Micro Controller Advice/Help Needed

I'm building a small device that will talk to the world through a modem.
I've ordered the XE2422H devkit from XEComm. It basically has a RJ-11
connector for the phone line and an RS232 connector for the controller.

I need a cheap microcontroller that's easy to deal with which I can
interface with the XE2422H. It will be doing data collection via the modem,
so I'd like it to have at least 256KB of flash onboard where it can store
and retrieve some data. 

Speed can be very slow. I'd prefer a single-chip solution to keep things
as basic as possible.

Along the same lines, this is my first foray into building an embedded
device, so I'm going to have to go through the whole process of getting a
circuit board designed and whatnot. If anyone is willing to give tips or
maybe even possibly-paid help on this, I'd be interested.

Dean

deanvesuvio wrote:
> I'm building a small device that will talk to the world through a modem.
> I've ordered the XE2422H devkit from XEComm. It basically has a RJ-11
> connector for the phone line and an RS232 connector for the controller.
> 
> I need a cheap microcontroller that's easy to deal with which I can
> interface with the XE2422H. It will be doing data collection via the modem,
> so I'd like it to have at least 256KB of flash onboard where it can store
> and retrieve some data. 
> 
> Speed can be very slow. I'd prefer a single-chip solution to keep things
> as basic as possible.
> 
> Along the same lines, this is my first foray into building an embedded
> device, so I'm going to have to go through the whole process of getting a
> circuit board designed and whatnot. If anyone is willing to give tips or
> maybe even possibly-paid help on this, I'd be interested.
> 
> Dean
> 
> 
Everything you have listed can be done easily.

Is this for a one off project or are you looking at 10K-a-year ??

Any processor is cheap at 10k.

How fast do you need to have this done ??
Weeks, months ??

Do you have a developemnt system you are already familiar with ??

Are you looking for a consultant to help you get it done ??

What part of the world are you in ??

thank you

donald

On Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:27:17 -0500, "deanvesuvio"
<deanvesuvio@yahoo.com> wrote:

>I'm building a small device that will talk to the world through a modem.
>I've ordered the XE2422H devkit from XEComm. It basically has a RJ-11
>connector for the phone line and an RS232 connector for the controller.
>
>I need a cheap microcontroller that's easy to deal with which I can
>interface with the XE2422H. It will be doing data collection via the modem,
>so I'd like it to have at least 256KB of flash onboard where it can store
>and retrieve some data.

That amount of flash storage is available on-chip (e.g., NXP's LPC2138),
however since

>Speed can be very slow.

you may want to look at the serial (SPI or I2C) interfaced EEPROM
memories (e.g., Microchip's 25LC1024 (note it's sized in bits)) or at
using an SPI-interfaced MMC/SD card which would give you the option of
an easy and removable interface to a desktop machine.

-- 
Rich Webb     Norfolk, VA

Rich - It seems like the LPC2138 or LPC2136 might provide a very simple
solution. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like with one of these
chips, all I'd need to do is get a UART<->RS232 interface chip to put in
between the LPC213X and my XE2422H. Add on a power adapter and an RJ-11
jack, and that's literally 100% of my BOM (or so I'm thinking).

The only other thing I'm not quite clear on is the best mechanism to
program the LPC chip's flash prior to shipping a product. On a test device,
this should be easy, but I'm assuming I'd have to provide some sort of
harness for programming this thing. I guess I could use the other UART and
provide some sort of serial port pinout on the side of the board?

Dean

>On Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:27:17 -0500, "deanvesuvio"
><deanvesuvio@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>I'm building a small device that will talk to the world through a
modem.
>>I've ordered the XE2422H devkit from XEComm. It basically has a RJ-11
>>connector for the phone line and an RS232 connector for the controller.
>>
>>I need a cheap microcontroller that's easy to deal with which I can
>>interface with the XE2422H. It will be doing data collection via the
modem,
>>so I'd like it to have at least 256KB of flash onboard where it can
store
>>and retrieve some data.
>
>That amount of flash storage is available on-chip (e.g., NXP's LPC2138),
>however since
>
>>Speed can be very slow.
>
>you may want to look at the serial (SPI or I2C) interfaced EEPROM
>memories (e.g., Microchip's 25LC1024 (note it's sized in bits)) or at
>using an SPI-interfaced MMC/SD card which would give you the option of
>an easy and removable interface to a desktop machine.
>
>-- 
>Rich Webb     Norfolk, VA
>

On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:26:48 -0500, "deanvesuvio"
<deanvesuvio@yahoo.com> wrote:

>Rich - It seems like the LPC2138 or LPC2136 might provide a very simple
>solution. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like with one of these
>chips, all I'd need to do is get a UART<->RS232 interface chip to put in
>between the LPC213X and my XE2422H. Add on a power adapter and an RJ-11
>jack, and that's literally 100% of my BOM (or so I'm thinking).

Probably (modulo the necessary passives, connectors, etc.).

Do get the part's User Manual, which goes through the details of its IAP
(in-application programming) command set and sequencing. The link to the
user manuals tends to be buried at the bottom of the part's page, with
the much briefer data sheet up at the top.

>The only other thing I'm not quite clear on is the best mechanism to
>program the LPC chip's flash prior to shipping a product. On a test device,
>this should be easy, but I'm assuming I'd have to provide some sort of
>harness for programming this thing. I guess I could use the other UART and
>provide some sort of serial port pinout on the side of the board?

The NXP LPC2000-series chips come with an integral serial bootloader and
NXP provides a PC-side app to load the code, so you'll not need much
besides a serial cable. The ISP will use UART0, so you could either use
UART1 to the modem or use UART0 for both and provide the necessary
isolation so the PC serial port and the modem aren't fighting each
other.

Another alternative would be to use the chip's JTAG interface.

-- 
Rich Webb     Norfolk, VA

deanvesuvio wrote: *** and top-posted.  Fixed ***
>> "deanvesuvio" <deanvesuvio@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I'm building a small device that will talk to the world through
>>> a modem.I've ordered the XE2422H devkit from XEComm. It basically
>>> has a RJ-11 connector for the phone line and an RS232 connector
>>> for the controller.
>>>
>>> I need a cheap microcontroller that's easy to deal with which I
>>> can interface with the XE2422H. It will be doing data collection
>>> via the modem,so I'd like it to have at least 256KB of flash
>>> onboard where it can store and retrieve some data.
>>
>> That amount of flash storage is available on-chip (e.g., NXP's
>> LPC2138), however since Speed can be very slow. you may want to
>> look at the serial (SPI or I2C) interfaced EEPROM memories (e.g.,
>> Microchip's 25LC1024 (note it's sized in bits)) or at using an
>> SPI-interfaced MMC/SD card which would give you the option of an
>> easy and removable interface to a desktop machine.
> 
> Rich - It seems like the LPC2138 or LPC2136 might provide a very
> simple solution. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like with
> one of these chips, all I'd need to do is get a UART<->RS232
> interface chip to put in between the LPC213X and my XE2422H. Add
> on a power adapter and an RJ-11 jack, and that's literally 100%
> of my BOM (or so I'm thinking).
> 
> The only other thing I'm not quite clear on is the best mechanism
> to program the LPC chip's flash prior to shipping a product. On a
> test device, this should be easy, but I'm assuming I'd have to
> provide some sort of harness for programming this thing. I guess
> I could use the other UART and provide some sort of serial port
> pinout on the side of the board?

Please do not delete attributions for anything you quote. 
Attributions are those initial lines of the form "Joe wrote".

Please do not top-post.  Your answer belongs after (or intermixed
with) the quoted material to which you reply, after snipping all
irrelevant material.  I fixed this one.   See the following links:

  <http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html>
  <http://www.caliburn.nl/topposting.html>
  <http://www.netmeister.org/news/learn2quote.html>
  <http://cfaj.freeshell.org/google/>  (taming google)
  <http://members.fortunecity.com/nnqweb/>  (newusers)

-- 
 [mail]: Chuck F (cbfalconer at maineline dot net)
 [page]: <http://cbfalconer.home.att.net>
            Try the download section.

CBFalconer wrote:

Please, if you can not keep up with the postings then just shut up.

donald


> Please do not delete attributions for anything you quote. 
> Attributions are those initial lines of the form "Joe wrote".
> 
> Please do not top-post.  Your answer belongs after (or intermixed
> with) the quoted material to which you reply, after snipping all
> irrelevant material.  I fixed this one.   See the following links:
> 
>   <http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html>
>   <http://www.caliburn.nl/topposting.html>
>   <http://www.netmeister.org/news/learn2quote.html>
>   <http://cfaj.freeshell.org/google/>  (taming google)
>   <http://members.fortunecity.com/nnqweb/>  (newusers)
> 

Rich Webb wrote:
> On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:26:48 -0500, "deanvesuvio"
> <deanvesuvio@yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> 
>>Rich - It seems like the LPC2138 or LPC2136 might provide a very simple
>>solution.

[snip]

> Do get the part's User Manual,

Also get the LPC213x Errata, at

http://www.nxp.com/acrobat_download/erratasheets/ES_LPC2138_1.pdf

because the LPC MAM (Memory Accelerator Module) has bugs that you 
must work around by configuring the MAM in a particular way. Or 
make sure to get new chips with these bugs corrected.

-- 
Niklas Holsti
Tidorum Ltd
niklas holsti tidorum fi
       .      @       .

>Rich Webb wrote:
>> On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:26:48 -0500, "deanvesuvio"
>> <deanvesuvio@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>>>Rich - It seems like the LPC2138 or LPC2136 might provide a very
simple
>>>solution.
>
>[snip]
>
>> Do get the part's User Manual,
>
>Also get the LPC213x Errata, at
>
>http://www.nxp.com/acrobat_download/erratasheets/ES_LPC2138_1.pdf
>
>because the LPC MAM (Memory Accelerator Module) has bugs that you 
>must work around by configuring the MAM in a particular way. Or 
>make sure to get new chips with these bugs corrected.
>
>-- 
>Niklas Holsti
>Tidorum Ltd
>niklas holsti tidorum fi
>       .      @       .
>

I appreciate that. I'm a software engineer by trade, so I expect to be
able to work around any such problems relatively easily. The thing I'm much
much more concerned about is determining the right set of components for
integrating the LPC213X with the XECom modem -- passives, plus whatever I
need to make the UARTs on the LPC into RS232s that can communicate with the
modem and a computer input.

Does anyone out there have the expertise and the willingness to help with
this? I'm assuming it would be a couple hours of time, and I'd be happy to
pay a reasonable rate.

On Aug 14, 1:32 am, "deanvesuvio" <deanvesu...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >Rich Webb wrote:
> >> On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:26:48 -0500, "deanvesuvio"
> >> <deanvesu...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> >>>Rich - It seems like the LPC2138 or LPC2136 might provide a very
> simple
> >>>solution.
>
> >[snip]
>
> >> Do get the part's User Manual,
>
> >Also get the LPC213x Errata, at
>
> >http://www.nxp.com/acrobat_download/erratasheets/ES_LPC2138_1.pdf
>
> >because the LPC MAM (Memory Accelerator Module) has bugs that you
> >must work around by configuring the MAM in a particular way. Or
> >make sure to get new chips with these bugs corrected.
>
> >--
> >Niklas Holsti
> >Tidorum Ltd
> >niklas holsti tidorum fi
> >       .      @       .
>
> I appreciate that. I'm a software engineer by trade, so I expect to be
> able to work around any such problems relatively easily. The thing I'm much
> much more concerned about is determining the right set of components for
> integrating the LPC213X with the XECom modem -- passives, plus whatever I
> need to make the UARTs on the LPC into RS232s that can communicate with the
> modem and a computer input.
>
> Does anyone out there have the expertise and the willingness to help with
> this? I'm assuming it would be a couple hours of time, and I'd be happy to
> pay a reasonable rate.

I sent you an email to the address shown here.  Do you check your
yahoo.com email account?

Rick