Nice article from Techweb about NetArm chip.
(for the original source go to www.techweb.com go to advanced search
and search until all 31 98)
January 05, 1998, Issue: 987
Section: News
Embedded nets get integrated solution
Loring Wirbel
Waltham, Mass. - Osicom Technologies Inc., a networking OEM, will
boldly challenge embedded computing's giant architectures, such as Motorola
Inc.'s ColdFire and PowerPC, with this week's introduction of a family of
chip sets for networked embedded applications. Arguing that Internet
Protocol (IP) addressability has become a vital issue to many embedded
designs, Osicom will be the first company to bundle protocol software and
real-time operating-system support with integrated 32-bit RISC and Ethernet
cores. Osicom is working with Atmel Corp., Advanced RISC Machines
Ltd., Packet Engines Inc. and Integrated Systems Inc. to develop an
integrated solution-dubbed NET+ARM-that the company will position
against established architectures.
While Atmel has some marketing rights for the later use of Osicom cores, the
NET+ARM controllers will be sold solely by Osicom, a company with no
previous presence in the chip business. Cornelius (Pete) Peterson, president
of the embedded solutions division, said Osicom's expertise in developing
embedded networking products on the system level should more than make
up for that.
Osicom may win business from second- and third-tier networking-equipment
accounts, but its primary target is embedded equipment ranging from
factory-floor automation systems to point-of-sale terminals. The notion of
connecting embedded systems to a network is not new. But in the past,
embedded-systems networks have tended to be point-to-point serial links or
relatively private LANs.
But the ubiquity of IP requires that they now support more than that, Peterson
said. With IP addresses and Web access expected everywhere in a network,
embedded systems must include routing protocols, SNMP-based network
management, HTML and FTP, and e-mail server functionality. These
capabilities are beyond the range of most embedded computers now in use.
"People are talking about a vast expansion of IP addresses, but we are still
not at the point of putting IP support in vending machines," Peterson said.
"Marketing controllers alone won't help the embedded world. What's
required is full RTOS and protocol software support."
Often, Osicom will be replacing serial links, wireless LANs or wired Ethernet
networks. But in some industrial automation applications, the network
connection resides in control loops and in deterministic, guaranteed-delivery
networks such as FieldBus or Profibus. Peterson claimed NET+ARM, with
its high network throughput and low-if not fully deterministic-latency, will
displace many of these networks. "True determinism is only needed for the
small segment of the market requiring sub-4-ns latencies," he said. "The rest
of that base will be moving to standard LAN protocols."
Osicom began work with Atmel last fall to define a single-chip controller
using the ARM7 TDMI core from Advanced RISC Machines and the
10/100 Ethernet MAC from Packet Engines. Osicom added memory
control, a 10-channel DMA controller, dual serial ports, quad IEEE 1284
parallel ports and internal bus controller.
Throughput over the single chip's bus is 500 kbytes/second. A more relevant
performance metric in an actual IP environment, however, is the
first-generation Thumb core's ability to process 12 Mips and support a
combo 10/100 MAC for LAN access speeds up to 100 Mbits/s. This means
that serial WAN access ports can support multiple T1 speeds concurrently.
Though all of NET+ARM's hardware is on one chip, the vital firmware
comes in a separate ROM. Osicom turned to ISI as a software partner, both
for the company's pSOS operating system and for the TCP/IP protocol
stacks developed by ISI's subsidiary, Epilogue Technologies. Including an
RTOS and networking protocols in the core device is what separates
NET+ARM from traditional microcontrollers, Peterson said. A price of
$32.50 positions NET+ARM between Motorola's MPC850 and 68EN360
families, he said, while alternative solutions exceed $70 when the costs of an
RTOS and networking software are added. IP support is standard with
NET+ARM, though additional support for Novell IPX or Point-to-Point
Protocol comes at an added cost.
"ARM is based on such compact code, we think we can offer more code
space for user programs than any merchant controller solution," he said.
"More important, this is a controller that works out of the box with integrated
software support."
The broadest acceptance to date has come from the printer community, home
field of Motorola's ColdFire. OEMs such as Adobe, Minolta, NEC,
Peerless, Sharp and Xionics have committed to the architecture. NET+ ARM
has also won designs in areas regarded by both the ColdFire and PowerPC
camps as fertile ground for the future: Lantronix Corp. is designing it into
communications equipment and PicoStar into digital cameras. Once the
company breaks into traditional embedded-control applications such as
shop-floor machine control, it expects even more design wins.
Samples of the 208-pin controller and all related firmware are available now.
By the turn of the century, Osicom hopes to expand the architecture to a
family spanning $10 to $30 devices based on ARM cores ranging from 15 to
120 Mips.
Copyright (c) 1998 CMP Media Inc. |
