TM 5-6350-280-23&P
1.13.5 IBM-PC/AT Compatible Computer Functional Description. The computer (figure 1-7) consists of a personal
computer, monitor, printer, and operating software. The computer uses a data bus to interface computer components.
The data bus is controlled by Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) stored in Read Only Memory (ROM), the operating
system installed on the hard drive, and the CPU of the computer. The Communications CCA and application software
provided with the AMG are installed in the computer. When the AMG application software is copied to the hard drive of
the computer, the autoexec.bat file is updated to load the application software. When the computer is powered on, the
autoexec.bat file instructs the computer to load the application software. This causes the computer to automatically start
the application software. The application software displays an initialization screen for a few seconds and then displays an
operational screen. The application software also takes control of the computer and disables unwanted keys of the
computer keyboard and unwanted functions of the operating system. It assigns designated controls to the function keys
and assigns designated tasks to selected keys. The applications software instructs the computer to send poll requests to
the CPUs located in the CMA and to receive and process the data from the CPUs.
When the applications software instructs the computer to send a poll request, the CPU establishes a data transfer path to
the Communications CCA and the poll request is then transmitted by the Communications CCA to one of the CPUs in the
CMA. The polled CPU, when it recognizes its address, will transmit its data to the Communications CCA. The
Communications CCA then receives the formatted data from the CPU that was polled. The polling sequence is repeated
until all eight CPUs have been polled and the data has been received by the Communications CCA. Each CPU is polled
approximately once each second. The data transfer rate is 9600 baud.
When the formatted data is received from a CPU, the Communications CCA sends a request to the CPU of the computer
for a data transfer. The CPU of the computer acknowledges the request and accepts the data which is then transferred to
the Random Access Memory (RAM) of the computer. The computer CPU decodes and processes the data into display
and print information as instructed by the application software. Display information is sent to the video adapter across the
data bus. The video adapter then sends the display signals to the color monitor. Print information is sent to the printer
adapter across the data bus. The printer adapter then sends the data to be printed to the dot matrix printer.
When operator commands or data are input from the keyboard, the commands or area data are sent across the data bus
to the CPU of the computer. The CPU performs the commands or processes the data in accordance with the AMG
application software.
1.14 AMG APPLICATION SOFTWARE FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION.
The application software consists of the AMG operating and configuration files. Refer to TM 5-6350-280-10 for a detailed
description.
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