IoT5500 +P8 Ethernet Server "LAN ANT" ultra-compact module
Peter Jakacki
Posts: 10,193
Some of you may have used WIZnet products, they are great for getting into the Internet of Things and I have been using their WIZ820io module as it's scarcely bigger than the magjack itself. But now I want to use the W5500 but all the modules are clunkers compared to that so I have designed a new module with the W5500 and made some improvements too. Not only can I drop this in as a replacement for the WIZ820io but I can also use this with an optional onboard Cortex M0 to provide not only built-in serial services but also web and ftp as well, so this module could be used in stand-alone mode with it's built-in 16Mbit serial Flash.
This is what the old WIZ820io looked like:
So my new design is footprint compatible to boot but multi-purposes some of the otherwise redundant or unused pins. Of course I also have my Tachyon server software already written that's been tested on this chip as well as the older W5100 and W5200s.
I will make them available for sale once I figure out the best way of doing so.
Note: This item has also been posted onto the WIZnet forum.
UPDATED: Thread title + datadoc link
This is what the old WIZ820io looked like:
So my new design is footprint compatible to boot but multi-purposes some of the otherwise redundant or unused pins. Of course I also have my Tachyon server software already written that's been tested on this chip as well as the older W5100 and W5200s.
I will make them available for sale once I figure out the best way of doing so.
Note: This item has also been posted onto the WIZnet forum.
UPDATED: Thread title + datadoc link
260 x 194 - 6K
753 x 368 - 69K
1024 x 507 - 84K
Comments
Keep us posted on you sales plan, please?
The optional CPU layer will use either the Propeller which includes my current Tachyon server software or an M4 CPU which is very fast and has plenty of memory. The name has been changed to IoT5500 to distinguish it from WIZnet's own product numbering.
A solder jumper has been added which allows J1.6 to be selected as either a INT signal or VDD, this latter option permiting operation and powering of the module from J1 alone, even being able to mount the module sideways as J2 is not required. The interrupt signal is always available on the MISO pin when the module is not selected.
IoT5500 PIN CONNECTIONS
J1.1
GND
J2.1
GND
J1.2
MISO2
J2.2
VDD
J1.3
MOSI
J2.3
TXD,SCL
J1.4
SCLK
J2.4
RXD,SDA
J1.5
SS
J2.5
RST I/O
J1.6
INT-VDD
J2.6
MISO
WIZ820io PIN CONNECTIONS (for comparison)
J1.1
GND
J2.1
GND
J1.2
GND
J2.2
VDD
J1.3
MOSI
J2.3
VDD
J1.4
SCLK
J2.4
PWRDN
J1.5
nSS
J2.5
nRST
J1.6
nINT
J2.6
MISO
On the left is the new IoT+P8 module alongside the IoT5500 module, so this is scarcely bigger than a magjack. The pcbs are thin at 0.8mm and all the components are low profile bar the microSD header which is around 2.6mm high. If you have a cutout in your PCB you can slot this assembled module in so the magjack sits at board level with only a few millimetres of clearance needed on the bottom. You don't need the through-hole pins as the pads extend to edges for solder-bridging with the host pcb.
Anyway, with this combination you can have a complete web/ftp/telnet server running and an optional host micro can communicate with the network and file system through the serial lines at up to 3M baud.
IoT+P8 CPU module that stacks onto the IoT5500 network module.
Here I see 12 at the edge ...
not very hobby market friendly yet ...
but of course there is not really much space left if you keep the module so nice and small.
Would just be a pity not being able to use the IOs.
And not much to do for most of the cogs then as well, when Tachyon is using about 3.
Moving to a multi threaded/multi COG webserver will need some careful use of the SD layer ...
and the WizNet - but not really much RAM space left.
we can not have unused COGs ;-) - need to get them busy .... :-)
512k EEPROM - good to store some Tachyon and PASM modules ...
IoT5500 PIN CONNECTIONS
J1.1
GND
J2.1
GND
J1.2
MISO2
J2.2
VDD
J1.3
MOSI
J2.3
TXD,SCL
J1.4
SCLK
J2.4
RXD,SDA
J1.5
SS
J2.5
RST I/O
J1.6
INT-VDD
J2.6
MISO
+P8 CPU PIN CONNECTIONS
J1.1
P22
J2.1
SCL
J1.2
P21
J2.2
SDA
J1.3
GND
J2.3
GND
J1.4
MISO2
J2.4
VDD
J1.5
MOSI
J2.5
TXD
J1.6
SCLK
J2.6
RXD
J1.7
SS
J2.7
WRST
J1.8
INT
J2.8
MISO
J1.9
P15
J2.9
P2
J1.10
P14
J2.10
P8RST
Revision: P14 and P15 go straight to extra pins and the red/green LED has been removed and the two I/O (through 330R) routed to 2 extra pins J1.1&2. You can still connect an LED directly to these pins if needed.
The back edge of the CPU module also includes P8 to P13, GND VDD, P8RST as half-holes at the same pitch as the QFP of 31mils.
So the Prop add-on can communicate with a host using serial or I2C or half-duplex via P2 etc plus this means that since we have this dedicated Prop handling the protocols and filesystem etc that the host system has all it's memory available rather than being filled to the brim. The Telnet protocols can be used to communicate directly with the host if necessary while the FTP and HTTP protocols can operate indenpendantly while the host CPU can access the FAT32 SD filesystem using simple serial commands. Alternatively you can put the module into datalogger mode where it grabs the serial stream and looks after logging of the information into the filesystem while remote sites can access the data as FTP, TELNET, or as a web page (MJB has been working on some AJAX stuff too). Even the base IoT5500 module is very useful with any system.
Rather than wasting room with an RTC I decided to implement NTP time protocols which synchronizes my virtual RTC, that just makes sense. There's also a red/green LED on the +P8 to let you know what it's doing. Server software has been running for sometime now but I'm always making improvements.
The optional Prop module is not meant to be a be-all as it has it's job cutout with the Ethernet and filesystem and mainly plus because it is so small that's why i haven't brought out lots of convenient I/O. Just plug this module into a Prop Quickstart or breadboard and have some fun in any language you choose. BTW, since I run Tachyon Forth on the Prop you can easily send "commands" or "scripts" which are just Forth words strung together, even make a "macro" out of them
I expect to have stock of these early October and the pricing will be really competitive but shipping is always a problem. The WIZ820io costs around $28, the Sparkfun ENC28J60 around $35, but my IoT5500 I expect to sell for around $20 or $35 including the Prop module, maybe better. It would be good to have "low overhead distributors" who could hold stock and ship locally to cut down on unnecessary costs but a margin and system for the distributor would have to be worked in though. I won't make my fortune out of these but I can offset my internal use costs with sales and promote the IoT in the Propeller community at least.
WIZ820io PIN CONNECTIONS (for comparison)
J1.1
GND
J2.1
GND
J1.2
GND
J2.2
VDD
J1.3
MOSI
J2.3
VDD
J1.4
SCLK
J2.4
PWRDN
J1.5
nSS
J2.5
nRST
J1.6
nINT
J2.6
MISO
I for one am very interested in these modules and would be like to order as soon as available.
Thanks
Bob
Thanks Bob, a few others have expressed interest so I will be getting these run off fairly soon.
I have created a preliminary on-line datadoc based on the current design and I will keep updating this page with more information.
First off I have allowed for a S25FL127S 16Mbyte SPI Flash to be fitted to the +P8 Propeller board (1"x0.9") as an additional option to the microSD. Some situations won't require a microSD so this keeps it more compact and the filesystem software will allow it to be accessed in the same manner as FAT32. The SPI Flash is mounted underneath the board but both +P8 and Ethernet board substrates are only 0.8mm thick.
Secondly I've replaced the Prop crystal with an 6MHz oscillator so we can run at 96MHz for that bit of pep a server could always use.
Software wise I'm adding extra serial channel sockets for direct communication with designated pins such as the RXD/TXD. The Telnet port communicates directly with Tachyon so it's also very easy to access peripherals, I2C, and other resources from that socket with simple text "commands".
Besides the 5 extra I/O pins plus I2C and RXD,TXD there are also 11 other I/O available on fine-pitch half-holes along the back edge of the board.
DP says he is willing to distribute them in the U.S. so I will probably be shipping them to him early next month. We expect most of these to be sold as combos with the +P8 as this is the easiest way to get Ethernet +FAT32 onto your system without hogging most of it's resources. But to keep packaging simple (and flat) the +P8 board will be separate and the pin strips will be supplied so that the user can just solder them up the way that suits them.
The microSD cards are commodity items so they are not included but are easy to get as I can pick-up 16GB Sandisk for under $10 here locally.
Later on I will introduce some inexpensive ISM band transceiver modules that will stack on as well so that the IoT5500 becomes the Ethernet gateway (and processor) for various sensors and control systems.
This sounds great. Glad to hear about the SPI a Flash! Just waiting to hear the ordering details here in the US. Great work!!
Bob
something like the nRF24L01 ?
there is also recent discussion here about [h=2]Low cost wifi module ESP8266 [/h] http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php/157430-Low-cost-wifi-module-ESP8266
the chip there might be a future replacement for the W5500 to go WLAN directly once the usage has been figured out.
I've seen that too and I know that for a lot of industrial and secure applications it will still need to be hardwired but even when experimenting with networked wireless situations that it pays to keep each node fairly simple which is what we can do easily with ISM band transceivers/micros. Also with ISM we can use the 433MHz band at fairly low-power so that the overheads for each node are kept low and if I sort it out properly then they can be meshed so that even though some nodes may be way out of range they can still piggyback off their neighbours. Besides the nRF24xx parts there are also the HOPE RF parts such as the RFM69HCW that I have been looking at, quite inexpensive, 100mw output etc.
But there are also a lot of "remote control" style parts out there too, I'd like to allow for both "data" and "remote" devices as sometimes I might just want a very simple little temperature sensor running off a watch battery. In those situations those parts may just wake up every so often and transmit blindly a few times at random intervals and even if it still wasn't received that time it doesn't matter a great deal. The circuit board off my commercial wireless temperature sensors that come with our ducted A/C are overly complicated IMO based around a CC430 chipset and a fat "watch" battery. I would have just designed a cheap thimble sized remote transmitter running off a small watch battery, transmitting a burst every few minutes or so. Like a bunch of crickets chirping it may sound like a din but they know who's talking. Rather than a row of DIP switches I would just use a unique ID coupled with a WPS style setup. KISS.
So all the real smarts will be in the IoT5500 as it can also serve up dynamic webpages for each node. But chips such as the ESP8266 are fine for direct WiFi access but do end up much more complicated.
But maybe you will come up with something even more compact now.
I'm Jake from WIZet and thanks for using W5500 in your project.
It looks very promising and I was wondering if I could get one as a sample?
Can you email me at jakelee@wiznettechnology.com?
Regards,
Jake
Now if anyone has any idea about the commands they would like to see or some suggestions for improvements then please post in this thread as I am thinking about how best to implement this feature.
At present the +P8 is running nicely as a stand-alone server and because of recent improvements in optimizing memory I have plenty left over for more code and application. But sometimes this module may be used as a smart peripheral in another system, even perhaps an 8-bit Arduino much as the Prop has been used as a "peripheral" for these systems before
So I am putting the serial console port that talks to Tachyon to good use and allowing this to be used as a serial command channel and even though it could be used as is since it can talk directly to the Forth shell, there are other considerations for a more general-purpose channel. To make it easier for a host to manage the network there are simple commands and rules to facilitate this. For instance, to send an email the host would send the command TO: followed by the address, then SUBJECT: then MSG: which needs to be terminated with a control Z since it can span multiple lines, and then finally POST which will post it off and return a response. But there are so many things that a host application may require that I haven't envisaged yet, even if I write an app to communicate with the IoT5500 serially, but I did make datalogging easy as 123 though.
Remember that this little module does everything that the Spinneret did, only it's faster, uses the latest W5500 which tests show works much faster and efficiently than the old W5100. Although I did not bother with an RTC due to the space I am relying on SNTP for network time and maintaining this in a virtual RTC. This module may also become a standard WIZnet product if all works out well, even if it ends up migrating to another chip later on, I should still be able to make it work the same way.
sadly I did not had any PropellerTime for a while now. I barely can keep up with the forum. But as you know I follow Tachyon since Version one.
I want some of these modules. You are doing a really great job with this. Please give me some notice when D.P. has stock in the US of A. Brilliant product.
I struggled a lot implementing dynamic PASM web-pages loaded from SD card as needed on the spinneret in Spin+Pasm. Basically I have almost running what I need but got stuck on programming a remote propeller from it. Just not enough RAM in my Spin/Pasm version. Need to weed out again and - well - have no PropellerTime.
My main reason to choose the spinneret for the project I am working on was the small size and the lack of USB. Your stack of boards is even smaller! To use internet time and propeller clock is perfect also, no need for dedicated RTC.
So please notify me when these boards are available.
Thanks!
Mike
I believe there are a 'number" of us out there that are interested in purchasing this item(s). All we ask is that you announce availability (soonnnn) in Matinee lights! HaHaHaHa.
Seriously this looks like a great design and fills a definite niche. Looking forward to helping to fill it.
Bob
There was also an unrelated problem with the SD cards during a COMPACT operation in that at some point it would fail and this was traced back to the SD card itself but it wasn't a fault. It turned out I needed to increase my command/response timeout from 120ms to 250ms as in some cases it was still writing sectors internally while I was trying to read others etc.
I am also looking at how to package just the combo module itself without the pins in a headshell perhaps as a Ethernet to serial converter but of course with all the enhancements of a command channel so that calling up a webpage remotely and clicking buttons can send serial data back to the serial host and serial data back can modify the webpage. The host board, be it a Prop or Arduino etc only needs a 4-pin header to connect to the IoT5500 although I would probably have a dual 4-way configured to suit my programming connection which is also PropPlug compatible.
I know MJB and DP have been playing a bit with dynamic content, what's the state of this at present as I may start looking into it as well?
(Seems like BB code is crippled, doesn't render IMGs etc)
Check the Dropbox files that are linked in my sig as there is the W5100, W5200, and W5500 drivers that EASYNET runs on top of. The Google docs are the most up-to-date and the pub versions of these are accessible via the links page at the end of the "Introduction to Tachyon Forth" page in my sig.
That's 10 Ethernet ports and 80 32-bit CPUs!
If I load each one up with a 64GB card then that's 640GB of storage. Could make a blade server yet!
How is the testing on these progressing? Do you believe modules will be ready for wider audience (Here in the US) early January?
Bob
These are being shipped to D.P. and to ErNa and hopefully there won't be too many hiccups with getting there this time of year. I spent a bit of time on a programming and test fixture and have now found a good way to mount pogo pins as I have come across a strip socket that is end-stackable and accepts the base of the pogo pin beautifully and keeps them all nice and even too. Previously I had wrecked pins soldering them in etc. In the meantime over the break (wot! me have a break?) I will continue with adding features and documenting. Suggestions welcome.
IOT5500+P8-VS
looks great.
But I was thinking the P8-VS would be mounted the other way round (top-down)
so that the whole module could be mounted flat (upside down from this here) on a carrier to get access to the additional IOs.
so am I mistaken?
How to get access to the fine pitch IOs?
Of course, just the P8-VS can be mounted flat.
And both then as P8-VS on the bottom side of a carrier board, and IoT5500 on top?
What was your thinking?