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Tiny Linux board web-enables embedded designs

Jun 23, 2005 — by Henry Kingman — from the LinuxDevices Archive — views

SSV is shipping a tiny Coldfire (68K) SBC that fits in a 169-pin Socket3 PGA socket. The DIL/NetPC PNP/5280 has several Ethernet port options, and is available with an embedded Linux starter kit. It targets telematics applications and is useful for network-enabling existing embedded product designs, SSV says.

(Click for larger view of PNP/5280 Linux Starter Kit)

The PNP/5280 is based on a 169-pin PGA pinout with 2.54mm pin-to-pin centers, enabling it to be easily integrated into existing systems and equipment, according to SSV — for example, to add web, telnet, and/or ftp interfaces to existing embedded product designs. The board may appeal especially to telematics equipment designers, since it is available with C code for implementing a CANbus-to-Ethernet gateway.

The PNP/8280 measures 1.8 x 1.8 inches (45 x 45 mm), about twice as large, in terms of surface area, as SSV's boards based on 64-pin DIL (dual inline) form factors, including the DNP/5282 and DNP/5280.

Like SSV's DNP/528x boards, the PNP/5280 is based on a Freescale MCF5282, a 32-bit microcontroller based on a 32-bit 66MHz ColdFire (68K) core.


Freescale MCF5282 layout diagram

The DNP/5282 includes 8MB of of Flash, and 16MB of SDRAM. Peripheral interfaces include two UARTs, SPI, I2C, CAN, a 32-bit bus interface, and parallel GPIO. It supports BDM debugging compliant with Freescale specifications, SSV says. Additionally, the DNP/5282 is available with three Ethernet options, including an external MII, PHY, or on-board three-port switch.


PNP/5280 board diagram

Linux options

The PNP/5280 is available preinstalled with a Linux environment that includes a TCP/IP stack and web, telnet, and ftp servers. An inexpensive embedded Linux Starter Kit adds GNU-based cross-development tools. The tools support Linux hosts, but can also run on Windows hosts in conjunction with coLinux — a new feature for SSV's Linux starter kits, SSV says. The Starter Kit also includes sample programs for controlling most interfaces, SSV says, including C source code for implementing a CAN/Ethernet gateway.


 
This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.



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