Date   : Tue, 26 Jul 2005 18:49:08 +0200
From   : "Eelco Huininga" <eelco@...>
Subject: Re: Econet-Ethernet bridge

True, but I do believe that 8-bit ethernet controllers will be available
for years to come, because the demand for these embedded controllers will
still be there.
An option might be to use an 'open-core' design written in VHDL:
http://www.opencores.org/projects.cgi/web/ethmac/overview
I don't have any experience with FPGA's so I don't know if this design
would be usable for our purpose.
Too bad there isn't an 68B54 open-core available yet...

Cheers,
Eelco

 

> -----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
> Van: Majordomo List Manager [mailto:majordomo@...] 
> Namens Jules Richardson
> Verzonden: dinsdag 26 juli 2005 18:22
> Aan: bbc-micro@...
> Onderwerp: RE: [BBC-Micro] RE: Econet-Ethernet bridge
> 
> On Tue, 2005-07-26 at 17:46 +0200, Mark Usher wrote:
> > >How do you feel about using the Master econet module 
> > >and a ready-made Ethernet module?
> > 
> > Phil's design already uses the Master econet module, at 
> least as far as my
> > limited understanding of the design goes, and the CS8900A 
> Ethernet chip is
> > basically a whole ethernet card on a chip, and at that 
> price, there isn't
> > much point in messing about with some adapter cards, that *everyone*
> > implementing it would have to get hold of, now and in the future.
> 
> How obtainable is the chip likely to be in three years, or ten, when
> someone might want to build one of these? 
> 
> That's my only worry about using custom parts (other than the Econet
> module). It's going to be dead easy to get a free PC with an Ethernet
> card supported by such as Linux for years to come yet, so all 
> it depends
> on is what circuitry would be needed to hook the Econet 
> module up to the
> PC by whatever means.