On 23 Dec 2004 12:31:22 -0800, in msg <qhwtv8ah9h.fsf@ruckus.brouhaha.com>, Eric
Smith <eric-no-spam-for-me@brouhaha.com> wrote:

>"Ulf Samuelsson" <ulf@NOSPAMatmel.com> writes:
>> Maybe, Maybe not, Atmel just licensed a Gigabit Ethernet PHY
>> and I am trying to find out if it is applicable to 10/100 as well,
>> and then if it is cost effective. Would be nice, wouldn't it?
>
>It would be nice to see a part like the AT91RM9200, but with an integral
>PHY.  So far the only ARMs with an integral MAC and PHY that I've found
>are from Micrel and Broadcom.  Both require external Flash memory.  I'm
>having a hard time getting the eval board for the Micrel, though chips
>are readily available through distribution and fairly inexpensive even
>in small quantities.  Broadcom appears to not want to sell chips except
>in large OEM quantities, and technical documentation appears to only be
>available under NDA.

I was a software contractor for a while, working for DirecTV, who has used
Broadcom chips in the past.  They were, by far, the worst company I've ever
worked with in getting information for their chipsets.

When DirecTV has problems getting information you know something is screwed up
with that company's marketing division.

Broadcom's chips were usually superior in design, however DirecTV (it was
actually Hughes for that job) would go with STMicro stuff when at all possible
because of the problems with dealing with Broadcom. Ok, chipset costs also had
something to do with it...

-Zonn
-- 
Zonn Moore            Remove the ".AOL" from the
Zektor, LLC           email address to reply.
www.zektor.com

"Ulf Samuelsson" <ulf@NOSPAMatmel.com> writes:
> Maybe, Maybe not, Atmel just licensed a Gigabit Ethernet PHY
> and I am trying to find out if it is applicable to 10/100 as well,
> and then if it is cost effective. Would be nice, wouldn't it?

It would be nice to see a part like the AT91RM9200, but with an integral
PHY.  So far the only ARMs with an integral MAC and PHY that I've found
are from Micrel and Broadcom.  Both require external Flash memory.  I'm
having a hard time getting the eval board for the Micrel, though chips
are readily available through distribution and fairly inexpensive even
in small quantities.  Broadcom appears to not want to sell chips except
in large OEM quantities, and technical documentation appears to only be
available under NDA.

The other part I've seen with an integrated PHY is the new Freescale
MC9S12NE64.  It has on-board 64KB of onboard Flash memory, but only
8KB of RAM, so I'm not sure if it will be suitable for any of my
designs without adding external RAM.

Ulf Samuelsson wrote:
> Maybe, Maybe not, Atmel just licensed a Gigabit
> Ethernet PHY and I am trying to find out if it is
> applicable to 10/100 as well, and then if it is
> cost effective. Would be nice, wouldn't it?

Nice - when's it being added to the Mega128? ;-)

> >Davicom is quite cheap, but I doubt $3.
> >
> >Which MCU are you using today?
> >It is probably cheaper with an integrated MCU+Ethernet.
> >Next year you will see single chip ARM+Flash+SRAM+Ethernet
> >so you might want to prepare for this....
>
> I have waiting for a AT91R40008 with LAN and/or USB on board.
> Obviously I need EBI as well.  An RTC for low power battery operation
> would be good too.  Fortunately I can wait about a year for production
> pieces.  I wonder if there is there any chance?
>

You chance is with the AT91C140 or the AT91RM9200 at the moment

None of these have significant amount of SRAM internally, but support SDRAM.
Only the AT91RM9200 has USB and the AT91RM9200 "RTC" lacks battery backup.

The AT91SAM7X series is currently in design, but production date can only be
guessed.
My guess is end next year.

-- 
Best Regards
Ulf at atmel dot com
These comments are intended to be my own opinion and they
may, or may not be shared by my employer, Atmel Sweden.

On Tue, 21 Dec 2004 11:58:53 +0100, "Ulf Samuelsson"
<ulf@NOSPAMatmel.com> wrote:

>"sansuikyo" <sansuikyo@gmail.com> skrev i meddelandet
>news:1103586182.130667.133350@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
>> We are developing a TCP/IP enabled embedded product and are looking for
>> a 10/100 non-PCI Ethernet Controller for as close to $3 (budgetary
>> pricing) as possible. We've found SMSC and Asix products as low as $8.
>> Is there anything out there that might be cheaper?
>>
>
>
>Davicom is quite cheap, but I doubt $3.
>
>Which MCU are you using today?
>It is probably cheaper with an integrated MCU+Ethernet.
>Next year you will see single chip ARM+Flash+SRAM+Ethernet
>so you might want to prepare for this....

I have waiting for a AT91R40008 with LAN and/or USB on board.
Obviously I need EBI as well.  An RTC for low power battery operation
would be good too.  Fortunately I can wait about a year for production
pieces.  I wonder if there is there any chance?

regards,
Johnny.

<pbreed@netburner.com> skrev i meddelandet
news:jrtgs051diu1impej3mcsl8dhvcuq1dtuo@4ax.com...
> It's probably cheaper to use a part with built in MAC.
>

> All in all  one could get a semiconductior BOM significantly less than
$15.00

No, it will be cheaper than $15 with the single chippers and external
MAC+PHY.
Should also have much smaller footprint.
You will be correct when the AT91SAM7X128 appears.
An alternative to the AT91SAM7S64 is the AT91FR4042 w 256 kKB SRAM
and 512 kB Flash. If 64 kB RAM is used for data, then there is 192 kB SRAM
left for fast execution and plenty of space for slow execution.

-- 
Best Regards,
Ulf Samuelsson   ulf@a-t-m-e-l.com
This is a personal view which may or may not be
share by my Employer Atmel Nordic AB

<pbreed@netburner.com> skrev i meddelandet
news:jrtgs051diu1impej3mcsl8dhvcuq1dtuo@4ax.com...
> It's probably cheaper to use a part with built in MAC.
>
> I like the Motorola MCF5270, 32 bits, 95 mips, 10/100 phy, 64K of SRAM and
$7.50 at 10K
>
> You need to add a Phy and  some flash, SDRAM if you want more than 64k,
>
> We use a Davicom 10/100 PHY it can be had for less than $2 in 10K quantity
> I've also seen the ADMTek/Infineon  phy quoted in this price range...
>
> All in all  one could get a semiconductior BOM significantly less than
$15.00
>
>
> Netburner has Modules, a reference  design and a full set of RTOS, tcp and
tools for this part
> that will be availible in Q1.
>
>
> Paul
>



-- 
Best Regards,
Ulf Samuelsson   ulf@a-t-m-e-l.com
This is a personal view which may or may not be
share by my Employer Atmel Nordic AB

It's probably cheaper to use a part with built in MAC.

I like the Motorola MCF5270, 32 bits, 95 mips, 10/100 phy, 64K of SRAM and  $7.50 at 10K

You need to add a Phy and  some flash, SDRAM if you want more than 64k,

We use a Davicom 10/100 PHY it can be had for less than $2 in 10K quantity
I've also seen the ADMTek/Infineon  phy quoted in this price range...

All in all  one could get a semiconductior BOM significantly less than $15.00


Netburner has Modules, a reference  design and a full set of RTOS, tcp and tools for this part
that will be availible in Q1.


Paul