Re: [NTLK] Giving the Newton some USB lovin' (long'n'winded!) [Related topic, off in another direction]

You go boy!

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Paul Curtis
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-----Original Message-----
From: newtontalk-bounce@newtontalk.net
[mailto:newtontalk-bounce@newtontalk.net] On Behalf Of Alex Perez
Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 3:27 PM
To: newtontalk@newtontalk.net
Subject: Re: [NTLK] Giving the Newton some USB lovin' (long'n'winded!)
[Related topic, off in another direction]

Randy Glenn wrote:
> All of the devices you've mentioned are USB Device Controllers. USB
> Host Controllers are immensely scary to develop, and there simply
> aren't that many of them out there (I think you'll find most devices
> that have a USB host have some sort of PCI bus as well)

This is not entirely correct. Yes, most, but not all by any means. While the
Philips IC I cited last night certainly is not a USB Host controller, this
one is, http://www.nxp.com/pip/ISP1160BD_01.html , and is specifically
designed to support direct parallel interfacing to ARM7 and StrongARM
processors, via their GPIO pins. (They say "Glueless interface to various µC
and RISC processors") Philips also provides a host stack written in C.

>
> Beyond that, a USB stack would have to be implemented on the Newton.
> That's a whole other level of scary.

There are USB Host microcontrollers that are specifically designed to
implement as much of the stack in hardware as possible, for embedded uses
(yes, even as USB Host devices), so not necessarily.

This company, http://www.vinculum.com/prd_vnc1l.html , *specializes* in
making USB Host Controller ICs which are designed to be adapted into
existing serial environments. You can source development modules from
http://apple.clickandbuild.com/cnb/shop/ftdichip?productID=62&op=catalogue-p
roduct_info-null&prodCategoryID=53
for about $25 each. They even offer packs of ten for about $190. This device
can communicate to the processor via Motorola SPI, UART, and FIFO MCU. This
device can communicate via RS-422 in UART mode, and since the Newton's
RS-422 port can be clocked at up to 2mbit/sec via external sync, this
becomes feasable. This thing even has PS/2 and mouse interfaces, for
communicating externally to the host by way of! And remember, this is a USB
*Host* controller.
See http://www.alphamicro.net/components/product~line~9~id~289.asp

>
> I don't think that having the Newton as a USB host is ever going to
> happen on existing hardware. Any such work would probably involve some
> other platform doing the heavy lifting, and Einstein taking advantage
> of it.

Well, I guess we can always agree to disagree. All it takes is a couple of
people to believe differently, and I think if one actually takes a long hard
look at some of the hardware that is out there and specifically designed to
accommodate people in our situations, it becomes self-evident that this is a
real possibility.

>
> -Randy
>
> On 9/27/06, Alex Perez <aperez@alexperez.com> wrote:
>> As a follow-up to my previous connectivity e-mail, I should also
>> state that I firmly believe a longer-term approach to this
>> connectivity issue is to devise a way to get proper USB ports functioning
on the Newton.
>> This is probably only practical at USB 1.0 Low-speed rates, but
>> perhaps not. Can anyone comment on this?
> (Snipped due to Ecartis stupidity)
>> Keep on truckin, (heh)
>> Alex Perez
>> --
>> This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all
>> inquiries Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/
>> WikiWikiNewt for all kinds of articles:
>> http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/
>>
>>
>
>

--
This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries
Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/ WikiWikiNewt for all
kinds of articles: http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/
-- 
This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries
Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/
WikiWikiNewt for all kinds of articles: http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/