Computer Module suits remote/portable equipment designers.
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Press Release Summary:
Persistor® CF2 single board computer (SBC) measures 2.5 x 2.0 x 0.7 in. and provides removable memory and programming libraries. Product combines 3.3 V 16 MHz Motorola 68332 linear regulator with Texas Instruments' MSP430. Programmable clock speed allows operation down to 5 mA, stop modes at 250 µA, and suspend mode below 10 µA. SBC includes PicoDOS® OS, configurable command shell, 1 MB onboard flash, 512 KB RAM, dual RS-232 driver, and battery backing circuitry.Original Press Release:
Tiny Low Power Computer Offers CompactFlash OS
Computer Module Tailored for Designers of Remote or Portable Equipment
Bourne, Massachusetts. December 2, 2002
Persistor Instruments announces the Persistor® CF2, a 2.5" x 2.0" x 0.7" single board computer offering features desirable to developers of remote or portable equipment for data logging or control applications. Both OEM designers and researchers will find the CF2's small size, low power, removable memory, and comprehensive programming libraries ideal for rapid and reliable product or project development.
The CF2 combines a 3.3V 16MHz Motorola 68332 with a Texas Instruments MSP430 to offer several ways to achieve very low power consumption. Its programmable clock speed allows operation down to 5mA, stop modes at 250uA, and a suspend mode below 10uA. Sleeping systems can wake from external interrupts, RS-232 activity, or timers maintained by the MSP430 functioning as the real-time clock and power manager.
The CF2's PicoDOS® operating system and configurable command shell lets users manage files and directories on removable CompactFlash (CF) cards using familiar DOS like commands. Additional commands permit access to CF2 hardware parameters such as the real-time clock, RS-232 settings, virtual EEPROM variables, and optional hard drives. Developers can tap these features to quickly build turn-key command line applications. The Developers CD includes two such data logger examples: an RS-232 communications logger, and a multi-channel A-D recorder. Data collected on CompactFlash cards, now available up to 1GB, can be easily moved to a PC using inexpensive USB CF readers.
The CF2 runs programs written in ANSI C using Metrowerks CodeWarrior in Windows 9x/2000/XP. The CF2's development libraries offer a rich selection of driver support for on and off board hardware, both at high levels of abstraction for common tasks, and at the very low levels needed for complex operations. Functions are provided to handle ATA storage devices, checksums and CRCs, memory mapped chip selects, virtual EEPROM, QSPI devices, UARTs, interrupts, real-time clock, system clock and wait state timing. The Motorola 68332 also contains an integrated TPU co-processor with remarkable timing capabilities. Software drivers and implementation examples are provided to demonstrate use of the 15 available TPU channels as simple I/O or as individually settable software UARTs. Beyond functions and drivers, the development CD offers several fully built example applications and dozens of projects using commented source code.
The tiny CF2 is packed with 1MB of onboard flash, 512KB of RAM, a 3.3 volt linear regulator, a dual RS-232 driver and battery backing circuitry. The entire 16 bit bus and all I/O are brought to 90 0.025" square pins on a 0.1" grid. The module is rated for full industrial (-40 to +85 C) operation. A variety of stackable add-ons are available for rapid instrument prototyping, such as 12, 16 and 24 bit A/D, additional hardware UARTs, USB interface, and power switched IDE hard drive controller. The R216AU starter kit turns the CF2 into an 8 channel, 16 bit A/D logger able to sample selectable channels at up to 80 KHz and store data to the removable CompactFlash in binary or ASCII data files.
The Persistor CF2 is available now, priced from $395 for one to $295 in large OEM quantities. Developer's kits are available starting at $495. Contact Persistor Instruments by phone at 508-759-6434, by email at help@persistor.com, or visit www.persistor.com to receive more information. Persistor Instruments specializes in the design and manufacture of low power data acquisition and storage systems, with headquarters at 254-J Shore Rd, Bourne, MA 02532-4104 USA.
Persistor® and PicoDOS® are registered trademarks of Persistor Instruments Inc
