» Articles</h1> <article> <h1>Handy FPGA Laboratory</h1> <p>jer — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:12:15 +0000</p> <p style="text-align: left;">Want to learn real digital hardware design? You might want to consider <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field-programmable_gate_array">Field Programmable Grid Arrays or FPGAs</a>. There are a lot of FPGA learning kits available today. Some are specially designed to target developments of commercial projects which are, of course, very expensive. Some are a little bit price friendly specially for students and FPGA newbies (like me).</p> <p style="text-align: center;"></p> <p style="text-align: left;"><span id="more-167"></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script> </p> <p style="text-align: center;"></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script> </p> <p style="text-align: left;">I got one FPGA development board designed by <a href="http://www.digilentinc.com/">Digilent</a> which is the <a href="http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?Prod=BASYS&Nav1=Products&Nav2=Programmable">Basys FPGA board</a> (there is already a newer version – <a href="http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?NavPath=2,400,790&Prod=BASYS2">Basys2</a>). The regular price is USD79 and the academic price is USD59. I got mine from <a href="http://www.ebay.com/">ebay</a> for USD49 – of course, it is already used.</p> <p>So, what does this FPGA board feature?</p> <ul> <li>The on-board FPGA is from the Spartan 3-E FPGA family of <a href="http://www.xilinx.com/">Xilinx</a>.</li> <li>It has on board I/O devices – 7-segment displays, LEDs, slide, switches, and push buttons.</li> <li>It has one VGA port and one PS/2 port.</li> <li>It has external I/O connectors.</li> <li>It can be powered by USB or wall DC adaptor.</li> <li>It has on-board oscillator – 25, 50, and 100MHz.</li> <li>It has on-board flash configuration ROM.</li> <li>It can be configured using the on-board USB board!</li> </ul> <p>Pretty complete, isn’t it?</p> <p>Indeed, it is a handy FPGA laboratory…</p> <p style="text-align: center;"></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script> </p> </article> <article> <h1>All-in-One AVR Development Tool</h1> <p>jer — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:35:22 +0000</p> <p>If you are an <a href="http://www.atmel.com/products/avr/default.asp?family_id=607">AVR</a> fan, you must be familiar with most of <a href="http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/tools.asp?family_id=607">Atmel’s AVR development tools</a>:<strong> STK500</strong>, <strong>AVR Studio</strong>, <strong>AVRISP</strong>, <strong>AVR TJAGICE</strong>, <strong>AVR JTAGICE mkII</strong>, <strong>AVRISP mkII</strong>, <strong>STK600</strong>, etc. But there is one Atmel AVR development tool that provides ISP programming, High Voltage Programming, and debugging which comes in small form, beautiful box, and cheap price. </p> <p>The development tool that I am talking about is the <strong>AVR Dragon</strong>.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script> </p> <p><span id="more-152"></span>AVR Dragon is highlighting <strong>In-System-Programming</strong>, <strong>High Voltage Serial</strong> and <strong>Parallel Programming</strong>,<strong> JTAG</strong>, and <strong>debugWire</strong>. You can almost do all kinds of programming and debugging methods with those features. Aside from that, the PC communication and power is provided by USB. It is fully supported by the free AVR Studio IDE which makes developing AVR projects very fast.</p> <p>Using the AVR Dragon requires some hardware setup first. Each target AVR MCU must be connected to the proper header pins provided with the board. However, the user must provide and solder the other remaining header pins to fully use it. Also, one major drawback of the AVR dragon is that it does not come with wire connectors and USB cable.</p> <p>All in all, I am a very satisfied user of AVR Dragon and it saved me from a lot of hassles. For a retail price of USD49, it gives me the comfort that i deserve when it comes to developing projects using my favorite AVR microcontrollers.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script> </p> </article> <article> <h1>Quick Review: eZ430-F2013</h1> <p>jer — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 11:58:10 +0000</p> <p style="text-align: center;"></p> <p>The <a href="http://focus.ti.com/paramsearch/docs/parametricsearch.tsp?familyId=342§ionId=95&tabId=1200&family=mcu">MSP430</a> family of <a href="http://www.ti.com/">Texas Instruments</a> is one of the most popular 16-bit microcontroller families because of its performance, architecture, and ultra low power consumption. Just recently, I received my <a href="http://focus.ti.com/docs/toolsw/folders/print/ez430-f2013.html">eZ430-F2013</a>, a USB Stick Development Tool for MSP430. This includes an MSP430 USB stick, IAR Embedded Workbench (Kickstart Version) IDE, and a CD-ROM containing related software and documentation.<span id="more-134"></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script> </p> <p style="text-align: center;"></p> <p>The USB stick is enclosed by a nice plastic casing and it is composed of a USB debugging interface and a detacheable <a href="http://focus.ti.com/docs/prod/folders/print/msp430f2013.html">MSP430F2013</a> target board(see image above). The USB debugging interface supports development with all the MSP430 Spy Bi-Wire devices and it also supports <a href="http://focus.ti.com/docs/toolsw/folders/print/ez430-t2012.html">eZ430-T2012</a>(see image below) and <a href="http://focus.ti.com/docs/toolsw/folders/print/ez430-rf2500t.html">eZ430-RF2500T</a> target boards. The target boards get their power from the USB port.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script> </p> <p>Texas Instruments also provides various <a href="http://focus.ti.com/mcu/docs/mcuprodtechdoc.tsp?sectionId=95&tabId=1202&familyId=342&techDoc=1&documentCategoryId=1">application notes</a> for MSP430 family. One of these is <a href="http://focus.ti.com/general/docs/litabsmultiplefilelist.tsp?&literatureNumber=slaa283a"><strong>Ultra-Low Power Motion Detection Using the MSP430F2013</strong></a><strong>. </strong>This application note is about motion detection using a PIR sensor connected to the Sigma-Delta ADC of MSP430F2013. I used the schematic and code presented in the application note and I made a simple setup using a small breadboard, some passive components, connecting wires, a PIR sensor, and, of course, my MSP430 development tool.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script> </p> <p style="text-align: center;"> </p> <p>Here is the video of my simple implementation of the application note.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-VstVa_dcvQ" /></object></p> </article> </main></body></html>