TS-3100 User’s Manual Technologic Systems
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1Introduction
The model TS-3100 is a compact, full-featured PC compatible Single Board Computer based on the
386EX processor. If you are coming up from the 8-bit microcontroller world, you will find that this
product provides much more performance and much quicker development since you can now use
standard PC development tools such as Turbo C or Quick Basic. If you have done work in the PC
world in the past, you will find you can now build applications for a very small target that does not
require a keyboard, video, floppy disks, or hard drives.
You can typically write and debug code on a host PC using standard development tools for the PC
platform, then simply copy it to and run it on the TS-3100 without modification. If additional peripherals
are required, the PC/104 expansion bus allows for many standard functions available off-the-shelf. It is
also very simple to create a custom PC/104 daughter board for those special features that differentiate
your product. Technologic Systems can provide technical support as well as a free quotation for any
custom hardware, software, or BIOS modifications you may require.
This manual is fairly short. This is because for the most part, the TS-3100 is a standard 80386-based
PC compatible computer, and there are hundreds of books about writing software for the PC platform.
The purpose of this manual is documenting where the TS-3100 differs from a standard PC.
2Differences Between TS-3100 and TS-3200
The TS-3100 is almost identical to the TS-3200. The TS-3100 was designed to be an extremely low-
cost PC/104 board where the full horsepower of a TS-3200 is not needed. Therefore, the manual for
the TS-3200 can be used except for the categories below detailing where they differ. A copy of the TS -
3200 can be found on our web-page for the TS-3200, or on the utility diskette of the TS-3100.
2.1 RAM/Memory
The TS-3100 only has 512 Kbytes of 8-bit wide RAM and is not expandable. Some of this RAM is used
for BIOS shadowing and the operating system. The maximum user program size is limited to about 250
Kbytes, which is typically plenty for most DOS applications.
2.2 Flash Memory
The Flash memory uses a single 512 Kbyte chip. Some of this Flash memory is reserved for the BIOS
and for DOS. This leaves about 320 Kbytes of solid-state disk drive space available. If more disk space
is required, one can always add a DiskOnChip module.
2.3 Operating Systems Supported
Due to the limited RAM, only DOS-ROM is supported by Technologic Systems on the TS-3100.
2.4 Speed
Both the TS-3100 and the TS-3200 use an Intel 386EX chip running at 25 MHz clock rate. The TS -
3200 uses a high-speed SDRAM with a 16-bit interface to the processor. The TS-3100 differs in that it
uses a slower DRAM with only an 8-bit interface. This causes the TS-3100 to execute code at 40% as
fast as the TS-3200.
2.5 Bus Size
The TS-3100 only supports an 8-bit PC/104 Bus. Most PC/104 daughter boards only use 8-bits so this
is a minor limitation.
2.6 RS-485
The TS-3100 and the TS-3200 support RS-485 on pins 1 and 6 of the COM 1 header. Unlike the TS -
3200, the TS-3100 does not have a separate 3-pin header for RS-485.
