EDN — 06.20.96 Embedded Systems

Embedded Systems: June 20, 1996

Development tools handle MCS 251 microcontroller variants.

These embedded-system development tools target the latest variants of the MCS 251 microcontroller family, including the 8xC251SP, -SQ, -SA, -SB; the Intel 82930 (USB-compliant); and the Temic/Mahtra MHS MCS 25 derivatives. V1.2 includes two C compilers, a macro assembler, and the company's CrossView ROM monitor debugger. The MCS 251 tool set runs on PC, Sun SPARC, HP 9000, and DEC Alpha platforms. Individual tools start at $395. The PowerPack costs $1895. BSO/Tasking, Dedham, MA. (617) 320-9400.

Tools create multimedia messages for playback on PCs.

Three products let you create Videograms, highly-compressed multimedia presentations that include video, audio, images, and text. The Videogram Player is a utility that plays back the presentation on any Windows PC. QuickVideo is an ISA bus video-capture board with an optional TV tuner. The Videogram Packager converts video clips of various compression formats and resolutions into Videograms with resolutions of 320×240 pixels or smaller. You can download the Videogram Player, as well as a limited shareware version of the Videogram Packager, at no charge from the vendor's Videogram Home Page at http:www.alaris.com or

http:www.videogram.com. The Quick-Video card, including the Videogram Packager, costs $399 ($469 with tuner). Alaris Inc, Fremont, CA. (510) 770-5700.

Evaluation board comes with ColdFire embedded processor.

A series of development tools for Motorola's ColdFire MCF520x embedded-processor series includes the SBC5202 single-board computer, which has as much as 2 Mbytes of flash memory, as much as 2 Mbytes of SRAM, an RS-232C port, expansion connectors for off-board development, and a 26-pin debug control port. The visionIce emulator consists of the visionControl base system and target controller and visionNet for full Ethernet support. visionEVENT, which is scheduled for release in the fourth quarter, lets you add real-time emulation and logic analysis. The SBC5202 costs $1995, visionControl costs $4250, and visionNet costs $6,800. Embedded Support Tools Corp, Canton, MA. (617) 828-5588.

Flat-panel computer board drives 12.1-in. TFT LCD.

Housed in a rugged metal frame, the DisplayPac-P5/XGA combines the power of a Pentium-based single-board computer with a 12.1-in. XGA color thin-film-transistor (TFT) LCD and an optional guided acoustic-wave touch screen. On-board PCI-bus peripherals include a video controller, Ethernet interface, and an enhanced-IDE hard-drive interface. The DisplayPac's LCD has a resolution of 1024×768 pixels with 262,144 colors and a 300-to-1 contrast ratio. The system costs $5834, including a 100-MHz CPU, 4 Mbytes of DRAM, and a touch screen (25). Computer Dynamics, Greenville, SC. (864) 627-8800.

Development tools pick PIC microcontrollers.

The EBP-1000 in-circuit development package for PIC16C84, PIC16C7X, PIC16C6X, PIC16C62X, and PIC14000 microcontrollers combines programmer/downloader hardware with a Windows-based assembler for writing and assembling source code. Simulator software lets you break, step, step over, jump to, run, or animate as much as 4 kbytes of code. Controlled through a PC's parallel port, the downloader plugs directly into the target for real-time execution. The EBP-1000 costs $99 and comes with a parallel cable and ac adapter. EBLabs, Salem, OR. (503) 362-9681.