ethernet controller for embedded systems: which one?

hi guys,

I need to add ethernet connectivity to my M16C Mitsubishi so I'm looking for a reliable ethernet controller. I need one with the ethernet software stack.

thanks enrico

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Enrico Migliore
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Most peopel use either the RTL 8019AS or then the Cirrus Logic CS8900A. Personally I use the later in an M16C based project due to the following reasons:

- My design is 3.3V only, and the CS chip is available with 3.3V as oposed to the Realtek.

- I found talking to the Chip also a bit easier.

- There is much more documentatin available for the CS making live easier.

- I read that there are problems with interupts in 8 bit mode with the CS8900a, but since I operate the chip with 16 bit IO this is not an issue.

On the plus side of the RealTek is probably that it's about 30% cheaper. Don't know though if the need for bus trancivers and two voltages will eat this advantage up. In my specific design there was still a little cost advantage left over, but space requirements finally made the decision.

With regard to the TCP/IP Stack things are more difficult. For my project I wrote my own. I've been reading though that there is a port of opentcp for the M16C. I haven't worked with this yet so can't comment if it's good or not. If memory serves this port was done for the RealTek but adapting just the lower layer should not be rocket sience.

Markus

Reply to
Markus Zingg

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A good, mature stack is included with inexpensive development kits for Ethernet enabled SBCs and core modules.

Reply to
Brian Murtha

But even more mature is the stack in the modules you can find at

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With real C compilers (GNU or IAR) and at the same price.

Reply to
Gerard

Looks nice.

"real C compilers" ? Are you saying Dynamic C isn't real?

Kelly

Reply to
Kelly Hall

Are you sure that the maturity isn't 'under construction' or 'coming soon'?

Ralph

Reply to
Ralph Mason

Why do you think they called it 'Dynamic'?

Gerard

Reply to
Gerard

I just discovered that Softools is supporting it (I didn't checked it for a while) with TCP/IP source code.

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This is an ANSI C-compiler.

Gerard

Reply to
Gerard

soon'?

Maturity is proofed on a testbench. Not by a web-site.

Gerard

Reply to
Gerard

If you have a 3.3V design you may look at the AX88796 from Asix. Many host interface configurations possible and cheap.

Gerard

Reply to
Gerard

Enrico, I would recommend the SMSC91C96. I have used it on a couple of projects with Infineon C167 and Mitsubishi M16C. The good thing about the SMSC91C96 is its on chip MMU that relieves the MCU from administering the incoming and outgoing frames and the 6k buffer memory. So there is no need for the Host CPU to react to each frame immediately. Of course that depends on the application you have in mind.

Also the SMSC 91C96 has an upgrade path to the SMSC91C111 which is a

10/100Mbit chip.

A M16C board with the SMSC91C96 ethernet controller will be available August

  1. ANSI C source code for a TCP/IP stack with HTTP webserver will come along with the board.

Please note: the software it is not another variant of the lwIP or opentcp stack.

The board will be very affordable and ready to use, complete with a webserver application example (source code of course).

I will post details about the board August 12.

Some technical info: MCU: Mitsubishi M16C62 or M16C/6N (CAN derivative) running with 16Mhz XTAL

equipped peripherals onboard: UART0 , UART1 , CAN , RS485, Ethernet (RJ45).

8 LED All MCU pins accessible via headers. MCU may also be M16C62P if that is requested.

The board may serve as a reference design for 16bit Microcontrollers.

link to the datasheet:

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LAN91C96

regards /jan

Enrico Migliore schrieb in im Newsbeitrag: snipped-for-privacy@fatti.com...

Reply to
Jan Homuth

The choices for 10Mb embedded use seem to be the Realtek 8019, CS8900A, and SMSC LAN 91C9x series. The SMSC parts are not the cheapest, but are very easy to work with both in terms of hardware and software and the LAN91C96I can be used at 5v or 3v3. There is a (mostly) software compatible

10/100Mb part, LAN91C111, but some of our clients who use it report that it is rather power hungry. For 100Mb systems I would recommend moving to a CPU with an integrated Ethernet controller.

For TCP/IP stacks, we wrote (and sell) our own (very small footprint), but there are many available.

Stephen

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133 Hill Lane, Southampton SO15 5AF, England tel: +44 (0)23 8063 1441, fax: +44 (0)23 8033 9691 web:
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Reply to
Stephen Pelc

And there I was thinking it had something to do with time in the market / public arena with active progress.

A nonstandard non compliant thing can be mature.

Ralph

Reply to
Ralph Mason

thanks for your answer, I'll take a look at your design when ready. bye Enrico

Reply to
Enrico Migliore

Enrico Migliore wrote

The Realtek RTL8019AS is a remarkably good part for the money. I'm currently driving one from a Texas 320C6204 DSP, and achieving 2 Mword/s (4 Mbyte/s) transfer rate over its ISA bus. The response time for a 1400-byte ping is 3 msec. Not bad for a cheap chip.

Jeremy Bentham Iosoft Ltd.

Reply to
Jeremy Bentham

I'm currently using is part and it is configurable and cheap. But the performance we have seen is not very good. The support from the company is all but non-existant. It also claims to be NE2000 compatible, but the NE2000 drivers we have required major rework.

Raymond

Reply to
Raymond

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