Embedded Systems: November 9, 1995

Kit helps you learn to use the I²C bus. The ICA-90B kit includes the ICA-90 ISA half-card; a disk with the Inter-IC (I²C) function library, including ready-to-use routines in C and TurboBasic; and an I²C instruction manual. The kit demonstrates I²C master and slave modes in receiver and transmitter operations. The kit shows both polled and interrupt-driven modes. The board also operates as a transparent I²C bus monitor. The kit costs $299. The Saelig Co, Victor, NY. (716) 425-3753.

TMS320C40-based development and data-acquisition systems. The BN4000 is designed for real-time and high-speed applications, such as vibration analysis, professional audio and speech, meteorology, sonar, laboratory testing, medical research, and high-speed control systems. The board has a 32-Mbyte onboard memory capacity, six high-speed communication ports, a 32-bit bidirectional control register, a 4-kbyte bidirectional FIFO buffer, and a 32-bit parallel I/O port. The board, including 1 Mbyte of zero-wait-state SRAM, costs $3995. Bridgenorth Signal Processing Inc, Blaine, WA. (604) 538-0003.

Object-oriented development tool for Digital Unix. VisualWorks 2.0 is a client and server application-development tool for use on Digital Equipment Corp’s Alpha-based computers. The software is a native application optimized to take advantage of the Alpha architecture. Applications written in VisualWorks are instantly portable across all major client/server platforms, including Windows, Windows NT, OS/2, Macintosh, Power Macintosh, and major Unix-based systems. VisualWorks 2.0 for Digital Unix systems costs $4995. ParcPlace Systems Inc, Sunnyvale, CA. (408) 481-9090.

VBX tool kit supports imaging engine. The IMAGinE VBX tool kit now supports Nestor OmniTools v2.0. The tool kit provides access to >20 imaging engines. The company is shipping the kit in a bundle that includes OmniTools v2.0, along with a compression, print, scan, and image-cleanup engine, for $5000. Imagination Software Inc, Providence, RI. (401) 331-9640.

Single-slot MIX baseboard has 68030 CPU. The Model 4200A MIX baseboard features VMEbus and VSBbus interfaces. You can initiate high-speed data transfers by using any MIX bus module or by using the onboard, 40-MHz 68030 processor. An optional Ethernet adapter for the board simplifies data transmission between workstation nodes and the VME card cage. The 4200A MIX-VME baseboard with VSB costs $2995. The Ethernet adapter option costs $500. Pentek Inc, Norwood, NJ. (201) 767-7100.

Component-management tool for VisualWorks. Envy/Developer R3.0 is available for ParcPlace’s VisualWorks 2.0. New features of the 3.0 release include updated and restyled manuals; additional configuration and connectivity diagnostics; increased installation automation; versioning of application attachments for arbitrary files, such as icons, bit maps, dynamic-link libraries, and help files; and extended options for configuration management. In addition, import/export operations are as much as four times faster than in the previous release. Upgrades cost $495, and the cost for users without a technical-support package is $995. Object Technology International Inc, Phoenix, AZ. (602) 222-9519.

One-half-size single-board computer has 486 CPU and onboard Ethernet. The VIPer806 is available with Intel 486DX2 and DX4 processors. It has an AMD AM79C961 Ethernet controller chip with configuration options for either 10Base-T or 10Base-2 network interfaces. Designed for space-sensitive applications, the board drives both SVGA flat panels and CRT screens. The board also accommodates up to 4 Mbytes of bootable flash EPROM and 128 Mbytes of DRAM. It is PC/104 compatible. With a 486DX2/66-MHz processor, 10Base-T Ethernet installed, and zero memory, the board costs $1340. Teknor Microsystems Inc, Sainte-Theresa, PQ, Canada. (514) 437-5682.

Intelligent VMEbus I/O-controller boards based on PowerPC 603. The PowerBase MVME1300 Series I/O-controller boards provide two PCI Mezzanine Card modules. The boards deliver estimated SPECint92 performance of 38/45 (base/peak) and SPECfp92 performance of 44/50. Memory choices are 8 or 16 Mbytes of DRAM with or without parity. The boards start at $1645. Motorola Computer Group, Tempe, AZ. (800) 759-1107.

Redesigned C cross-compiler for 68HC11 provides improved performance. The 68HC11 C cross-compiler version 3.6 generates code that is 15% smaller on average and executes more than three times faster than the previous version. Other improvements include compiler components that use extended memory; extended debug segment; drivers for improved error handling; and C source-level debugging. The complete cross-compiler on PC hosts starts at $875, and a complete development package with compiler and ZAP/simulator starts at $1300. Cosmic Software Inc, Woburn, MA. (617) 932-2556.

Adapter set connects a PCI I/O platform to a Multibus I system. The Model 614 adapter allows either system to be a bus master on the other system. The memory-mapped adaptor lets the PCI I/O-based card directly control Multibus I cards as though the devices were on the local PCI bus. A Multibus processor can access memory and I/O on the PCI computer. The adaptor includes a short-form PCI-bus card and a Multibus I card. A round EMI-shielded cable available in lengths up to 25 ft connects the cards. Fiber-optic cable connections up to 2 km are also available. The two-card set costs $1580. Bit 3 Computer Corp, Minneapolis, MN. (612) 881-6955.

Single-board computers for embedded applications. The PC-186EX and the PC-386EX provide I/O features that eliminate the need for external I/O cards in many applications. The 8.3×6-in. boards used for both systems are identical except for the Intel 80C186EB or 80386EX 16-bit CPUs. The boards accommodate 1 Mbyte of SRAM or battery-backed SRAM, and 1 Mbyte of EPROM or flash EPROM. The boards include an interrupt controller, five 16-bit counter/timers, two RS-232C/422/485 ports, 32 high-voltage, open-collector parallel I/O lines, a watchdog timer, power-fail detect, a PC-104 expansion bus, and two iSBX expansion ports. The PC-186EB starts at $425, and the PC-386EX starts at $545. RLC Enterprises Inc, Atascadero, CA. (805) 466-9717.

Signal-processing software for Windows, PC, and Macintosh. The Signal Processing Suite includes the digital-filter-design tool kit, for interactively designing digital filters; the third-octave analyzer tool kit, for third-octave analysis; the updated joint time-frequency-analysis tool kit, for analyzing nonstationary signals that vary with time; and the VirtualBench-DSA, a dyamic-signal analyzer virtual instrument. The complete suite costs $995, or you can buy the tools separately. National Instruments, Austin, TX. (512) 794-0100.

Serial-communication board for ISA bus provides eight channels. The PCSER8 serial-communication board implements synchronous or asynchronous communication links. It has a 1-MHz clock and three 16-bit counter timers. The board is available with standard 85C30 serial-communication controllers or with 85230 devices offering deeper transmit/receive buffers plus support for SDLC protocol. Each channel may be set independently for RS232C, 422, or 485 modes of operation. Maximum asynchronous data rates are 115 kbps, and maximum synchronous data-transfer rates for protocols, such as X.25, is 2 Mbps. The board costs £285. Arcom Control Systems Ltd, Cambridge, UK. +44 (0)1223 411200.