector is operable to be connected to the serial instrumentation bus and the second bus connector is operable to be connected to a bus monitor to enable the bus monitor to monitor signals on the serial instrumentation bus.