* Re: dev boards comparison
1999-10-25 13:48 dev boards comparison Sorin Balea
@ 1999-10-26 6:29 ` Wolfgang Denk
0 siblings, 0 replies; 2+ messages in thread
From: Wolfgang Denk @ 1999-10-26 6:29 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: sorin; +Cc: linuxppc-embedded
Hi Sorin,
in message <99102509535300.00577@splash.nitechinc.com> you write:
>
> We're in the process of deciding which board to use for the
> developement of our embedded products... we have now a
> FADS 860 board... but we aren't that much impressed by it.
Which CPU are you looking for?
> So can anyone please tell me which one is better from the
> point of view of developing embedded solutions based on
> Linux?
> We are considering the FADS, along with the MBX boards
> from Motorola and the RPX boards from Embedded Planet
> Any pros and cons for this boards?
I had 2 *very* early (F)ADS boards, but then we were using some 30
MBX boards for the rest of the projects (not for Linux, but this is
not really important here)... Guess why. If your only choice was
between FADS and MBX I would use the MBX. Just my $0.02 ...
> Are there other boards that might be considered?
Probably yes. I am using the mini modules by TQ Systems in several
projects, see http://www.tqs.de/HTM_Files/TQM8xx_Serie.htm for hard-
ware desriptions).
The TQ starter kit, which functionally is very similar to the MBX
board, is intentionally somewhat cheaper.
But IMHO an even more interesting feature is the separation of the
"mini module" (containing CPU, RAM, SRAM and FLASH memory, power
supply, etc.), from the rest of the framework needed to make a usable
configuration (mostly connectors). This results in a neat, very small
module (less than half a credit card!), that can be used as-is for
your final application - all you have to design is a (simple, cheap)
carrier board with what you need for external circuitry and
connectors etc. I always found it very convenient that development
and target system are more or less identical, at least from the soft-
ware point of view.
I ported Linux to those modules (including the latest 2.2.13 kernel),
and I have sent my patches to Dan Malek; I hope they will show up in
one of the next "standard" embedded kernels. I'm going to continue
supporting these modules, both for new CPU configurations and for new
options (like FLASH filesystem).
Feel free to contact me if this looks like an interesting option to
you.
Hope this helps,
Wolfgang Denk
--
Software Engineering: Embedded and Realtime Systems, Embedded Linux
Phone: (+49)-8142-4596-87 Fax: (+49)-8142-4596-88 Email: wd@denx.de
Defaults are wonderful, just like fire.
- Larry Wall in <1996Mar6.004121.27890@netlabs.com>
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