Embedded Systems: January 18, 1996

Compiler suites target Motorola’s ColdFire family. Optimizing compiler suites for embedded ColdFire applications support a broad range of host, target, and language combinations. The C, C++, and Fortran compilers offer more than 50 optimization routines for Motorola’s MCF5200 family. Each suite includes a compiler, a program profiler, an assembler, a linker, an archiver, ANSI-compliant libraries, a program checker, and other utilities. Versions are available for PC, SPARCstation, R/S6000, PowerStack, and HP 700 platforms. Suites are also integrated with a variety of development environments, including SingleStep and VxWorks. Single-user licenses start at $1900. Diab Data Inc, Foster City, CA. (415) 571-1700.

Development board permits C32 DSP emulation. The Mountain-32 ISA board permits inexpensive hardware and software development for the TMS320C32 floating-point processor. An on-card 50-MHz C32 lets you evaluate your algorithms. Off-card XDS-510-compatible emulation is provided via a scan-path connection to the supplied emulation pod and cable. The Mountain-32 also comes with two separately configurable 512-kbyte banks of zero-wait-state SRAM and a TI C source debugger. The combination emulator-and-target system costs $3495. White Mountain DSP Inc, Nashua, NH. (603) 883-2430.

Software generates C code for XA 16-bit chips. DriveWay-XA, an automatic C application-code generator, supports the extended-architecture-(XA-)derivative-CMOS 16-bit microcontrollers and peripheral chips from Philips. DriveWay software is also available for Advanced Micro Devices’ 29k and E86 families for embedded applications. All versions consist of a Windows-based user-interface shell and a knowledge base, which yields all the components that the interface needs to generate a device driver for the supported chip. DriveWay-XA costs $995. Aisys Ltd, Tel Aviv, Israel. 972-3-6917937.

ISDN evaluation board connects to North American switches. Bundled with software from Telenetworks, the Yamaha YM7- 405B-based evaluation board connects to all North American ISDN switch types, including AT&T custom, National ISDN-1, and Northern Telecom DMS-100. The YM7405B chip supports Layers 1 and 2 of the ISDN user-network interface. Device drivers for the YM7405B are stored in EE-PROM on the evaluation board. The Telenetworks/Yamaha evaluation kit costs $500. Yamaha Systems Technology Inc, San Jose, CA. (408) 467-2300.

SBC development kit with enclosure organizes hardware and cables. This prepackaged kit comes in a low-profile enclosure and provides the necessary hardware, disk drives, software, and cables to develop programs for WinSystems’ LBC-486DX or SAT-SX/SLC em- bedded single-board computers. A 50W power supply; 1.44-Mbyte, 3.5-in. floppy-disk drive; and 400-Mbyte hard-disk drive are mounted in a black anodized enclosure. The single-board computer sits atop the enclosure. The SDK-LBC-104 and SDK-SAT-104 kits sell for $895; single-board computers are available separately. WinSystems Inc, Arlington, TX. (817) 274-7553.

Software tools build control applications. Combining the simplicity of flowcharts with the power of Windows, ControlSuite provides application-development tools for creating control logic, operator interfaces, and remote message displays. The integrated suite of five tools can be used on industrial PCs to replace many conventional hardware-control devices. The ControlSuite Industrial Development System costs $4950. Arbor Coast Software Inc, Saline, MI. (313) 429-4971.

PC/104 module shows 16 million colors. A display controller that complies with the PC/104 V2 specification for compact embedded modules displays more than 16 million colors on VGA CRTs. The MiniModule/SVG-II supports five video standards—VESA, VGA, EGA, CGA, and MDA—and resolutions of up to 1024×768 pixels in 256 colors and 640×480 pixels in 16 million colors. The controller’s GUI-accelerator engine runs under Windows 95 and many other GUI environments. In OEM quantities, the MiniModule/SVG-II costs $187. Ampro Computers Inc, Sunnyvale, CA. (408) 522-2100.

ADC boards tailor digital receiver designs. Two single-slot 6U VMEbus boards provide signal conditioning and clock-generation circuitry for digital receivers. Model 6410 is a dual-channel, 14-bit ADC with sampling rates of up to 10 MHz. Model 6441, a dual-channel, 12-bit ADC, samples at up to 41 MHz. Both boards incorporate antialiasing lowpass filters with standard cutoff frequencies of 4- and 16-MHz for the 6410 and 6441, respectively. Each board’s analog input is terminated in 50(ohm). Model 6410 costs $11,995, and Model 6441 costs $5495. Pentek Inc, Norwood, NJ. (201) 767-7100.

Tools debug Pentium Pro designs. Part of the Enterprise Instrumentation solution for developing and debugging designs based on the Pentium Pro processor, the 92DM56 is an American Public Information Coalition (APIC) message bus-support package that works with Tektronix digital analysis systems and logic analyzers. The APIC bus-probe adapter and software allow you to trigger on, qualify, and monitor APIC messages. A second product, 92DM16 disassembly software, works with Intel’s LAI560T probe adapter to allow transactions of all agents on the Pentium Pro bus to be traced simultaneously. The 92DM56 and 92DM16 have a base price of $4950. Tektronix Inc, Beaverton, OR. (800) 426-2200.

Voice card provides synchronized relay outputs. Part of the QuikVoice family of voice products, the DM2100 digital audio board is self-contained and requires a single 12V-dc supply for operation. When the board’s eight trigger inputs are activated by external-contact closures or motion sensors, it plays one of the messages stored in on-board EPROM. Up to 8 minutes of messages can be programmed into the EPROM chips. The DM2100 also supplies four relay outputs, which can be synchronized with the audio. A built-in audio amp drives up to 7W into a 4V speaker. The 4×6-in. board costs $80 (10), excluding EPROM. Eletech Electronics Inc, Industry, CA. (818) 333-6394.

SBC offers SCSI-2 controller on passive backplane. Based on the AT passive-backplane form factor with a PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG) extension, the SB586P(V) series of single-board computers supports all current Pentium processors. The series also provides a fast-and-wide SCSI-2 controller with throughput rates of up to 20 Mbytes/sec. The eight boards that comprise the series are grouped into two basic models: standard and those with an onboard, PCI-based video controller and up to 2 Mbytes of RAM. Other features include a choice of processor speeds (90, 100, 120, or 133 MHz) and both floppy and enhanced IDE disk-drive controllers. Prices start at $2119. Industrial Computer Source, San Diego, CA. (800) 523-2320.

Tool kit simplifies SCSI testing and programming. Offered in versions for Windows 3.1, NT, and 95, and OS/2, the SCSI tool set lets you program, test, and configure most SCSI devices from a simple point-and-click interface. Utilities included with the basic package allow you to test performance, check the integrity of media and flaws, and provide error logging and printing. Optional utilities support parallel tape-drive-and-media certification, parallel disk testing and formatting, and government and commercial purging of SCSI disks. The software supports SCSI-1, fast- and-wide SCSI-2, and SCSI-3 devices. Prices start at $99. CoComp Inc, Ft Collins, CO. (970) 482-2288.

C++ library comes with STL and string classes. The Standard Library V1.0, an end-user implementation of the Standard C++ Library, includes the data structure and algorithm classes previously known as the STL. It also provides, in template form, the string class, complex class, and numeric-limits class, along with multithread extensions. Standard Library V1.0 runs on both Unix and PC platforms and costs $195. Rogue Wave Software Inc, Corvallis, OR. (503) 754-3010.

Compact embedded PC withstands industrial use. The 5100 Mini-PC, a PC-compatible embedded computer for harsh environments, comes in an enclosure that is only 8×12 in. and needs a mounting depth of 4.6 in. The front panel and integrated membrane keypads are sealed to NEMA 4, 4X, and 12 specifications. Based on a 25-MHz 80386EX processor, the system includes 2 Mbytes of DRAM and a 5.9-in. monochrome or color LCD with a resolution of 320×240 pixels. Expansion is via a PCMCIA interface, PC-104 site, or PC/XT bus card slot. Monochrome and color versions of the 5100 cost $1695 and $2450, respectively. Xycom, Saline, MI. (313) 429-4971.

Single-chip ISA bus controller supports 386 EX embedded processor. Housed in a 208-pin PQFP, the R380EX ISA-bus system controller lets you implement a PC-compatible design for embedded applications based on the Intel386 EX processor. The device provides control for up to 64 Mbytes of page-mode or EDO DRAM, as well as flash memory. A real-time clock, keyboard and mouse controller, enhanced IDE controller, speaker port, up to 16-bits of digital I/O, and four programmable I/O-chip selects are also supplied. The part operates at either 5 or 3.3V and costs $19.30 (10,000). Radisys Corp, Beaverton, OR. (503) 646-1800.

Software tool emulates SCSI target device. You can test and validate any SCSI target design or emulate any SCSI hardware with the ASC Target Mode Handler (ATMH) Library. With the ATMH Library and ASC’s ASC-PCI SCSI host adapter, a PCI-based PC can emulate a disk, tape, scanner, printer, optical device, other SCSI host adapter, or as a wide variety of SCSI-based devices. The software is implemented as a linkable library module and comes with a C source-code starter kit for emulating common SCSI commands. The ATMH Library costs $995 (site license). Advanced Storage Concepts Inc, Austin, TX. (512) 335-1077.

Rack system houses RAID storage devices. A 12.25-in. rack unit accommodates up to six front-loaded, half-height removable drives in a redundant-arrays-of-individual-disks (RAID-) configuration, along with three floppy-disk drives. The unit’s 20-slot backplane can be divided into four five-slot systems, and its dual 300W power supplies can be removed from the rear without pulling the system from the rack. The unit is 17 in. deep and fits a standard 19-in. rack with optional slides. Prices start at $1595. Interlogic Industries, Melville, NY. (516) 420-8111.

Embedded controller has analog, counter, and digital I/O. A single-board controller provides eight A/D input and two D/A output lines with 12-bit resolution, two quadrature-encoder counters, 34 digital lines, and two RS-232C/485 serial ports. The RPC-330 also comes with RPBasic, a version of Intel Basic-52, modified with industrial commands to accommodate analog and digital I/O, data logging, operator interfacing, buffered serial communications, and extra memory. Programmed via a serial port, the card operates remotely or as part of a network using the RS-485 port. The RPC-330 costs $395, including Basic. Remote Processing, Westminster, CO. (303) 690-1588.

VMEbus DSP board performs 200 Mflops. Equipped with four TMS320C40 floating-point DSPs, the HydraPlus VMEbus master/slave DSP board can be used for compute- and I/O-intensive applications, such as speech or pattern recognition, image processing, and simulation. The board executes 200 Mflops and 1100 million operations per second and features 12 external 20-Mbyte/sec I/O ports, a pair of RS-232C serial ports, and either a VSB or 24-bit ADB bus parallel interface. An onboard JTAG controller permits nonintrusive multiprocessor emulation. The HydraPlus costs $19,995. Ariel Corp, Highland Park, NJ. (908) 249-2900.

Embedded controller carries versatile interface. A general-purpose single-board computer connects directly to global-positioning-system modules via two RS-232C serial ports and has applications in industrial control and telecommunications. Other I/O features include ISA-bus expansion capabilities, a PC/104 connector, and a bidirectional parallel port. The Micro PC 4000 CPU card comes with a 25-MHz 386 processor, AT-compatible BIOS and DOS 6.22 in ROM, 128 kbytes of SRAM, and either 1 Mbyte of EPROM or 512 kbytes of flash memory. The 4.5×4.9-in. board operates over a temperature range of -40 to +85°C and costs <$400 in OEM quantities. Octagon Systems, Westminster, CO. (303) 430-1500.

VMEbus CPU board provides flexible network communications. Based on Motorola’s 68EN360 QUICC chip, the VSBC-32 3U VMEbus single-board computer simultaneously implements a Profibus and an Ethernet node. Each of the QUICC chip’s four serial- communications controllers can be configured, through the use of piggyback and mezzanine modules, to function as an optoisolated 1.5-Mbaud Profibus fieldbus node, a 10-Mbaud Ethernet (10Base5, 10Base2, or 10- BaseT) node, or as a full RS-232C modem (or optoisolated RS-232C port). Supplied with 4 Mbytes of DRAM, 1 Mbyte of EEPROM, and an Ethernet piggyback module, the VSBC-32 costs $1495. PEP Modular Computers, Scottsdale, AZ. (800) 228-1737.

i960 HX processor powers PCI board. The PCI-913 enhances embedded and real-time systems by applying RISC processing power to I/O and multiprocessing tasks. Based on Intel’s superscalar i960 HX microprocessor in three core speeds, the PCI-913 addresses up to 128 Mbytes of interleaved fast-page-mode DRAM and up to 2 Mbytes of programmable flash ROM. Also included are the Squall II Module interface for I/O expansion and the Breeze development environment in flash ROM. The PCI-913 costs $986 (1000). Cyclone Microsystems, New Haven, CT. (203) 786-5536.

Operating system controls embedded processors. A standards-based scalable operating system, Unison/Embedded, addresses the requirements of embedded applications using ADSP-21060, PowerPC, MC68K, i860, TMS320C3x and C4x, AM29K, and MIPS 3000 processors. The operating system supports 184 POSIX.1b, pSOSystem, and VxWorks calls. These compatibility libraries permit the use of existing device drivers or application code. Prices start at $9995 for full source code and unlimited binary rights. Multiprocessor Toolsmiths Inc, Kanata, ON, Canada. (613) 599-6565.

ICE for Am29040 gives user-defined trace control. Providing full-speed emulation of the Am29040 RISC processor, the SYS29K-Manx in-circuit emulator (ICE) lets you choose which synchronous samples to capture in the trace buffer, even when instructions are executed from cache. Overlay-memory options include 256 kbytes and 1 or 4 Mbytes. The device accommodates 8-, 16-, and 32-bit bus widths. An optional real-time profiler monitors processor activity on every clock cycle. In addition to the Am29040, the standard probe head supports the Am29030 and Am29035. The SYS29K-Manx costs $24,995. Embedded Performance Inc, Milpitas, CA. (408) 434-2210.

Emulation systems target TMS320C3x, C4x, and C8x DPSs. Hosted on either a PC or Sun workstation, a line of emulator-debuggers for the TMS320C3x, C4x, and C8x floating-point DSPs supports both native and remote debugging with backplane, ribbon cable, and Ethernet target connections. The AXDS family work with Ariel’s DSP boards; the UXDS versions work with any DSP board that provides a JTAG header. Both versions provide C and assembly language source-level debugging and full-speed nonintrusive JTAG emulation of one or more processors. Prices range from $1495 to $4995, depending on the host and target configuration. Ariel Corp, Highland Park, NJ. (908) 249-2900.

Board links GPS receiver to PC-104 bus. The SATPAK-104 carrier board adapts a Trimble CM2/CM3, a Rockwell MicroTracker-LP, or a Motorola VP Oncore GPS receiver to the PC-104 bus. Operating from a single 5V supply, the SATPAK-104 converts the TTL communication signals of the selected receiver to either single-ended RS-232C or differential RS-422 voltage levels. It also generates the voltage needed to retain the almanac, ephemeris, and real-time clock of the GPS receiver. The board costs <$100 (100). Zeli Systems, El Paso, TX. (915) 751-3222.