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New Microcontroller is Web Enabled
Dallas Semiconductor Re-Engineers Its Microcontrollers For Network Computing
Dallas Semiconductor (now part of Analog Devices) have announced the introduction of microcontrollers that can directly serve up web pages.
TINI™ (Tiny InterNet Interface) is a
microcontroller-based development platform that executes code for embedded
web servers. Remote devices can have preferences and settings adjusted
from afar, just by having their administrator browse a web page hosted by
the microcontroller-no other computers required.
The TINI development platform combines a
powerful chipset and a Java™ runtime environment that exposes the
extensive I/O capability of the Dallas microcontrollers. A Java programmer
accesses the I/O from robust APIs (Application Program Interfaces) that
include Ethernet, RS-232 serial, I2C, 1-Wire® net, CAN (Controller Area
Network) and memory-mapped parallel bus. By using these APIs, programmers
code functions without worrying about the underlying interface to hardware
peripherals. The runtime environment is tightly coded for optimized
network communications and efficient device I/O throughput.
“A device having a 115.2 kbps RS-232 serial input stream can
continuously feed into a 10/100 Ethernet hub and still have idle CPU time
for headroom,” says Clayton Ware, TINI product manager.
“We carefully coded the runtime environment to improve system
performance and reduce the memory footprint. Our studies of Java-coded
applications connected to real-world devices concluded that the most
expensive part of the chipset was memory. We chose the high-speed Dallas
microcontrollers over other architectures because we could code the
runtime with substantially less memory. Our research indicated that a
runtime environment with the customer-driven features and benefits of the
TINI platform would require 53% or larger memory footprint if implemented
on any other processor architecture.”
The full and complete runtime environment
uses only 384 kbytes of Flash ROM and includes a full TCP/IP network
protocol stack, a 25-kbyte JVM (Java Virtual Machine)
and all of the a la carte APIs for device I/O. The APIs were coded in Java and reduced 65%
using a class file optimizer. Furthermore, user application code can use
the same space-saving technique to minimize memory usage. A compact memory
footprint means more applications can meet the threshold of affordability
and still benefit from the flexibility of the TINI runtime.
To give system developers a head start, the TINI Verification Module
(DS-TINI-1) is built on a 31.8 x 102.9 x 9.5mm 72-pin SIMM using the TINI
chipset. All of the chips are available as catalog items and can be
purchased individually. A given application always includes the
microcontroller but only uses the additional chips from the reference
design to the extent needed. The DS-TINI-1 is based on the DS80C390
microcontroller and exposes the rich I/O capabilities provided by the
platform. By using the DS-TINI-1 verification module, application software
development can be performed simultaneously with hardware design.
The DS-TINI-1 is a proven and commercially available reference
implementation for the TINI chipset.
Its design details are published on the web
and can be reused for specific implementations of the chipset. For
embedded network devices where the SIMM form factor is desirable, the
DS-TINI-1 is available to meet volume production requirements.
TINI's microcontroller is capable of adding intelligence to many
everyday devices that require small size, low power consumption,
affordability and continuous uptime. This platform is standards-based both
in its operating environment and in the support it gives to the underlying
Internet technology, including protocols such as HTTP, TCP, UDP, IGMP and
PPP. TINI developers write application software on top of the TINI
platform to create network-based information systems. For many
applications the coding can be all Java. For special situations the Java
program can call on routines stored in native libraries. It is also
possible to use a dedicated coprocessor like the DS87C520 microcontroller
to handle time critical operations like continuously scanning a keyboard
or driving a display.
TINI supports coprocessor connections with its serial and parallel
APIs. The TINI I/O is kept open-ended using the 1-Wire net API to actuate
switches and sense a distributed environment. The
lighting control and door entry system sidebars
are examples of extending
TINI's microcontroller to the physical world using 1-Wire nets.
The path to the Internet can be wired or wireless. Steven Knudsen,
Senior Vice President and CTO of PsiNaptic Communications said, “We saw
the convergence of Java, Jini™ and low-cost wireless networking long ago.
We wanted to give people a chance to put wireless Jini into the last place
you'd want to have an IP address. When it came time to implement a
cost-effective solution that met our requirements for size, power
consumption and price range, TINI filled the bill. Merging TINI with
Bluetooth™ has been a breeze, both on the hardware and on the software
side.”
With the ability to support both wired and
wireless networking, TINI is ideally situated for serving data from
embedded devices. One of the first applications of the TINI platform has
been to network legacy equipment that supports serial communications such
as environmental sensors and controls. For example, a thermostat is a
sensor/actuator with an often untapped potential for additional energy
savings and enhanced comfort. Temperature setback is made more convenient
using the computational resources of the network. For some customers, a
Web-enabled thermostat would be the ultimate in convenience.
Said Clayton Ware, “There are innumerable devices designed for
standalone operation that can be much more serviceable if they become part
of a network. TINI has a dual role of a bridge to the Internet as well as
local, off-line control.”
Dallas is completing the design of TINI's next generation
microcontroller, the DS80C400. This microcontroller further reduces
overall system cost by integrating the processor with the Ethernet network
controller. The DS80C400 also increases system performance with its faster
processing, lower power consumption and enhanced I/O capabilities.
According to Matt Adams, manager of Dallas
Semiconductor's microcontroller design group, “With the development of the
TINI platform, we are systematically reducing the chip count of the
chipset for cost, size and power reduction.”
The DS80C400 will be
shipping before year end with 10/100 Ethernet MAC and a 64 kbyte ROM
containing a TCP/IP network stack supporting both IPv4 and IPv6. The chip
also includes a CAN controller, three serial UARTs, a 1-Wire net
controller, up to eight 8-bit bi-directional I/O ports with the ability to
address up to 16 Mbytes external memory all for less than $15.00. As
befits its acronym, TINI conquers the extreme size and cost limitations
required to make the Internet viable for embedded system control.
The Analog Devices website address is www.analog.com.
[Reprinted with kind permission from Dallas Semiconductor]