Minsk, Belarus-based product development firm Promwad has announced a design win for a Linux-based home-automation touchscreen panel. Promwad says it designed the “smart home multimedia control panel” in eight months, for a Swiss automation start-up called Incyma, using a Cirrus Logic EP9307 processor and Poky Linux.

(Click for larger view of Smart Home board)

Promwad specializes in custom Linux development using system-on-chips (SoCs). In April, Promwad announced two design wins, using Linux in data acquisition and information-board controllers.

Promwad built the home automation panel around the Cirrus Logic EP9307. The low-cost SoC runs on a 200MHz ARM9 core, and integrates graphics, audio, network, and other interface controllers. The Smart Home board also includes 32MB SDRAM, 8MB of flash, and a touchscreen with a resolution of 800 x 480.

Smart Home board with display
(Click to enlarge)
The feature list for the Smart Home board includes:

• Processor - Cirrus Logic EP9307 (ARM9) at 200MHz
• Memory — 32MB SDRAM; 8MB of flash
• Display — Hitachi TX18D16VM1CBA touchscreen (800 x 480)
• Networking - 1 x 10/100 Ethernet National Semi DP83848 interface
• WiFi — 802.11b/g (Marvell 88W8385 chipset)
• USB — 1 x host
• Audio — AC`97 interface (AD1981BJSTZ); speaker output; mic input
• Sensors — 1 x luminance (TSL2550T chip); 1 x presence capacitive (Qprox T113-ISG)
• Other connections — CIR (Consumer Infra-Red) port; keyboard; LEDs; DBGU serial port
• Power — 12V or PoE (Power-over-Ethernet); includes interface for lithium-ion batteries
• Operating system — Poky Linux (Linux 2.6.20)

Smart Home board without display
(Click to enlarge)
The Smart Home BSP project took eight months and 210 person days, says Promwad. The company used U-Boot and Poky Linux, a GNOME-based OS from OpenedHand, a British firm that was acquired this week by Intel. Poky Linux includes a GNU libc full-function system library, says Promwad, including GNU Toolchain (gcc, gdb), P-CAD, and ISE. The project team also used C/Ñ++, VHDL, and Verilog programming tools. In addition, Promwad developed the drivers for power management and a presence sensor, and implemented the panel's PoE technology, says the company.

Availability

Promwad's Smart Home BSP has been delivered to Incyma (at presstime, only a placeholder website), but the latter company has not yet announced availability for the final product. More information on the Smart Home BSP may be found here.

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