USB Slave with Portable Apps in a device discussion
Don M
Posts: 1,653
You're welcome to join in this discussion as I'm thinking out loud here.
I have a portable label printer (Brother PC-2430PC) that I always thought was unique in the fact that when you plug it into your PC, the PC sees it as a memory stick and it opens a folder which has a "portable app" that you can launch to print labels. No software to download or install.
I am developing a product that has a USB port for connection and communication to a PC terminal program such a Parallax Serial Terminal. So what I'm thinking is that I could incorporate this same sort of scheme in my device where by it too would open a folder that may have Parallax Serial Terminal in it and allow you to launch that program and still be able to communicate with the device through the USB port. This would make deployment of my product simpler and more portable in the fact that there wouldn't need to be any software sent along with the product or downloaded and installed. For instance lets say that my device was going to be connected to a machine and a PC in the field and there wasn't any internet connectivity or the customer forgot to install the software. So now the software just "travels" along with the device I produce. Seems simple?
So I have already incorporated the FTDI USB / 232 chip in my product but am wondering what it would take to implement the scenario above? I am assuming I would need to add some sort of flash memory. Anyone familiar with the FTDI chips and interfacing them with some sort of flash memory?
The implementation of this may cost more that it's worth but I thought it would make my product rather unique. There is a community that develops "Portable Apps". Just Google it along with memory stick.
Ideas? Discussion? Thoughts?
Don
I have a portable label printer (Brother PC-2430PC) that I always thought was unique in the fact that when you plug it into your PC, the PC sees it as a memory stick and it opens a folder which has a "portable app" that you can launch to print labels. No software to download or install.
I am developing a product that has a USB port for connection and communication to a PC terminal program such a Parallax Serial Terminal. So what I'm thinking is that I could incorporate this same sort of scheme in my device where by it too would open a folder that may have Parallax Serial Terminal in it and allow you to launch that program and still be able to communicate with the device through the USB port. This would make deployment of my product simpler and more portable in the fact that there wouldn't need to be any software sent along with the product or downloaded and installed. For instance lets say that my device was going to be connected to a machine and a PC in the field and there wasn't any internet connectivity or the customer forgot to install the software. So now the software just "travels" along with the device I produce. Seems simple?
So I have already incorporated the FTDI USB / 232 chip in my product but am wondering what it would take to implement the scenario above? I am assuming I would need to add some sort of flash memory. Anyone familiar with the FTDI chips and interfacing them with some sort of flash memory?
The implementation of this may cost more that it's worth but I thought it would make my product rather unique. There is a community that develops "Portable Apps". Just Google it along with memory stick.
Ideas? Discussion? Thoughts?
Don
Comments
I used a 4 port micro hub and a USB stick ........ Ill bet if you use just the chips and direct wire it ... you can save some space ..
BTW to keep the USB drive from poping up every time .. use a small slide switch on the 5V USB VCC line .
Very handy, as long as it's not auto-filling my computer with viruses. That was my first thought; not everyone likes that aspect of autolaunch software. Not sure if all virus/spyware would catch it, either.
Can't seem to find info on the SM324 chip.
SMI324 USB Flash Drive Controller Information:
The SM324 is a highly compatible, and hi-performance USB2.0 Flash Drive controller intended for supporting NAND type Flash memory and SPI interface on one chip. The SM324 integrates a high-speed USB2.0 Transceiver Macro-cell Interface (UTMI) transceiver, a Serial Interface Engine (SIE) and an enhanced 80C51 compatible 8-bit microprocessor. By complying with USB specification ver.2.0 and USB Mass Storage Class specification ver.1.0, the SM324 can be supported by Windows XP/2000/Me default driver. Also it is supported in Windows 98/98SE, Mac and Linux operating system. For the power consumption consideration, the SM324 complies with USB power specification ver.2.0 for bus-powered devices. And for the USB2.0 Flash Drive application, the SM324 supports up to 8 data Flash banks, Write Protect security function, and PC boot up from USB2.0 Flash Drive. The SM324 is designed specifically for high-speed performance and high capacity USB2.0 Flash Drives. These USB2.0 Flash Drives can be used as removable storage disk for data exchange applications. With SM324s complete software support, users can easily use USB2.0 Flash Drives for backup, and security. The objective of the SM324 controller is to drastically increase the USB Flash memory data transfer rate as well as reduce the overall system cost by offering a manufacturing-ready turnkey solution to customers. The SM324 is available in 64-pin LQFP package.
Features:
Complete USB specification ver.2.0 compatibility
Complies with USB Mass Storage Class specification ver.1.0
Bulk Only transport protocol
Complies with USB power specifications for bus-powered devices
Operating system supported: Windows XP/2000/Me/98/98SE, Mac OS 9.x and above, Linux Kernel 2.4 and above.
Master & Slave SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) for flexible applications.
ISP (In System Programming) firmware update capability.
Supports dual channel for Flash memory, averaged data transfer rate up to 32* MB/sec
Compatible with SLC NAND type Flash and up to 8 banks
Supports MLC Flash Memory with 4 symbols (bytes) ECC engine.
Supports VID, PID, serial number & vendor information update
Provides LED indicator when USB Flash Disk is in Ready/Working mode
Supports Write Protect security function to protect data in UFD
Supports suspend and wake-up resume
Integrated 80C51 compatible 8-bit microprocessor with enhanced feature
12MHz crystal driver circuit
Fabricated in 0.16um CMOS process
1.8 Volts low power core operation
Operates on a single power supply (Vdd = 5.0V)
Available in LQFP 64-pin (9x9mm including pads) package