 Notice. New forum software under development. It's going to miss a few functions and look a bit ugly for a while, but I'm working on it full time now as the old forum was too unstable. Couple days, all good. If you notice any issues, please contact me. |
Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Ethernet For Maximite, Yes its here
| Author | Message | ||||
| rhamer Senior Member  Joined: 06/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 174 |
Well, nearly..... After I argued strongly in another thread not to include ethernet in the Maximite, I sat down and thought about it again. RossW made some good points The main problem that I saw was people say "Add Ethernet" as a throw away line, but what do they really want? Ethernet opens up a whole hornets nest of protocols and the like, so saying "add Ethernet" doesn't really mean much on its own. I still argue that adding the complexity of Ethernet and a few protocols (TCP,UDP,SMTP) would be too much for the Maximite its self, so I looked at doing it outboard. So I am pleased to announce the Maximite Ethernet interface goes into production tomorrow, for release in about 10 days time. However, there is one big short term gotcha. Until the Maximite supports serial comms it cant talk to the ethernet interface. So Geoff I think every properly setup 4WD should have an inbuilt CRO and Logic Analyser for developing serial comms.... Having said that the unit does have a conventional serial port on it as well to allow development with a PC instead of the Maximmite, so the keen people could get started with that. So how does it work? Essentially it is a serial to IP converter (and back again) It does have some other tricks like an inbuilt Web server, SMTP for email and 3 GPIO pins. From the Maximites point of view it's just talking serial data in and out one of its ports, which gets converted to IP (TCP or UDP) by the interface. This in turn can be sent/received by a PC. If you run the virtual Comm Port software the data will appear on that virtual comm port. For the more adventurous, you can open a socket directly to the interface and communicate that way. It is also possible to load custom web pages into the interface and interact that way, via a web browser. I will be adding more information over the next few days to my website, so if your interested, drop by and have a look. Cheers Rohan Rohan Hamer HAMFIELD Software & Hardware Solutions Makers of the Maximite Expander. http://www.hamfield.com.au |
||||
VK6MRG Guru  Joined: 08/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 347 |
Your Awesome Rohan! With a positive attitude anything can be achieved.  Its easier to ask forgiveness than to seek permission! ............VK6MRG.............VK3MGR............ |
||||
| VK6MRG Guru Joined: 08/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 347 |
Rohan, found this on the digilent web site! http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?NavPath=2,396 ,888&Prod=CEREBOT32MX7 6 x 12-pin Pmod™ headers 2 x USB port RJ45 Ethernet port 1 x SPI ports 2 x SPI/UART ports 2 x CAN ports 2 x I2C ports As big Kev once said "I'm Excited!"  Its easier to ask forgiveness than to seek permission! ............VK6MRG.............VK3MGR............ |
||||
| rhamer Senior Member Joined: 06/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 174 |
Are you wanting to run MMbasic on this? I don't think that will work as the I/O layout is most likely completely different. I could be wrong, but I think you would be struggling, and things such as ethernet would not work because there is no IP stack. From what I understand the PIC32 supports the ethernet hardware, but it still needs code to implement the various protocols. There is an IP stack available from the PIC folk, but I have no idea how big it is or whether it is practical to try and implement it, and then write the MMbasic hooks.....? I argue that such complexity is beyond the scope of the Maximite, and that having Ethernet connectivity outboard is the way to go. Thats why I did my board that way. Cheers Rohan Rohan Hamer HAMFIELD Software & Hardware Solutions Makers of the Maximite Expander. http://www.hamfield.com.au |
||||
sparkey Senior Member Joined: 15/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 819 |
how much is your ethernet/ i/o//etc board going to cost and can i use it to view e-mails ...that would be great ...thanks... technicians do it with least resistance |
||||
 Print this page |
