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An Open Source Hardware Development Tool
Posted by
kdawson
on Mon Apr 30, 2007 11:30 PM
from the well-plaiced dept.
from the well-plaiced dept.
LuxuryYacht writes "The PLAICE is an open source hardware and software project developing a powerful in-circuit development tool that combines in one device the features of a FLASH Programmer, Memory Emulator, and High Speed Multi-Channel Logic Analyzer. It runs uClinux. The logic analyzer features up to 200MHz sampling rates and up to 32 input channels. The logic analyzer Java client supports up to 200MHz sampling rates, user-controlled filtering operations, time line in diagrams, transfer rates, and user configurable drawing modes. The Java client supports access via almost any PC with a serial port and uses the RXTX serial library with support for 34 platforms including Linux, Windows, and Solaris. Java client plugins include an SPI and I2C bus protocol analyzer, conversion of timing analysis to state analysis, and post-processing functions."
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Pretty sparse Web site (Score:3)
That's nice (Score:5, Insightful)
As memory emulator this device may be useful sometimes, but many MCUs today come with internal RAM, and those that don't - they expect DDR2 speeds, and you can't emulate that.
This can be a full-featured Microblaze development system, though, with tons of samples. I think that's its best value. MicroBlaze was always poorly supported by Linux, as opposed to Nios (which Altera itself supports.) If we have, finally, a working [uc] Linux port to MB that alone is a great achievement. When I looked a year or two ago there was only one, non-functioning, port to a hardware that did not exist.
Finally... a DigiView killer (Score:2)
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Re:That's nice (Score:5, Interesting)
But in an industrial setting they are quickly replaced by JTAG-connected tools; ChipScope [xilinx.com] in particular (if you are a Xilinx slave) is great because it captures the signals into the local, very fast RAM, and then sends you the snapshot over a slower JTAG connection. The snapshot is true to what is really happening, and if you design a DDR controller (or faster) then just forget the external wires, they are useless at those speeds. And most of modern commercial designs push the devices to the limit. That's what makes standalone logic analyzers less appealing to a mass manufacturer. Logic analyzers in such conditions become tools of last resort, just like ICEs, where you have to spend a day just preparing your board for testing.
Myself, if I do not have an FPGA in between (and so ChipScope is not an option) then I just use an oscilloscope. I have a 4-channel, inexpensive Infiniium model, and 3 probes is the most I ever needed; staring at the schematic does the rest :-)
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LAs are alive and well. Your tools only work once the board is up and runni
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I always bring out some spare pins to a header, that becomes my debug port. Then you can
Re:That's nice (Score:4, Insightful)
The memory emulator is currently targeted at FLASH devices.
Re:That's nice (Score:4, Informative)
Just because there's a clamour for ever faster (and hotter) chips in PCs and servers, it does not follow that the same is true of an embedded computer. If a 4MHz processor works for a particular application, there is absolutely no benefit in using something that 'expects DDR2'. Normal 70ns static RAM and flash chips are sold by the millions because they are cheap, electronically simple to interface, and low speed circuits are much cheaper and easier to lay out on a PCB. You don't need DDR2 on a weather station embedded computer or washing machine.
Many microcontrollers like the Atmega can interface with external memory (even though they have some internal flash and RAM).
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This could eventually be important (Score:3, Informative)
Being able to create Linux friendly hardware could, if Microsoft succeeds, be necessary if we are to have high performance video and audio.
This project is not alone as open source hardware. My current favorite is the Arduino board using an Atmel microcontroller. www.arduino.cc I am also playing with the Make controller that uses an Arm. www.makezine.com/controller
Not open source hardware... (Score:3, Informative)
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Re:RS-232? (Score:4, Informative)
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Re:RS-232? (Score:4, Informative)
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How much lower price can you get than a ten year old Pentium? ;-P
Seriously though, two days ago I bought a new Gigabyte AM2 socket mobo (don't have the model number with me now) f
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