Connect One Ethernet shield

[mister_e]

When the Tibbo firmware is released I hope someone will consult a medium and let me know.

Ask your supplier to let you know

[mackrackit]

I must have missed something ..
Where/when did a picaxe come in and why???

[dhouston]

I must have missed something ..
Where/when did a picaxe come in and why???

Sleeping again, huh?

The Xino basic Arduino form factor main board was designed to be a super low cost way for educators to make use of the myriad of shields available. It can use 18-pin or 28-pin PICAXE or PIC. I have a kit en route and hope to modify it to add series resistors in the TX, RX lines so that the comparators in the 16F88, 16F886/887 & 18F25K20/22 can be configured as inverters for TX, RX further reducing the parts count. There are pinouts for both 18-pin and 28-pin PICAXE chips at the above link.

I am not really familiar with PICAXE but it appears the software UART pins are predefined so that's why I connected them per the pinouts. Also, the newer PICAXE 18M2 and 28X2 chips are custom made by Microchip for PICAXE. I have no idea whether this just means they have their logo printed on them or whether there are changes to the designs. I haven't seen datasheets for them. But, if they can justify custom chips from Microchip, PICAXE must be very popular.

Since all the PBP software UART pins can be defined at compile time by the user, this should not be problem for PBP users.

And, I still have to study the pinouts to see where the I2C connections need to be made. I2C presents one problem in that there's no way to easily deal with address conflicts should another shield also use I2C. I'll probably just tie all the address pins high with the leads exposed in such a way that the user can cut PCB traces to change the address. Also, multiple pull-ups could be problematic

Also, I already have small I2C boards with 64KB EEPROM (SMT) which could be an optional item. I also have a similar board with a battery-backed RTC which uses the same pinout . But, I don't want to become a supplier (My next change of address may make me inaccessible.) so I'll have to see if the Xino folks will make them. Still, it might be best just to design for a DIP-8 socket and through-hole pull-ups.

[dhouston]

I just noticed that the Xino Pro, which uses the same pin arrangements, has a pinout for the 18F25K20 on its web page. That should help in determining which PICs are compatible.

[mackrackit]

I2C presents one problem in that there's no way to easily deal with address conflicts should another shield also use I2C. I'll probably just tie all the address pins high with the leads exposed in such a way that the user can cut PCB traces to change the address.

What about jumpers? Add a little to the cost but it might be worth it in the long run.

[cncmachineguy]

or how about solder jumpers? No added cost at all.

[iwalker]

The wait is over

http://blog.tibbo.com/

The new firmware was updated yesterday.

Regards
Ian

[dhouston]

What about jumpers? Add a little to the cost but it might be worth it in the long run.

or how about solder jumpers? No added cost at all..

I've done a bit of both and also added through-hole pads to each of the five interface lines so they can be rerouted by cutting traces and adding wires.

One remaining issue - the socket for the mini iWiFi is taller than those for the other two modules.It's not a problem for end users but is for testing. I guess I'll have to find people with each who are willing to test and maybe write a short tutorial in exchange for one of the prototype boards.

[jellis00]

One remaining issue - the socket for the mini iWiFi is taller than those for the other two modules.It's not a problem for end users but is for testing. I guess I'll have to find people with each who are willing to test and maybe write a short tutorial in exchange for one of the prototype boards.
Attachment 5600Attachment 5601

Dave, I am in process of developing an embedded MCU application that will use the ConnectOne Mini iWiFi module. However, your use of the term "ethernet sheild" confuses me. By shield do you mean it provides an RF shield to protect the rest of the PCB containing the MCU from RF emissions? Is this PCB for use only with Arduino boards? Please explain so I know whether your "ethernet shield" would be of use to me.
I would also appreciate your comments regarding whether my PCB layout must take any specific precautions in the layout and grounding techniques to properly interface to the iWiFi via its 2x6 pin header. I am currently planning on creating a "copper pour" area on my PCB that lies under the overlying iWiFi module, but not sure what is really required. I am kind of new to trying to integrate an RF module with an embedded MCU PCB.