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RTOS News

CMX continues to offer the largest selection of supported processors of any commercial RTOS manufacturer. Here is the latest news:

ARM7, ARM7TDMI

The small CMX-Tiny+ RTOS is right now being ported to the ARM7 and ARM7TDMI (Thumb) series of processors. The CMX-Tiny+ RTOS is intended for those embedded applications in which only the onboard ROM/RAM of the processor will be used. This new port will offer developers using the ARM processor another RTOS option, in addition to the popular CMX-RTX RTOS that also supports the ARM series of processors.

ZiLOG Z8 Encore!

CMX-Tiny+ has also been ported to the ZiLOG Z8 Encore! series of

CMX-Tiny+ processors.

This is the first RTOS that we are aware of that supports this popular 8-bit processor. Embedded developers using the Z8 now have an opportunity to enhance their designs with a truly preemptive RTOS.

Summary of CMX-Tiny+ Supported Platforms

Since the list of CMX-Tiny+ supported processors continues to grow, we felt that it would be worthwhile to provide the complete list of currently supported processors:

CMX-Tiny+ currently supports the ARM, Atmel AVR, the Infineon 80C16x, CMX-Tiny+ the Microchip dsPIC, the Motorola 68HC08, the NEC 78K0, the NEC 78K0S, the NEC V850, the Renesas H8/300, the Renesas H8/300H, the Renesas H8S, the STMicroelectronics ST7, the STMicroelectronics ST10, the Texas Instruments MSP 430, the Toshiba TLCS-900, the XEMICS CoolRISC816, the XEMICS XE8000, and the ZiLOG Z8 Encore series of processors.

TCP/IP News

SNMP V1 & V2c

A major development effort is now underway for the development of an SNMP V1 & V2c Add-On Option for the tiny CMX-MicroNet TCP/IP stack. CMX has spent years researching a way to offer this functionality for embedded developers using 8-bit or 16-bit processors. Most SNMP implementations require a minimum of 50K bytes of ROM, not including the TCP/IP stack which makes it impractical for many smaller processors. However, the new SNMP Add-On Option for CMX-MicroNet is targeted for a ROM footprint of under 20K bytes of ROM. CMX is currently at the Alpha stage of development of the new code and hopes to be in Beta release in a few weeks. Please contact CMX if you would like to participate in the Beta trials.

CMX-MicroNet Training Opportunities

Insight Memec Seminars

Insight Memec is offering another of their popular Zero to Expert Hands-On Seminar series through August of this year. These free, one-day seminars will offer embedded developers direct experience developing applications with the Silicon Labs (formerly Cygnal) high performance microcontroller family of products and includes an embedded Web Server development segment using CMX-MicroNet. A link to a complete description of the training sessions and the current schedule/locations can be found on the CMX home page.

Other Embedded Software Products

CMX Flash File Systems

CMX now offers the following Flash File Systems for use by embedded developers:

CMX-FFS is the standard edition flash file system for embedded systems developers and includes 100% Failsafe, Multiple volumes, Wear-leveling, Directories, Boot sector support, and Standard drivers for NOR Flash chips as well as RAM.

CMX-FFS-NAND is a NAND Flash driver for CMX-FFS and includes 100% Failsafe, Wear-leveling, and ECC algorithm.

CMX-FFS-FAT is a full-featured file system for embedded systems developers who wish to add devices to their products that require FAT12/16/32 compliant media to be attached to them and includes Long filenames, Multiple Volumes, and the following Drivers: Compact Flash (True IDE and Memory I/O), MMC/SD (SPI S/W or H/W) and RAM.

CMX-FFS-THIN is a scalable, reduced footprint file system designed for integration with 8-bit or 16-bit embedded processors with limited resources and includes FAT 12/16/32, Long file names, and the following Drivers: Compact Flash (True IDE and Memory I/O), MMC/SD (SPI S/W or H/W) and RAM.

The above CMX Flash File Systems are integrated with CMX RTOSes and TCP/IP stacks, but may also be used as standalone systems.

Well, that is the latest on the CMX newsfront for the Second Quarter of 2004. Look for our next newsletter in Q3 and, of course, please feel free to get back to us sooner for the latest ports, products, etc. Something new and exciting is always in the works at CMX!

ADDI-DATA will issue this summer a new generation of boards developed for the universal bus 3.3V/5V

- APCI-1648 - APCI-1696 bidirectional TTL I/O, configurable through software
- APCI-7300-2 - 1-port serial interface with MX modules
- APCI-7420-2 - 2-port serial interface with MX modules
- APCI-7500-2 - 4-port serial interface with MX modules
- APCI-7500-2/4C - 4-port serial interface with MX modules with 4 pieces of 9 -pin SUB-D connector, no separate cable is necessary any longer
- the present version of the boards APCI-7300, APCI-7420, APCI-7500 will still be available

Following boards are already implemented on 3.3V/5V technology
- APCI-3701 - length and path measurement
- APCI-8001 (on request) - Motion control

Following standard boards will be available soon:
- APCI-3002 - 16 channels fast analog input board, 16-bit, with optical isolation
- APCI-3003 - analog input board, simultaneous acquisition, 16-bit
- And far more new analog input and output boards to come ...

WWW.ADDI-DATA.COM to get more information about those products

What is I2C, and how can I profit from it?
The I2C Bus has been around for some time, but not everyone knows where it started and why it has become so popular. To answer these questions and how you can profit from using I2C in your next product or project, MCC has created a short description of I2C, its past, present, and future.
(http://www.mcc-us.com/I2CBusTechnicalOverview.pdf)

Featured Product

iPort/AFM I2C Bus Host Adapter
The iPort/AFM (#MIIC-203) RS-232 to I2C Host Adapter is our most powerful and fastest I2C Bus host adapter. With its simple ASCII text command interface, the iPort/AFM is designed to work with any computer with an RS-232 serial port.

The iPort/AFM can be a bus master or slave. As a slave, the iPort/AFM can respond to a user selected slave address and the I2C General Call address (0x00). The iPort/AFM supports multi-master operations, arbitration detection, clock-stretching by a slave device, and the optional /INTerrupt signal found on some I2C devices.

Enhanced features include I2C Bus mastering at 23, 86, 100, or 400 kHz Bit Rates, RS-232 baud rates of 19,200, 57,600, or 115,200, and eXtended commands for low-level access to I2C signals making it compatible with many "I2C-like" devices. The iPort/AFM also has a fast processor, larger data buffers, and firmware optimization. Based upon a Philips Semiconductor microcontroller, the iPort/AFM provides our best implementation of I2C Bus technology, and is fully licensed to use this technology.
(http://www.mcc-us.com/iportfaq.htm) Product Previews

Solution for Low Voltage I2C Bus Applications

Are you working with 3.3V, 2.5 V, 1.8 V, or even 1.5 V pull-ups on your I2C Bus? MCC's iVoLT (I2C Voltage Level Translator) performs I2C Bus voltage translation. The iVoLT allows any MCC I2C host adapter to operate in low voltage I2C Bus applications.
(http://www.mcc-us.com/iVoLT_Data_Sheet.pdf)

ESD Protection Device Protects I2C Bus Devices

Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) can damage I2C Bus devices. This is especially true in factory-floor/production-line environments, where devices are continually connected and disconnect from the bus. MCC's iProTx solves this problem by protecting I2C Bus devices from signal and power line transients.
(http://www.mcc-us.com/iProTx_Data_Sheet_R1.pdf)