Embedded Systems: August 1, 1996

Real-time kernel add-on offers HTTP server functions.

Part of the Embedded Internet software family for the pSOSystem real-time operating system, the pSOS/HTTP server converts embedded systems into World Wide Web servers. The software component supports the industry-standard HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) 1.0 and serves all HTTP-compatible clients. The pSOS/HTTP Server also complies with the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) 1.1 protocol, allowing execution of native pSOS tasks using the CGI protocol with inputs and outputs to client-application code. The pSOS/HTTP server development package for Motorola 68k processors lists for $5000. Integrated Systems Inc, Santa Clara, CA. (408) 980-1500.

SCSI board connects to CompactPCI bus.

Based on an Adaptec RISC SCSI controller, the ZT 6620 interface board merges the Wide SCSI protocol with the CompactPCI bus. The board handles SCSI data transfers as fast as 20 Mbytes/sec, and CompactPCI burst transfers reach 132 Mbytes/sec. The 3U form-factor board has two 16-bit-wide SCSI-3 connectors and one 8-bit SCSI-2 connector. Depending on DOS and BIOS limitations, a single 16-bit connector allows as many as 15 devices; an 8-bit connector allows as many as seven devices. The ZT 6620 costs $495. Ziatech Corp, San Luis Obispo, CA. (805) 541-0488.

68000 µP-development tools run under Windows 95/NT.

Hosted on a PC running Windows 95 or Windows NT, a line of C/C++ software-development tools lets you develop embedded applications for Motorola's 68000 processors. The set of tools includes the Xray debugger simulator, Xray debugger monitor for cross development, and C/C++ cross compilers. The Xray debugger uses a Windows-oriented interface that lets you step through and simultaneously view source code, continuously monitor variables and expressions, trace function calls, and set simple and complex breakpoints. The Windows 95 Xray debugger costs $2420; C and C++ compilers cost $2000 and $2200, respectively. Microtec Research Inc, Santa Clara, CA. (408) 980-1300.

SBC packs 486DX4/5 x86 on half-sized ISA-bus card.

The VIPer805 gives you a choice of 486DX2, DX4, or 5x86 µPs, and an onboard plug-and-play SMC FDC37C932 Ultra I/O controller enables high board-level integration. Used as a stand-alone unit or on an ISA-bus passive-backplane system, the half-sized single-board computer (SBC) ac-commodates as much as 4 Mbytes of bootable flash EPROM and as much as 128 Mbytes of DRAM. It includes a PC/104 expansion header and parallel, serial, and IDE connections. A 66-MHz 486-DX2 configuration costs $742. Teknor Industrial Computers Inc, Boisbriand, PQ, Canada. (514) 437-5682.

Processor probes team with third-party software tools.

Hewlett-Packard's processor probes for the PowerPC 603 and 603e work with Software Development Systems' SingleStep On-Chip Debugger to provide a seamless environment for code development and hardware/software integration. You can also use HP's PowerPC 603 and Pentium processor probes with Green Hills' C, C++, and Fortran compilers and Multi development environment. Probe prices start at $3995. The SingleStep debugger starts at $2200 for Windows and $3000 for Unix. A Multi package with C compiler costs $4200 for Windows and $7900 for Unix. Hewlett-Pack-ard Co, Santa Clara, CA. (800) 452-4844, ext 1651.

MCS96 compiler conforms to ANSI C standard.

Version 5 of the C 196 compiler for the MCS96 family of 16- and 20-bit microcontrollers im-proves application code size and speed. Compliant with ANSI C, V5 compiles C source code into relocatable object code using four optimization levels. The compiler directly generates OMF-96 object modules with optional pseudoassembly listings, including line numbers and file names. The ChipView-196 debugger, which works with the compiler, comes with a simulator for testing and debugging code independently of hardware. Prices start at $1500 for C 196 V5 and $795 for the ChipView-196 simulator. Both packages run under DOS and Windows. Boston Systems Office/Tasking, Dedham, MA. (617) 320-9400.

V.34 modem software drives TMS320C DSPs.

These software implementations of the V.34 modem standard are for the Texas Instruments' floating-point TMS320C3x and TMS-320C4x DSPs and for the fixed-point TMS320C54X processor. Fully compliant with ITU standards, the software is written in assembly code for peak performance in terms of both MIPS and memory. The license fee for the software is $199,000, plus royalties. GAO Re-earch & Consulting Ltd, Scarborough, ON, Canada. (416) 292-0038.

C/C++ compilers generate code for PowerPC.

Ra-tional Apex C/C++ Cross, an integrated software-engineering environment, helps design, develop, and maintain complex C and C++ applications. The system includes a cross compiler, a target-oriented source-level debugger, a code-rule checker, and a program browser. The cross compiler provides code generation for the PowerPC family of processors. Rational Apex C/C++ Cross also comes with a support package for Motorola's PowerPC development and evaluation boards for the VMEbus. Prices start at $14,000. Rational Software Corp, Santa Clara, CA. (408) 496-3600.

LAN-emulation software merges Ethernet and ATM.

Adaptec's LAN-emulation software emulates an Ethernet network on ATM, allowing network applications to run transparently over ATM networks. The software also lets ATM and Ethernet users communicate and share common re-sources. Compliant with version 1.0 of the LAN Emulation specification from the ATM Forum, the software runs under Windows NT, Windows 95, Sun Solaris, SunOS, OS/2, DOS/Windows, and NetWare. The software comes with all of the company's ATM ad-apters, or you can obtain a free copy at http://www.adaptec.com/networking/ATM.html. Adaptec Inc, Milpitas, CA. (408) 945-8600.

Quadrature counter comes on stackable PC/104 card.

The 4I30 supplies four 32-bit up/down- counters with quadrature-count inputs and per-channel index inputs on a stackable PC/104 module. Both the quadrature and index inputs offer TTL or RS-422 levels, jumper-selectable in groups of two channels. Maximum count rate is 1.5 million/sec; count range is from -2,147,483,648 to +2,147,483,647 or from 0 to 4,294,967,295. You can configure one counter to provide a timing reference for velocity calculations, in-stead of having a quadrature input, The 4I30 costs $159 (five). Mesa Electronics, Emeryville, CA. (510) 547-0837.

Economical development system programs PIC16 µCs.

A low-cost version of the PICSTART microcontroller-development system works with PIC16C5X and PIC16CXX 8-bit microcontrollers. PICSTART Lite comes with the MPASM assembler, MPSIM software simulator, and PICSTART programmer host software, along with a 3×5-in. development board and representative microcontroller sample. MPASM is a PC-based symbolic cross assembler that converts source code into object code. PICSTART Lite-16B1 and Lite-16C cost $69 and $79, respectively. Microchip Technology Inc, Chandler, AZ. (602) 786-7200.

VMEbus SBCs run Alpha processor to 288 MHz.

Two single-board computers (SBCs) based on the 21064A Alpha processor double the CPU performance of the vendor's AXPvme 230 board. The Alpha VME 4/224 and 4/288 offer CPU speeds of 224 and 288 MHz. The 4/288 has an estimated performance rating of >200 SPECint92. Both models have an onboard PCI bus for interconnecting SCSI, Ethernet, and VMEbus interfaces. You can configure the board to accept one double-width or two single-width PCI-mezzanine cards with an optional I/O companion card. Prices range from $8000 to $15,000 for the 4/224 and from $11,000 to $17,000 for the 4/288. Digital Equipment Corp, Maynard, MA. (800) 332-2717.

ICE teams with debugger for 32-bit RISC processors.

Based on Yokogawa's debugging technology, the company's Advice family of in-circuit emulators (ICEs) provides full-speed zero-wait-state emulation of the Sharp ARM7, the Motorola ColdFire 5202, and the Hitachi SH3 32-bit RISC processors. The emulator works with MicroView-G, a GUI high-level debugger and emulator interface operating on either Unix Motif or Windows hosts. MicroView-G offers C/C++ source-level debugging, including multiple stepping options, source browsing, and stack inspection. Prices, which are the same for the three versions, start at $19,995, including 8 kbytes of trace and 256 kbytes of overlay memory. Orion Instruments Inc, Sunnyvale, CA. (408) 747-0440.

6U system drives 14 PCI-card slots without a bridge.

Ziatech's 6U CompactPCI system, based on a 6U CPU card that drives two CompactPCI buses, provides access to 14 Compact-PCI cards without an external bridge. Two connectors on the ZT5510 Pentium CPU card accommodate a total of 14 slots. A third connector, based on the VME P0/J0 standard, provides rear connections for the card's onboard I/O facilities. The ZT5510 also accommodates the Universal Serial Bus and connects standard peripheral devices over a single cable. The system costs $3300. Ziatech Corp, San Luis Obispo, CA. (805) 541-0488.

DSP board supplies 64 telephone channels.

Doubling its previous capacity, the TAP-800 DSP resource board provides 64 telephone channels and operates with both the MVIP and SCSA buses. The board performs as many as 360 Mflops and juggles multiple applications using the vendor's TDMRouter and Resource Manager software. Analogic also supplies DSP Software Engineering's vocoder and line-echo-cancellation algorithms for the TAP-800. Prices start at $2595. Analogic Corp, Peabody, MA. (508) 977-3000.

Embedded BIOS gains flash-disk support.

Flash-disk features integrated into AMD's Embedded BIOS 3.1 enable General Software's flash-memory devices to be designed into consumer- electronic products as a wear-leveled disk that can be read and written to >1 million times without failure. The flash-disk software targets the Am29F010 and Am29F040 high-capacity sectored flash parts as well as the Am29F100, Am29F200 and Am29F400 boot-block devices. Embedded BIOS adaptation kits with full source code and the flash-disk software cost $4995. BIOS/DOS/Flash disk royalties start at $4/copy in single quantities. General Software, Bellevue, WA. (206) 454-5755.

Module set implements high-density radio receiver.

A DDR module set, consisting of the MDC44DDC narrowband receiver module and the MD70MAI analog input module, lets you construct an eight-channel radio receiver—from intermediate frequency through audio frequency—using a single VMEbus or PC Card slot. The set, which is based on four 60-Mflops C44 DSPs and an octal digital converter, can be used for military and C3I applications, such as wireless surveillance. Simultaneous tuning of an unlimited number of narrowband signals is accomplished by daisy-chaining the MDC44DDC to make the input signal available to as many digital down-converters as required. The MDC44DDC costs $7900; the MD70MAI costs $2900. Spectrum Signal Processing Inc, Burnaby, BC, Canada. (604) 421-5422.

Custom-code generator uses state charts and Petri nets.

BetterState CCG automatically generates source code for a language or an HDL using state charts and Petri nets that you design. The software produces the source files needed to develop the custom code and code-generation dialogues for the target language, whether the language is commercial or proprietary. BetterState CCG, which runs on any IBM PC or compatible under Windows NT, 95, and 3.1, costs $9995. R-Active Concepts Inc, Cupertino, CA. (408) 252-2808.

VMEbus system tackles complex I/O-control tasks.

An industrial data-acquisition and control system for the VMEbus offers a range of I/O options and a Windows-based object-oriented development environment. The RTP 2100 is based on a VMEbus embedded PC/AT controller with a 66-MHz 486DX2 processor, an Ethernet, SVGA, two serial ports, 2 Mbytes of flash memory, and 4 Mbytes of DRAM. Gello, the RTP 2100's GUI-based 4-GL programming environment, allows complex analog processes to be created by connecting ISA-standard symbols in a hierarchical design. DDE server support lets you integrate the system with virtually any man-machine interface, such as Intellution or Wonderware. I/O options include analog, digital, counter, relay thermocouple, and serial boards. Prices start at $8500, not including I/O. RTP Corp, Pompano Beach, FL. (954) 974-5500.

ISA-bus SBCs have many Pentium configurations.

Pentium-based single-board computers (SBCs) and backplanes provide a range of processor speeds for industrial and embedded systems, as well as PCI-bus and PC/104 interfaces. All of the computer boards in the GMS-P5 series give you a choice of speeds from 75 to 166 MHz; 256 or 512 kbytes of cache; Award BIOS; watchdog timers; and IDE, floppy, parallel, and serial ports. Both full- and half-sized ISA-bus boards are available. Prices start at about $350 (OEM). Granite Microsystems, Mequon, WI. (414) 242-8816.

166-MHz PC/AT SBC rides VMEbus.

The XVME-655 PC/AT single-board computer (SBC) directs the power of a 166-MHz Pentium processor over the PCI bus to communicate with the VMEbus, SVGA controller, EIDE controller, and optional Ethernet controller. Contained on a single 6U VMEbus module are all of the standard PC/AT features, including two serial ports with buffered UARTs, a parallel port, a keyboard port, and a floppy-disk controller. Two 72-pin SIMM sites accommodate up to 64 Mbytes of EDO RAM. The XVME-655's SVGA controller allows resolutions of up to 1024×768 pixels and 256 colors. From $2600. Xycom, Saline, MI. (313) 429-4971.

Multimedia-development system handles low-level functions.

The QED-68EC030 Quick Embedded Development system for multimedia applications comes with a graphical-user API that eliminates the need for low-level hardware programming. The system is based on a Motorola 68EC030 microcontroller coupled with an SVGA chip set, an audio codec, a Xilinx FPGA, six RS-232C ports, and two RS-485 serial ports. The Platinum-level system also comes with a custom built test fixture, Pentium-based PC with all software preconfigured for the compiler and debugger, and all development tools preinstalled. Prices range from $25,000 to $125,000. Kevin Sharp Enterprises Inc, Murfreesboro, TN. (915) 895-9099

Dual-memory SBC uses I/O operations.

The CVME965 uses a dual memory architecture to eliminate bottlenecks and processor shutout common in high-speed embedded I/O systems. The design allocates private memory for the processor and shares global or packet memory between the processor and I/O devices. In addition to an i960HD66 Superscalar RISC processor, the CVME965 has two Squall II module positions for I/O-intensive applications. Cyclone offers >35 modules for use with the CVME965, including ATM-OC3, 100-Mbit Ethernet, dual 10BaseT, and SCSI-2 versions. The board costs $2346 (250). Cyclone Microsystems, New Haven, CT. (203) 786-5536.

Modules meet VMEbus and IndustryPack specifications.

Four IndustryPack modules extend this line of I/O products. The VME3SC2 is a VMEbus 3U carrier board that accommodates two single-width IP modules in one VMEbus slot. Based on magnetically shielded relays, the REED25 IP module offers up to 125 discrete outputs through a single VMEbus 6U slot. The TESTIP carrier tester offers a 1-MHz, 16-bit, read-on-the-fly timer, an interrupt engine, and 111 read/write memory locations. The IP Extender Toolkit lets you position an IP module up to 2 ft away from any carrier board. Respective prices for the VME3SC2, REED25, TESTIP, and IP Extender Toolkit are $375, $365, $330, and $280. Systran Corp, Dayton, OH. (513) 252-5601.

Modules for STD 32 computers extend I/O options.

Three types of APIX I/O modules expand the variety of industrial interfaces available for STD 32 computer systems. DAQPAK I/O modules provide various functions, including several types of analog and digital I/O, thermocouple inputs, counter/timers, and encoder inputs. Isoguard modules offer up to 1000V of isolation and signal conditioning, and an Isonet STD 32 interface card and remote panels and modules form a fiber-optic communications network. Daqpaks range from $115 to $275; Isoguard modules cost $90 to $195. The Isonet interface card sells for $825. Ziatech Corp, San Luis Obispo, CA. (805) 541-0488.