Single-Chip NIC Solutions? 50
scdeimos asks: "I started out working life as an electrical engineer, but subsequently moved into software development due to the lack of 'interesting' design jobs in the EE industry...one manufactory/power plant control system is much like another. Nowadays I find myself heading back to electronics as the field becomes more and more interesting with PIC?s and STAMP?s that are more powerful than many desktop systems were just a few years ago. Companies like Future Technology Devices International make useful single-chip USB solutions that allow your hack to appear as a serial port (FT232BM) or a parallel port (FT245BM) connected to your favourite CPU for device intelligence. This lets you build useful test equipment like computer-controlled voltmeters, logic analyzers and CRO?s for not much outlay.Which brings me to my question, which centers around NIC solutions. What are people using out there today for providing single-chip NIC connectivity? What benefits do you feel your chip preference has over the competition? Do any have a sockets (TCP/UDP) implementation built-in, or do you still have to write your own protocol libraries in the support CPU?"
TINI from Dallas Semi (Score:4, Interesting)
Twostep
Re:TINI from Dallas Semi (Score:3, Interesting)
http://www.imsys.se/snap
Much more processing power, more RAM, more Flash memory, 100Mbit Ethernet onboard, 1-wire, CAN, I2C, SPI, much better CPU bus than the TINI (no CMOS load issues), etc. etc. And it's ~US$130 IIRC.
-psy
Re:TINI from Dallas Semi (Score:3, Informative)
I used it to simulate and control a home automation system over the net. It is a really interesting piece of software but as a sibling piece has mentioned it has pretty severe loading issues. In one case, making a ring with your thumb and middle finger around a wire tied to one of the address pins and moving your hand was enough t
Beware the curly apostrophe! (Score:2, Offtopic)
Re:Beware the curly apostrophe! (Score:2)
Re:Beware the curly apostrophe! (Score:2)
Re:Beware the curly apostrophe! (Score:1)
PIC's is acceptable because it expands to
Programmable Integrated Circuits
- Circuits is shortened in this case to C's.
The exception to the rule is when an acronym becomes a word in its own right instead of a shortened form. Few people still think of "PC" as being short for "personal computer", f
Single chip is harder... (Score:5, Informative)
You may want to check out Rabbit Semiconductor's core modules [rabbitsemiconductor.com]. There's also the xport [slashdot.org], that, while small, has got limited I/O.
Single chip Ethernet? (Score:2)
(1) Magnetics will be hard to put onto the same silicon die
(2) Line-side, Ethernet is fairly high voltage -- see #1
(3) Putting everything on silicon limits connectivity options
-psy
Try an Axis board (Score:2)
Re:Try an Axis board (Score:2)
-psy
Re:Single chip Ethernet? (Score:1)
For what? Impedance matching? Am I right or wrong.
Magnetics in Ethernet (Score:2)
Im not sure if this is what you want (Score:4, Interesting)
XPort (Score:4, Informative)
~GoRK
Re:XPort (Score:3, Informative)
I've got one. It's neat alright, if you want to network something that's already got serial comms in it.
Basically it provides a baby webserver, and lets you pass serial commands over the IP link. It's got an 8051 onboard, but the idea is to store a Java Applet onboard and present that via the webserver. The user can then use the Applet to talk to the device. The XPort then shuttles data to and from the serial over Ethernet
I guess you can do trickier stuff if you want to hack the firmware, but for me, it's
Re:XPort (Score:2)
~GoRK
Re:XPort (Score:3, Informative)
I didn't get their Dev Kit, because the Sample kit was enough for what I needed, however the docs do cover this. The Java approach seems to be the standard easy way of using the device, but the Dev Kit does support custom applications and firmware. The Datasheet shows that "OEM" code on a layer above the device server, and the FAQ says it is written for a Borland Compiler. Looks like writing a truely embedded app running on the XPort should work just fine.
Re:I've had great results with RealTek (Score:2, Informative)
* The RealTek 8139 PCI NIC redefines the meaning of 'low end.' This is
* probably the worst PCI ethernet controller ever made, with the
possible
* exception of the FEAST chip made by SMC. The 8139 supports bus-master
* DMA, but it has a terrible interface that nullifies any performance
* gains that bus-master DMA usually offers.
*
* For transmission, the chip offers a series of four TX descriptor
* registers. Each transmit frame must be in a
Re:I've had great results with RealTek (Score:2)
Dallas microcontroller (Score:3, Interesting)
So you don't get 100mbps speeds, more like 5mbps. But for an all-in-one microcontroller, it's ripe for some really neat little devices. You! Give your toaster, microwave, breadmaker, washing machine, garbage disposal, TV, stereo system, and coffee maker IP addresses. Now!
Hit a secret little button, and the stereo switches to slow music, the lights dim, annoying rackety appliances shut down, the TV turns off, and the warm smell of toasting cinnamon-rasin bread fills the room...wait, that was for breakfast. Oh well.
Vintage = more power to ya (Score:2, Informative)
Example: I wrote an
Re:Vintage = more power to ya (Score:2, Insightful)
If size, power consumption and reliability are non-issues, then you are right. ;-)
Reliable (Score:2)
Atmel embedded internet kit (Score:2)
http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/tools_card.as p ?t ool_id=2727
This kit contains everything required to start working with embedded web designs. The Kit is using an ethernet connection to the web, and comes with a complete license fr
Here's One Use (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.commanderx.com/productinfo.html
Ed Almos
Rabbit semiconductor Core Module (Score:2)
Re:Rabbit semiconductor Core Module (Score:1)
I'm currently building a pinball machine with a Lindows computer as the brains. This core module looks like what I need to connect the 84 switches and bulbs to the computer. Hell, I could even run perl on the computer and talk to the rabbit module as the "server". Only problem is, how do I reduce 84 switches down to 10 wires? There must be another component out there that does things like this.
Ahh.. knowledge, what a funny thing. I'll figure this
Re:Rabbit semiconductor Core Module (Score:1)
One thing you can do is use a tree of multiplexors. You can address 2^7 = 128 switches with 7 output pins and 1 read input pin (or read multiple inputs at once by trading some of the addressing pins for wider inputs). Wider inputs make a lot of sense if you have to read the switch values frequently.
As far as the lights go, you'd do something similar, except you'll need demuxes and some type of memory (e.g. a flipflop or relay). With the relay, you might be able to dri
Re:Rabbit semiconductor Core Module (Score:1)
Two words: shift registers. Reduce 84+ switches to 2 I/O lines (3 for safety -- I'd never design a circuit without a reset). I'll even be nice and look in the basement for a handful if you want to pay the postage
SMC LAN91C111 (Score:1)
Reasonably usable fast ethernet chip. Interface suited for embedded processors (e.g. it's non-PCI). Source code for Linux driver on the web site (though it's for 2.0). You should be able to look at other drivers for other FEAST-based cards for newer drivers.
As another poster pointed out, magnetics are external for nearly all ethernet chips.
uCLinux (Score:1)
Re:uCLinux (Score:1)
http://www.uclinux.org/ucsimm/.
PIC and Realtek or Crystal Semi (Score:1)
Microchip has code that you can use too.
I recommend PIC18's if you are going to do this though, since the 16's are a little too limited at times. We have used both though.
wireless NIC boards (Score:1)
Is there anything similar for wireless 802.11, for less than a hundred bucks and with a power draw of less than 5W ? That is to say, a small board or chip with the functionality of the XPort or Rabbit, but in a wireless version? I know that AMD has the Alchemy [amd.com] boards, but my impression is that these are several hundred
Thanks everyone! (Score:1)
For those who were curious as to what I'm up to, this particular project is essentially a security monitor using colour CCD module on a gimbal mount driven by sub-micro servos (as you'd use on remote controlled aircraft). This gives it around 270 degrees pan and tilt. The beast is currenlty hooked-up to a host computer using a USB bus.
The eventual aim is to move this into
Re:Thanks everyone! (Score:1)
Not impossible. (Score:1)
I just treated it as a matter of subsystems.
The system core is currently based on a 20MHz PIC which reads and encodes the CCD image data and also controls the position of the pan and tilt sub-micro servos with regular 1.5-2.5ms pulse trains. The frequency of the pulse trains isn't critical (PPM/PCM radio control systems are typically using between 50 and 60 frames per second) so it only needs to update the servos ocassionally. I figured it was a lot easier to use off-the-self servos instead of trying to b
Broadcom (Score:2)
Broadcom's website is lame, but here is a card that is based off it:
http://www.silicom.co.il/pxg2f.htm