Date   : Tue, 26 Jul 2005 17:34:54 +0100
From   : Phil Blundell <philb@...>
Subject: Re: Econet-Ethernet bridge

On Tue, 2005-07-26 at 17:31 +0200, Eelco Huininga wrote:
> I agree with you that the main functionality should be the bridging
> function. The IDE and RTC functionality is optional. What I'd like is that
> when the bridging functionality is all up and running, I'd be able to add
> IDE or RTC hardware, either by adding some hardware to the PCB, or via an
> expansion bus. So that when you'd want merely the bridge, you'd only build
> the bridging hardware, but if you'd also want it to act like a fileserver
> (or only as a fileserver) then all you'd have to do is add the extra
> hardware.
> 
> How do you feel about using the Master econet module and a ready-made
> Ethernet module?

I was already planning to use the Master econet module, since that
seemed like the easiest way to obtain the ADLC functionality given that
the 68B54 and the Z80 SIO are both discontinued, and the Master modules
seem to be easy to obtain.  A ready-made Ethernet module would be OK,
but probably more expensive (and mechanically more cumbersome) than
integrating those parts directly onto a PCB.

The ATmega162 micro that I had in mind only has 16kB of flash program
memory, which might not be sufficient if you wanted to start adding
significant amounts of new functionality.  But we could probably find a
larger uC if you wanted to go down that path.

p.