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Networking Technology

Smallest IP Target Device? 41

Posted by Cliff from the latest-from-Q-branch dept.
Donimo asks: "I have seen many tiny ethernet loopback jacks and keyfobs, and I'm looking for the smallest IP equivalent for my toolkit. It just needs to plug into an RJ45 ethernet port and respond to ping. If the IP address is configurable, so much the better. I have looked at small IP print servers, and I could probably knock one up from a Gumstix but these are comparatively expensive solutions. Any ideas?"
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Smallest IP Target Device? More

Smallest IP Target Device?

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  • I have a RJ45 connector that is wired up as a crossover to itself, so it lets you check carrier and you can ping yourself. Not sure what having a device to respond would add to this, but I do remember someone a few years back that had a single chip web server with a very small amount of storage. It was mentioned here on /.

  • picotux (Score:5, Informative)

    by ach1000 ( 537772 ) on Monday November 07, 2005 @05:50PM (#13973622) Homepage

    http://www.picotux.com/ [picotux.com]

  • Here is the /. article: http://slashdot.org/hardware/99/07/31/1654210.shtm l [slashdot.org] and a page about it: http://www-ccs.cs.umass.edu/~shri/iPic.html [umass.edu]
  • The Gumstix would be the most robust option but that's a few hundred dollars.

    You could consider the SitePlayer [siteplayer.com] which is put together by a company that also does basic stamp clones, or a Parallax PINK [parallax.com].

    These development kits run about $100. The SitePlayer would be a good option if you want to make more than 1 because the actual module is only $30, however if you are only going to build one of these tools I would suggest spending the extra $100-$200 and get a Gumstix because you can simply do so much m

  • NAND chip (Score:4, Funny)

    by k4_pacific ( 736911 ) <k4_pacific@yaho o . com> on Monday November 07, 2005 @06:01PM (#13973734) Homepage Journal
    I once got Linux to run on a 74x00 quad-NAND chip. Maybe you should try something like that.
  • My company uses a simple Cyclades console server.

    The Cyclades-TS100, P/N TES0061 1-port console server.

    It has a RJ45, and a RS232/RS485 serial port. It also comes with an AC adaptor, but can accept 5VDC if you want to battery-up th unit.

    Great unit! We got our units through Mirapath, great company to work with!
  • There are a lot of microcontrolers that can run a tiny TCP/IP stack. You don't need no stinking ARM+Linux for a ping.

    • ARM devices can be almost as low end as 8-bitters. The LPC2101 or the LPC2131 or at91sam7s32, especially in thumb mode are similar to 8-bitters.

      Linux however is way overkill.

  • Just a ping (Score:5, Interesting)

    by mnmn ( 145599 ) on Monday November 07, 2005 @06:22PM (#13974002) Homepage
    I have seen PIC microchips connected to something like an RL8139AS or cs8900, PHY and jack. The pic16xxx is the simplest device that can do the ICMP/IP and have enough pins to talk to the ethernet chip. The atmel devices are alternatives, like the attiny maybe. These chips are sub-$1, but remember the ethernet chip is at LEAST $10. Under $20 devices are possible where they have dedicated IP addresses and can send/receive UDP, raw IP and simple ICMP like ping. TCP will require more complexity and ram. Linux is way too big if youre talking about the simplest devices... other RTOSes fill that niche if you intend to have full TCPIP. In that case, look at micrium ucos, ecos, freertos and other similar devices.

    Will be interesting to see if someone can use a fast 8-bit chip to act as an ethernet chip too (bitbanging ethernet). Will have to be well over 10MHz and should be able to do ARP first. In that case, sub-$5 devices are possible with chips with fewer pins, with the BOM quite possibly under $2 (jacks, chip, board, phy in qty). But these will be far less reliable.
    • I'm component-ignorant, but how is it that the ethernet chip is >$10, and there are several full-featured PCI NICs for $3-4 on the market? Do these ethernet chips do something that is otherwise handled by software in a PC environment?

  • XPort (Score:5, Informative)

    by nebbian ( 564148 ) on Monday November 07, 2005 @06:41PM (#13974223) Homepage Journal
    What you're probably after is an XPort [lantronix.com] in a box with a battery. These devices use 3.3V, have a full TCP/IP stack, a web server, some flash memory, all somehow shoehorned into an RJ45 connector. Yep that's right, the thing is about the size of an RJ45 connector! If it runs at 3V you could probably run it off a 3V lithium battery, of not then use 6V with a 3.3V low power regulator.

    These retail for around $30 in bulk, with a bit of digging you should be able to get one for less than $50 I'd think...

    With a switch, battery, regulator and heatshrink around it, it will still be quite small enough to lose easily :-)

    hth,
    Ben

  • Why get something with only one purpose? (Score:3, Informative)

    by Trepalium ( 109107 ) on Monday November 07, 2005 @06:57PM (#13974396)
    Something like the Fluke NetTool [flukenetworks.com] is far more useful. Not only can you use it for basic connectivity testing, but you can also do cable length and wiring tests. You can use it inline with a computer attached to the switch to monitor how traffic is flowing through. Far more useful than a simple pingable device. It costs about $900-$2,500 (USD, depends on which version you buy), and in my opinion, it's worth it. We use the inline version ($1,500 USD) here.

    If you don't like Fluke, there are plenty of other people in the game testing business, but I don't have any experience with their products.

    • I second that, but if the needs are basic the Fluke Linkrunner is a lot cheaper and will do the job. It's the size of a pack of cigarettes and runs on 2xAA batteries.

      A couple button presses and it picks up a DHCP address (and shows you that address) and default gateway and starts pinging the gateway. While it's doing this you can ping it. It also does cable tests, calculates cable lengths, detects link, flashes hub/switch link lights, generates tone. etc.

      Very simple and has paid for itself many times over.

  • The XPort (Score:4, Interesting)

    by david.given ( 6740 ) <dg@cowlark.com> on Monday November 07, 2005 @07:01PM (#13974436) Homepage Journal
    ...is the smallest ethernet-capable device I know of... because it is an ethernet socket!

    XPort product page with lots of marketing spiel [lantronix.com]

    You won't run Linux on it, because it's a 16-bit 8086 clone inside with 256kB RAM and 512kB flash, but if you want something to provide a quick-and-easy ethernet interface to a piece of development hardware, it's ideal. I suspect it may be a bit expensive, though (no prices available).

    There are some other similar devices from the same manufacturer --- among them is the WiPort, which is much the same thing as the XPort but uses 802.11b...

  • Microchip [microchip.com] is coming out with a 28 pin ethernet interface. Couple that with a PIC microcontroller and an ethernet transformer and you'll have what you're asking for.

    Alternately you can get something off the shelf from netsilicon. Add a battery and you're good to go.

    -Adam
  • http://www.zilog.com/products/family.asp?fam=226 [zilog.com]

    The acclaim is a nice little chip. Maybe it would suit your purposes?

    • Rabbit [rabbitsemiconductor.com]'s done all sorts of insane juju with with the old Z8 core. Its a rather impressive little micro. I'd wager they're not the most power efficient in the world, but thats just a guess.

      I seem to remember their dev kits beeing a whole helluva lot cheaper. And I also seem to recall every kit coming with a TCP/IP stack. The wonders of "mature" technologies & companies I guess.

      Myren
  • Like line testers, turkey toners, etc?

    Or are they not trendy [pron. practical] enough?

    • "Turkey toners"? I assume you mean tone generators and inductive probes (and the warbling tone they produce)? I've never heard them called that before. They are quite useful devices, though. Especially if you're left in a room full of unlabeled (or poorly labeled) cables. Trial and error in that situation really stinks.

      Frankly, a professional should have professional tools. Spending $150 on a toner&probe might seem like a lot at first, but it might pay for itself if you often need to go cable hun

  • I use an ASUS WL-HDD 2.5 for these kind of things.

    http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=12&l2=44&l3=0 &model=460&modelmenu=1 [asus.com]

    It's a pocket-harddrive sized file-server with WIFI and Ethernet. The server side is often handy.

    It's probably not as small as you may be looking for, but it is pocket sized (a little larger than a 2.5" HDD) and runs embedded Linux and SMB, with file shares, which makes it quite a useful took to carry around.

    It wouldn't take much to convert it to battery operation,

    GrpA.

  • Try Lantronix (Score:3, Insightful)

    by mustafap ( 452510 ) on Tuesday November 08, 2005 @09:37AM (#13978046) Homepage
    I saw this at the Embedded systems show in the UK last month

    http://www.lantronix.com/device-networking/embedde d-device-servers/xport.html [lantronix.com]

    I haven't seen an ethernet solution smaller than this. Plenty of 'play' IP implementations, using slip, but not ethernet.

    Mike.

  • Just get a cheap wireless access point or router.
    They're highly configurable and may come in handy for many other things.
    Fry's Outpost [outpost.com] has some for $29, and once in a while even drops below $17! (for the Airlink AR315W)

    If you want one that you can do an incredible amount of stuff with, get a Linksys WRT54G... there are many Linux distros people have made for it (runs Linux from the factory) that add tons of features. There's also instructions on adding a serial port for a console.
  • Just buy a small form-factor cable/DSL router. Plug into one of its network ports to have your test PC receive an IP address, or plug into its WAN port to have it request an address from your test PC. It responds to ping. It's got a built-in webserver to configure the network/IP settings to your liking, and will usually log activity for you. Best of all, you can pick one up for around $20 on sale.
  • Similar to the XPort and PicoTux. It seems to be more stable than the XPort.
  • Are there still IT people out there who don't have access to Laptops? Put your workstation on a cart, and have room for your toolbox on the shelf below, then. :)
  • Freescale's MC9S12NE64 [freescale.com] is what you're looking for, if you can build from scratch. That can do a LOT more then simple ping, and it's a $10 part. Of course, you need to be able to layout a board, get it prototyped and solder a 112QFP part, but for the slashdot crowd that should be something you do before breakfast.

    For those who don't get what the big deal is, it's an ethernet MAC AND PHY attached to a 16bit Microcontroller WITH 8kb ram and 64kb flash. I.E. hook up power and an RJ45 connector.

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