Specifications

Theory of Operation
The ZT 8832 is a newer generation board that removes many of
the restrictions found on the ZT 8830. The major differences are
outlined below.
• Increased performance. Both the ZT 8830 and ZT 8832
are based on an 8 MHz microprocessor with an 8088
architecture. The major performance increase of the
ZT 8832 is realized in the dual port memory design. On
the ZT 8830, all local memory is dual ported. This means
that the local CPU is suspended any time the STD bus
CPU accesses the ZT 8830. The ZT 8832 separates the
dual port memory from local memory so the local CPU
continues to operate while the STD bus CPU accesses the
dual port memory. It is not until both CPUs attempt a dual
port access that one is suspended until the other has
completed its dual port access. The ZT 8832 also supports
DMA on the SBX expansion module for high speed I/O
transfers and an 8087 Numeric Data Processor for math
operations up to 100 times faster than possible with a
ZT 8830.
• Reduced STD bus memory requirements. The ZT 8830
supports 32 Kbytes of EPROM and 32 Kbytes of RAM, all
of which are dual ported. This means that each ZT 8830
requires 64 Kbytes of STD bus memory. This requirement
is compounded when multiple ZT 8830s are used in a
single system. The ZT 8832 requires only 32 Kbytes of
STD bus memory for the dual port RAM. The ZT 8832
also supports a board select option that permits up to seven
ZT 8832s to be mapped into a single 32 Kbyte STD bus
address range.
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