The Internet revolution is entering a new phase. Manufacturers everywhere want their embedded products to be "network-enabled"-that is, to have the ability to connect to the Internet. Users can communicate with a product that is linked to the Internet through their browser from anywhere in the world, offering significant benefits in a wide range of applications. For example, an engineer can troubleshoot network-enabled manufacturing equipment, solve problems, and get production back on track-all from a remote location using a laptop computer. With network-enabled diagnostic equipment, a doctor can evaluate vital data and give qualified advice to a patient hundreds of miles away. A large portion of our lives will soon be affected by the addition of network-enabled products.
Although adding network connectivity to a product is enticing, it can be expensive and time-consuming, especially if the manufacturer chooses to develop the hardware and software in-house. Development and long-term maintenance costs may be prohibitive, and crucial time-to-market advantages can be lost. Bright Star Engineering (BSE) has developed a solution to eliminate these problems: the ipEngine-1. The ipEngine-1 is a miniature network computer on a board that comes complete with the hardware, software, and development environment required to network-enable a product. An Altera FLEX 6000 device is an integral piece of this product, as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. The ipEngine-1 Compares in Size to a Credit Card
Credit-Card-Size Board with Built-in Operating System & Web Server
The ipEngine-1 network computer uses a Motorola PowerPC MPC823 processor as its central processing unit (CPU). This device is set in a board only 3.4 inches wide by 2.6 inches long (see Figure 2).
Figure 2. ipEngine-1 Architecture
The processor features a variety of on-chip peripherals including:
- 10Base-T Ethernet interface
- Universal serial bus (USB) host/slave controller
- Two serial ports
- Liquid-crystal display (LCD) video controller
- I2C serial bus
The MPC823 processor also supports a variety of low-power operating modes, making it suitable for use in battery-powered applications. The ipEngine-1 16-Mbyte DRAM and a 2-Mbyte FLASH memory system provide storage for the operating system as well as the original equipment manufacturer's (OEM's) own application software and data.
For users who need a real-time operating system, the ipEngine-1 ensures full connectivity from the PowerPC processor to local area networks (LANs) and the Internet. The ipEngine-1 includes the BSE POSIX-based pKernel real-time network operating system (OS). The pKernel OS can integrate the following elements:
- TCP-IP networking
- Embedded Apache web server
- Local RAM file system
- Access to Internet files via FTP and HTTP
- Interactive command shell
- Software development kit
Using the ipEngine-1
The ipEngine-1 makes converting an existing product into a network-enabled one a simple, two-step process. For example, a manufacturer might want to re-work a small control device with a matrix keypad into one with a network command interface. The first step is to remove the original matrix keypad, define a virtual matrix keypad in the EPF6016 device, and connect the I/O connector pins to the keypad input in the product. The second step is to write a small network-command-processor module for the PowerPC processor that translates the network commands into matrix keyboard "presses." The matrix keyboard information is then sent through the EPF6016 virtual interface to the control device. The new product is now ready.
Altera EPF6016 Device Provides Extraordinary Flexibility
For the external interface from the ipEngine-1 to the OEM product, BSE chose an Altera EPF6016QC240-3 programmable logic device (PLD). "Unlike traditional board-level products with fixed interfaces, the ipEngine-1 is capable of adapting itself to the user's hardware requirements. The Altera EPF6016 device provides extraordinary flexibility," said Stuart Adams, President of BSE. BSE has been working with Altera devices for several years and appreciates the abundance of features at a low cost. The company chose the EPF6016 device for the ipEngine-1 primarily because of these two reasons. "The EPF6016 device has the lowest cost per flipflop in the industry, so it lends itself to volume production, unlike expensive FPGAs from other companies," said Stuart Adams.
The EPF6016 device forms an 88-pin "virtual interface" that is configured according to the manufacturer's particular needs. It can be used to communicate with the existing I/O of an OEM product or to control and monitor the product's hardware. The EPF6016 device can emulate a variety of bus architectures as well as implement peripheral functions such as universal asynchronous receiver/transmitters (UARTs), pulse width modulation (PWM) controls, memory emulation, data capture and synthesis, and interfaces to a variety of devices. A synchronous 128-Kbyte × 16 SRAM is connected to the EPF6016 device. The SRAM can be used as a high-speed shared buffer storage for data coming from or going to the virtual interface.
MAX+PLUS II BASELINE Software Makes Configuration Free & Easy
For BSE and their customers, an added advantage of using an Altera device in the ipEngine-1 is the Altera MAX+PLUS® II BASELINE development software. By downloading the software free of charge from the Altera web site, any developer can configure the EPF6016 device. Sample configuration files in the Altera Hardware Description Language (AHDL) and VHDL can be found on the BSE web site at http://www.brightstareng.com. "With the freely available and easy-to-use Altera BASELINE software and sample code from BSE, developers can get started right away," said Stuart Adams. To further simplify the process of configuring the EPF6016 device and defining the virtual interface, BSE is developing a library of pre-compiled configurations for the ipEngine-1 that will be available on their web site.
Conclusion
In the future, network-enabled products will change the way that we interact with the devices in our homes and workplaces. By integrating an Altera FLEX 6000 device into the ipEngine-1 and using the MAX+PLUS II BASELINE software for configuration, Bright Star Engineering is able to offer a miniature, highly-flexible, and cost-effective network computer that can connect third-party products to the Internet today.
