Drop-in Gigabit Ethernet module
With the increasing use of Ethernet in industrial control, machine vision, defence and the medical sector, the ZestETM1 can speed the time to market for many companies, creating a key advantage, the company says.
With the proprietary protocol chip GigExpedite handling the whole TCP/IP stack at over 100 MBytes/sec in each direction, and the module measuring 25 x 30mm, it allows the user’s embedded processor or FPGA to be dedicated entirely to the application for maximum efficiency.
TCP/IP at Gigabit speed consumes considerable processing power, and using a separate dedicated TCP/IP engine frees up the embedded processor or FPGA for the application’s function. The added benefit of this is that a smaller and lower cost processor can be used for the main application.
Orange Tree based the design of GigExpedite on the TCP/IP engine of its ZestET1, following feedback from customers who wanted to use their own embedded processor instead of the FPGA on ZestET1. The ZestETM1 offers application designers and companies a simple ready-to-go high speed Ethernet data interface solution, saving the complexity of dealing with TCP/IP or creating their own Ethernet interface.
The ZestETM1 interface can be configured to one of four modes: 8 or 16-bit SRAM-style bus, FIFO, or “bit banging”. The SRAM-style bus modes are similar to an SRAM interface with the application writing and reading ZestETM1. The FIFO mode has two separate 8-bit channels streaming in each direction to and from ZestETM1. The “bit-banging” mode enables another device on the network to write or read up to 32-bit values to or from an attached device.
There is also a low speed serial interface, which can be configured as either an SPI slave or a UART. This allows a low performance processor to control ZestETM1 while the high speed data interface is connected to the application data path such as FPGA, ADC, DAC or bus transceivers. A separate SPI master interface can be used, for example to configure an attached FPGA or processor.
The TCP/IP engine in GigExpedite runs at 10/100/1000 MBits/sec and delivers over 100 MBytes/sec sustained in each direction. It implements the following protocols: TCP/IP, UDP, ARP, IPv4, ICMP, IGMP, PTP and HTTP. For real-time applications, Precision Time Protocol (PTP) and SyncE offer time of day and a 125MHz clock synchronised across the network to other network devices. Full software libraries for Windows and Linux are bundled with the product.
Orange Tree; www.orangetreetech.com/zestetm1.php
If you enjoyed this article, you will like the following ones: don't miss them by subscribing to :
