Circuit Cellar Ink 93
April 1998

Table of Contents

2


Ken Davidson

Task Manager

Under the Hood

6

Reader I/O

Letters to the Editor

8


Harv Weiner

New Product News

  • TC642 brushless DC fan manager from TelCom Semiconductor, Inc.
  • PMC/16101 analog I/O card from Loughborough Sound Images
  • Portable Energy System from SunWize Technologies, Inc.
  • Super-compact DC-DC converters from Xentek Power Systems, Inc.
  • MotionNet MN100 from MicroKinectics Corp.
  • DS2437 battery monitor from Dallas Semiconductor

12


Tracey Lee

HTML, HTML DSP Boot-Loading Techniques

Memory speed hasn't kept up with the speed increases of micros, especially DSPs, where EPROM acts as a bottleneck. Rather than slowing the DSP down, Tracey uses a PIC to load SRAM with external code and then wake the DSP up.

Download: picboot.ZIP

18


G.Y. Xu

8x51 EPROM/Flash Microcontroller Programmer

With all the 8051s out there, it's nice to have one programmer that fits all. That's what Xu shows us -- a universal 8051 programmer that can blank check, read, write, and verify EPROM- and flash-based MCUs.

Download: ledshow.ZIP

Note: Information about chip availability from Tom Riggs in INK 96 Reader I/O

22


Vincent Rikkink

CoolRISC

The Low-Power Microprocessor Solution

Standard 8-bit micros -- the 68HCxx, PIC16/17xxx, and 8051/8031 -- offer low power consumption, but at a price: they need several clocks to execute one instruction. CoolRISC manages to offer both low power and fast execution.

30


Tom Napier

PDF, PDF HTML, HTML, HTML Picaro

A Stamp-like Interpreted Controller

For years, Tom's been itching to control the instruction sets of processors. Using a PIC, some memory, and an interpreter, he bypasses the processor hurdle and writes his own language. He shows you how to do it, too.

Download: picaro_UPDATED!.ZIP

Note: Corrections in INK 95 Reader I/O.

Embedded PC

42


Harv Weiner

Nouveau PC

  • 33.6K PC/104 and STD bus modems from WinSystems, Inc.
  • PMXVX Pentium MMX SBC from Interlogic Industries
  • AIM104-KEYDISP keypad/LCD interface from Arcom Control Systems
  • TNT Embedded ToolSuite V.9.0 from Phar Lap Software, Inc.
  • PCI-972 PCI+ISA backplane from Teknor Industrial Computers, Inc.
  • Proto-8 PC/104 development modules from Scidyne

Embedded PC

46


Chuck Lewin

PCs Move into Motion

PCs are reshaping motion control. Many specialized motion-language cards are being replaced with a mix of desktop PCs, motion chipsets, and motion peripherals, with the PC carrying much of the load.

Embedded PC

53


Ingo Cyliax

PDF, PDF HTML, HTML, HTML Real-Time PC

Software Development for RTOSs

Reusability is critical to software development. So, this month, Ingo shows us how to port programs written in our favorite programming languages into two popular RTOSs. He then debugs the code with target- and host-based debuggers.

Note: Comment by Tom Moran in INK 96 Reader I/O.

Embedded PC

61


Fred Eady

Applied PCs

Embedding PC Card, Part 2: Getting in Touch

You've got a service console with no ports for a printer, display, keyboard, or mouse. How do you talk to this thing? Using diagnostic code, a PC Card, and an touchscreen controller, Fred puts together an interface that's just what you need.

65

Advertiser's Index

68


Joe DiBartolomeo

MicroSeries

EMI Gone Technical, Part 3: Protection Components

Last month, Joe gave us the lowdown on common suppression devices. This time, he preps us on zener diodes, TVS thyristors, TVS diodes, and a whole lot more. Come catch the performance differences.

74


Jeff Bachiochi

From the Bench

Rebirth of the Z8, Part 1: An Old Friend Comes to Visit

It's been a while since Jeff got up close and personal with Zilog's Z8 micros. He almost forgot how comfortable this old friend can be. Part 1 brings us up to date with the Z8 family devlopments.

82


Tom Cantrell

Silicon Update

VolksArray

Xilinx's Spartan reminds Tom of a VW Bug -- simple, good value. However, it also offers the style and good design of a high-end Porsche. It even provides user RAM and a flexible interconnect system.

96


Steve Ciarcia

HTML Priority Interrupt

What You Get with a Handshake

Note: Comments by Chris Kracht and Larry Pajakowski in INK 95 Reader I/O. Comment by Jim Stewart in INK 96 Reader I/O.

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