Intro
ECB Bus is a standarized bus for Z80 computers, similar to the ISA bus used on 80x86 computers. In theory, ECB cards could be used with different computers - however, in practice, different computer systems have different memory and I/O maps, so one would need to modify the I/O or memory address decoding (on the ECB cards) in order to get them working on other computers.
ECB originally stands for "Einfach Europaformat Computer Baugruppen" (Simple Europaformat Computer Modules; where "Europaformat" refers to a standarized circuit board size of 160x100mm). ECB is sometimes also referred to as "Europa Bus" or "Europe Card Bus". The ECB bus was invented in 1977 by the german company Kontron. And, it's still used in some situations (for example, as by 2010, www.reichelt.de still sells "Euro Bus" mother boards).
ECB Bus Hardware for CPC
- Schneiderware DIY series (CPC Schneider International magazine)
- Sikos ECB Bus (reviewed in CPC Schneider International 8-1986, page 67)
ECB Bus Pin-Outs
The ECB Bus uses 3x32 pin connectors (96 pins), of which, the middle row is used only for newer "16bit" cards. On normal cards usually 2x32 (64 pins) are connected.
| Pin | A | B | C |
| 1 | +5V | (+5V) | +5V |
| 2 | D5 | (A20) | D0 |
| 3 | D6 | (A21) | D7 |
| 4 | D3 | (A22) | D2 |
| 5 | D4 | (A23) | A0 |
| 6 | A2 | (D8) | A3 |
| 7 | A4 | (D9) | A1 |
| 8 | A5 | (D10) | A8 |
| 9 | A6 | (D11) | A7 |
| 10 | /WAIT | (D12) | (xxx) |
| 11 | /BUSRQ | (D13) | IEI Schneiderware: RAMRD |
| 12 | (A18) | (D14) | (A19) Schneiderware: RAMDIS |
| 13 | +12V | (D15) | (xxx) |
| 14 | -12V Schneiderware: NC |
(IRQ7) | D1 |
| 15 | (-5V) Schneiderware: EXP |
(IRQ6) | (--) Schneiderware: -12V |
| 16 | (2PHI) Schneiderware: HALT |
(IRQ5) | IEO Schneiderware: LPEN |
| 17 | (A17) | (IRQ4) | A11 |
| 18 | A14 | (IRQ3) | A10 |
| 19 | (--) | (IRQ2) | (A16) Schneiderware: ROMEN |
| 20 | /M1 Schneiderware: SOUND |
(IRQ1) | /NMI |
| 21 | (xxx) | (IRQ0) | /INT Schneiderware: ROMDIS |
| 22 | (--) Schneiderware: M1 |
(IOWR) | /WR |
| 23 | (/BAI) | (xxx) | (--) Schneiderware: INT |
| 24 | (UBAT 2V..3V) Schneiderware: 5V ACCU |
(IORD) | /RD |
| 25 | (/BAO) | (MEMRD) | /HALT Schneiderware: CURSOR |
| 26 | (xxx) | (xxx) | (/PCL) Schneiderware: RESET |
| 27 | /IORQ | (MEMWR) | A12 |
| 28 | /RFSH | (DS0) | A15 |
| 29 | A13 | (DS1) | PHI |
| 30 | A9 | (OFF) | /MREQ |
| 31 | /BUSAK | (LOCK) | /RESET Schneiderware: BUSRESET |
| 32 | GND | (GND) | GND |
Signals in brackets "(...)" aren't available on all ECB variants; the Schneiderware series doesn't support those signals. Moreover, the Schneiderware pin-outs are somewhat customized: Signals HALT, M1, INT, -12V, RESET are mapped to the "wrong" pin numbers, and some non-ECB signals SOUND, CURSOR, LPEN, EXP, ROMEN, ROMDIS, RAMRD, RAMDIS, BUSRESET are added, and, UBAT is listed as 5V in Schneiderware (normally it should be 2V..3V).
Weblinks
- http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe_Card_Bus - wikipedia (german) - saying it was invented in 1977
- http://www.hardwarebook.info/ECBbus - hardwarebook (pin-outs) - saying it was invented in 1984 (which is wrong)
- http://fixunix.com/cp-m/526627-article-different-versions-german-ecb-bus.html - notes on ECB variants from 1982