Re: WLAN on eCos (HW/SW design)

Re: WLAN on eCos (HW/SW design)

[Weqaar Janjua]

I have a semester project on eCos and the PCM-5860 is
the only board I got! I'm also taking an individual
research study next semester in which I plan to use
gumstix(www.gumstix.com) board with wireless
extensions, gumstix does not provide an onboard
802.11x interface, just bluetooth, so I was wondering
if I could use the same daughter board, that I plan to
design for my current SBC, with gumstix; and use eCos
on it instead of linux. I want to have a better
understanding of eCos as it can be ported to different
MCUs easily and effectively as compared to uClinux.
Thanks,
Weqaar Janjua

--- "Lewin A.R.W. Edwards" <larwe@larwe.com> wrote:

> > Hello Everybody - I have a Advantech PCM-5860 SBC
> > (pentium based) having a PCI extension slot. I'm
> 
> What is the reason for using eCos on such a large
> system? Linux is 
> better dimensioned for such applications.
> 
> If you are not engineering a _deeply_ embedded
> appliance, and your 
> hardware platform has standardized interfaces and
> the capability to run 
> a COTS OS, your life will be much easier if you go
> this route.
> 
> -- Lewin A.R.W. Edwards (http://www.zws.com/)
> Learn how to develop high-end embedded systems on a
> tight budget!
>
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0750676094/zws-20
> COMING SOON.... A new book:
>
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0750677783/zws-20
> 



		
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Re: WLAN on eCos (HW/SW design)

[Lewin A.R.W. Edwards]

On Sun, 2004-10-31 at 18:01, Weqaar Janjua wrote:
> I have a semester project on eCos and the PCM-5860 is
> the only board I got! I'm also taking an individual
> research study next semester in which I plan to use
> gumstix(www.gumstix.com) board with wireless
> extensions, gumstix does not provide an onboard
> 802.11x interface, just bluetooth, so I was wondering
> if I could use the same daughter board, that I plan to
> design for my current SBC, with gumstix; and use eCos

If you intend to add WLAN to a non-PC platform, the easiest route to
take is to use a CompactFlash or PCMCIA (not CardBus) card. Problem is,
it's kind of difficult to add either of these to a ready-built PC (yes,
I know it's possible, but there are software and hardware layers that
you just don't want to be bothered traversing - they make it MORE
effort, not less, to add WLAN support).

The gumstix board was specifically designed with Linux in mind. Again,
it's considerably "more computer than you need" for an eCos application.
Not that you can't run eCos on it, of course, but your life would be
made a lot easier if you just ran Linux on the PCM-5860 and then Linux
on the gumstix board and ported your app over. On the Advantech board,
you could use an off-the-shelf WLAN module on the USB interface.

I repeat the question: What is it that made you choose eCos? If eCos was
chosen by your professor, what is it that made you choose the PCM-5860?

Re: WLAN on eCos (HW/SW design)

[Lewin A.R.W. Edwards]

> on it instead of linux. I want to have a better
> understanding of eCos as it can be ported to different
> MCUs easily and effectively as compared to uClinux.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention: What has uCLinux got to do with this
discussion? Both the platforms you're looking at have MMUs and can run
full Linux.

Re: WLAN on eCos (HW/SW design)

[Weqaar Janjua]

First of all I'll answer your questions:

> What is it that made you choose eCos? 

*)I have had previous experience of working on Linux
so this semester I wanted to try a different OS;
diversity!. 
*)Also I read eCos documentation and I was severely
impressed by its configurable nature, I became
interested in designing boards that eCos could be
ported on, with lesser effort.
*)wanted to work on OS porting!. 
*)I want to write an IP stack for eCos; impressed by
LWIP(www.sics.se/~adam/lwip). Its just that I want to
try different stuff on eCos.

> If eCos was chosen by your professor, what is it
> that made you choose the PCM-5860?

*)I had a choice of OS'es so I chose eCos. I bought
this board an year ago for some embedded course
project; I didn't even know what eCos is at that
point; was a junior then.

Theres are some nice products:
*)WiPort by Lantronix.
*)DPACs Airborne, http://www.dpactech.com/30B23101.asp

that I could use but my point is not just to get the
thing running!; to learn how to make my own!

Since at this point nobody came up with a 802.11
solution for eCos(to my knowledge and research), so I
have an opportunity to come up with something new.

As I see the problem, I think a ethernet(802.3) to
802.11b bridge is required(since/till eCos does not
have a WLAN package available to it) -> a daughter
board with a MCU that runs on its own ip stack, say
uClinux with linux-WLAN; sure its a lot of work but I
have two semesters time, till I graduate!

Also, PCM-5850 does not have onboard USB; ofcourse
something external could be used.

Thanks for your time and help,
Weqaar Janjua

--- "Lewin A.R.W. Edwards" <larwe@larwe.com> wrote:

> On Sun, 2004-10-31 at 18:01, Weqaar Janjua wrote:
> > I have a semester project on eCos and the PCM-5860
> is
> > the only board I got! I'm also taking an
> individual
> > research study next semester in which I plan to
> use
> > gumstix(www.gumstix.com) board with wireless
> > extensions, gumstix does not provide an onboard
> > 802.11x interface, just bluetooth, so I was
> wondering
> > if I could use the same daughter board, that I
> plan to
> > design for my current SBC, with gumstix; and use
> eCos
> 
> If you intend to add WLAN to a non-PC platform, the
> easiest route to
> take is to use a CompactFlash or PCMCIA (not
> CardBus) card. Problem is,
> it's kind of difficult to add either of these to a
> ready-built PC (yes,
> I know it's possible, but there are software and
> hardware layers that
> you just don't want to be bothered traversing - they
> make it MORE
> effort, not less, to add WLAN support).
> 
> The gumstix board was specifically designed with
> Linux in mind. Again,
> it's considerably "more computer than you need" for
> an eCos application.
> Not that you can't run eCos on it, of course, but
> your life would be
> made a lot easier if you just ran Linux on the
> PCM-5860 and then Linux
> on the gumstix board and ported your app over. On
> the Advantech board,
> you could use an off-the-shelf WLAN module on the
> USB interface.
> 
> I repeat the question: What is it that made you
> choose eCos? If eCos was
> chosen by your professor, what is it that made you
> choose the PCM-5860?
> 
> 
> 



		
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Re: WLAN on eCos (HW/SW design)

[Weqaar Janjua]

Oh that was for the daughter board. I mentioned in my
last email as I see the problem, I think a 802.3 to
802.11 bridge is needed; a daughter board with an MCU
running uClinux or some version of linux that has WLAN
support available to it, I just plugin the PCI-based
daughter board to PCM-5860, the PCM-5860 treats it as
a native ethernet(802.3) device!; that will save me
from digging into WLAN for eCos as the support for
WLAN in it isn't available yet.
Thanks,
Weqaar Janjua

--- "Lewin A.R.W. Edwards" <larwe@larwe.com> wrote:

> 
> > on it instead of linux. I want to have a better
> > understanding of eCos as it can be ported to
> different
> > MCUs easily and effectively as compared to
> uClinux.
> 
> Oh yes, I forgot to mention: What has uCLinux got to
> do with this
> discussion? Both the platforms you're looking at
> have MMUs and can run
> full Linux.
> 
> 
> 



		
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WLAN on eCos (HW/SW design)

[Weqaar Janjua]

Hello Everybody - I have a Advantech PCM-5860 SBC
(pentium based) having a PCI extension slot. I'm
wanting to design a wireless(802.11b) solution for it
by designing/using an external PCI 802.11b device. Two
questions:
1) How can I use TI's TNETW1100B embedded IC/chip with
my project i.e. interface TNETW1100B over PCI bus? I
assume the DDK supplied with TNETW1100B is for windows
or non-eCos platforms. 
2) Is WLAN support available in eCos IP stack? any way
to use the 802.11b with eCos IP stack? any wrappers or
something like that?
Thanks,
Weqaar janjua


		
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