Date   : Wed, 27 Jul 2005 13:44:15 +0200
From   : "Eelco Huininga" <eelco@...>
Subject: Re: Econet-Ethernet bridge

 

> -----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
> Van: Majordomo List Manager [mailto:majordomo@...] 
> Namens Jules Richardson
> Verzonden: woensdag 27 juli 2005 12:50
> Aan: bbc-micro@...
> Onderwerp: RE: [BBC-Micro] RE: Econet-Ethernet bridge
> 
> Hence the reason I like the idea of interfacing the an Econet 
> module to
> a PC, and letting the PC worry about routing and whatever other
> hardware's attached (plus things like running as an Econet 
> fileserver if
> needs be). The PC hardware can change with the times without 
> redesign of
> anything. Note that PC doesn't even mean IBM-compatible; 
> could be a Mac
> or a RiscPC or whatever - anything that supports a common OS 
> between the
> hardware (hence going for Linux or *BSD would seem sensible, with a
> software project fork for those wanting Windows say)

Hmmm interesting approach. It would be nice to have some sort of Ecolink
device available.


> 
> The only critical thing is what interface to use between the Econet
> module and the PC. PCI and ISA are probably dead ends for the 
> reason of
> changing times as mentioned before. That probably leaves SCSI, USB,
> serial and parallel. 
> 
> SCSI's not available on enough machines for it to be viable. 
> USB's only
> on newer hardware, whilst serial is sometimes only available on older
> hardware. Parallel seems to be everywhere, but may well be 
> far too slow
> to drive a module.
> 
> So, possibly USB or serial are the choices. Maybe both is an option as
> at least from a hardware point of view the interface is likely trivial
> compared to an all-in-one board with its own CPU. 

IMHO this just shifts the problem from ISA to Serial or USB. Some modern x86
motherboards have removed the serial connectors alltogether and only have
USB connectors. And USB will be replaced in 5 or 10 years time by who knows
what. I think that an Econet-Ethernet bridge should have all it's stuff
on-board, without an ISA/USB/... bus.
If you'd go with the serial Ecolink device, you'd have to make a choice for
one interface or another. And this isn't a bad thing. As long as the design
is well documented, someone can redesign it for the needs in the future.


> I don't know. I can see advantages in both an all-in-one 
> board and a PC-
> interface approach. The former's more compact, and more fun for people
> to design. The latter's more cost-effective for users and 
> probably more
> flexible both now and as time goes on.
> 
> At the very least, I'd urge any project to keep details of driving an
> Econet module as a seperate area from the rest, as it'd then 
> be valuable input for anyone trying the other approach...

I couldn't agree with you more :-)


Cheers,
Eelco