EEWeb Pulse - Volume 39

EEWeb

PULSE

EEWeb.com

Issue 39 March 27, 2012

Fred Dart

Future Technology Devices International (FTDI) Electrical Engineering Community

EEWeb Electrical Engineering Community

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TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S TABLE OF CONTENTS

5

Fred Dart Future Technology Devices International (FTDI) Interview with Fred Dart - Founder and CEO

Featured Products Hardware Commoditization in the Handset Market

10 12

BY MEENU SARIN WITH VLSI

With the role of hardware diminishing in Mobile Internet Device software, chipset players are evolving now, more than ever, to survive in the market.

15

Arduino for Mere M0rtals - Part 3

BY ROBERT BERGER WITH RELIABLE EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

In this latest installment, see how to install Arduino software on the Ubuntu GNU/Linux operating systems.

RTZ - Return to Zero Comic

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Avago Technologies Motion Control Products

New Encoder for the Worst Case Environments Avago Technologies new AEAT-6600 Hall Effect Magnetic Encoder delivers optimal solutions for Robotic, Industrial and Medical systems designers.

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Fred Dart FTDI INTERVIEW

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Can you tell us about your time in academia and your early work experience?

I knew pretty early on that I wanted to go into industry and that I really needed a university education if I was going to get anywhere - so getting a degree was more of a means to an end than fulfilling any ambition to be an academic.

I studied for my BSc in Electrical & Electronic Engineering at Strathclyde University, in Glasgow.

After I graduated, I got a job as a product engineer for Motorola at its East Kilbride site. There, I was responsible for bringing prototype chips to full production – something that gave me experience in testing, which has continued to prove useful to me in my career. I really wanted to get into design though, so I joined STC, where I worked on chips for the digital telephone exchanges that were just starting to be rolled out.

Following a stint with FTS, myself and two colleagues decided to leave the UK and head for California, taking

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FEATURED INTERVIEW

Fred Dart - Founder and CEO

How did you get into electronics and what drew you to the field?

I was brought up in Stornoway on the Outer Hebrides. My father was responsible for bringing TV to the islands, so I was used to being around pieces of electronics kits from a very young age (Figure 1).

I really got into electronics when I was a teenager, starting to mess about with transistor radios and various items of audio equipment.

INTERVIEW

Tell us about founding Computer Design Concepts.

What did this company specialize in?

Basically, Computer Design Concepts was an engineering consultancy firm that developed custom semiconductor solutions, through creation of complex ASIC layouts. Over time, our approach changed from designing in TTL to designing directly in silicon. From this, I realized that there was a possibility to set up a company that could utilize the engineering talent we had brought together to produce and market off-the-shelf ICs that could address certain high volume markets. This was how FTDI came into existence.

What were some of the initial products FTDI was providing?

When FTDI was first established, there wasn’t a specific technology or industry sector that it was focused on and our client base was pretty varied. One of our earliest products was the world’s first 2 chip PC motherboard chipset for i386 and i486 CPUs. Our customers at this time included IBM and Acorn Computers (the company that spawned ARM).

FEATURED INTERVIEW

positions with Cordata, an early PC clone start-up that is now defunct.

There, I was involved in designing motherboards and PC cards. This was in the days just predating PC chipsets. I returned to Scotland in the mid 1980s, and inspired by the culture I had witnessed while in the US ,decided to set up my own company - Computer Design Concepts.

Figure 1: A photo of the people of Stornoway (in the remote Hebrides islands north of Scotland) watching the Cassius Clay vs. Sonny Liston world title fight a few years after my father had brought TV to the town in 1959.

How has the company evolved since its founding in 1992?

After a few years in business, FTDI was mainly engaging in IC products that served the PC peripheral market. When USB started to get some traction, it seemed clear to me that there was a great deal of potential for us in this area – as a result, we moved to specializing solely in USB technology. Since that time, the simplicity, convenience, low power consumption and cost effectiveness of USB have all contributed to its widespread proliferation, and FTDI’s success has mirrored this. So, in hindsight ,the decision to go down this route has proved to be fortuitous.

engineering teams with not only the semiconductor element, but a series of development platforms, plus a comprehensive toolchain, various application ROM files and all the necessary drivers to assist them in bringing USB functionality into their designs. We are now on our sixth generation of silicon.

In the beginning, we produced USB controller ICs for keyboard, mouse and joystick peripherals.

Now we offer highly sophisticated USB bridge chips that are packed with functionality. We can provide

What manufacturing processes does FTDI use and where are your products produced?

FTDI has, since its inception, followed a fabless business

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FTDI started out with just a handful of employees – now, we have over ninety employees in sites around the world. In addition to our headquarters in Glasgow, Scotland, we have sales offices in Oregon (USA), Shanghai (China) and Taipei (Taiwan), plus a product development center in Singapore (which opened in 2008).

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INTERVIEW

Can you tell us about the new technologies FTDI is developing and the response you have received thus far for products such as Vinco, Vinculum II, etc?

The Vinculum II is a high performance dual-channel USB host/device controller IC which has a 16-bit microprocessor core, with 256 KBytes of Flash and 16 KBytes of SRAM memory. It is one of the main examples of our ‘USB Made Easy’ approach. Often engineers looking to implement USB connectivity into new or legacy designs will not have much prior experience or knowledge of this technology, meaning their core competence will be in the specific application. By incorporating a Vinculum II chip into their design, they can avoid many of the sources of frustration that can potential complicate and slow down the whole development process. The IC takes care of all the USB protocol data, so a larger proportion of the system’s processing resources can be devoted to the application itself rather than having to get involved with connectivity. No additional drivers need to be created or code written, the whole thing is effectively a plug-and-play solution.

The Vinco development platform complements this. It was inspired by the well established open source Arduino concept. Through the Vinco platform, engineers are able to create next generation USB 2.0 host/device connected embedded systems. It brings together the necessary hardware and software for both professional engineers and hobbyists to quickly develop and implement innovative, costeffective embedded systems that make use of USB connectivity. This platform can connect with a broad spectrum of existing Arduino I/O shields – offering scope for it to be applied to all types of tasks. Vinco has already gained considerable praise throughout the industry and received a host of award nominations and accolades.

PCs, is already bringing about its migration into other areas. The introduction of the Android Open Accessory initiative means that Android platforms will have the capacity to control items of external hardware, such as sensors, motors, home automation systems, etc. The form factors of these platforms limit the number of I/Os they can support.

As a result, data connectivity for the initiative is centering on USB. As our Vinco offering supports the Open Accessory initiative, it presents a route through which control of external hardware can be achieved. Vinco has now been included in the list of products that make up Google’s Android Open Accessories Development Kit (ADK).

My advice to anybody would be: don’t be afraid to move outside the confines of conventional thought, as this is where the real gamechanging ideas are going to be found.

What are FTDI’s target markets?

Well as USB technology is so widely used, with several billion ports in operation, the variety of applications areas that are able to serve is vast. It includes everything from computer peripherals, to telemetry systems and transfer of video data, to industrial control. We work with the manufacturers of test equipment, bulk storage devices, webcams, portable consumer electronics devices, medical instruments, smart metering systems, printers and other products too numerous to mention.

With regard to new technology avenues, a lot of our engineering resource is currently occupied by developing solutions for Android.

The huge popularity of this operating system in the portable electronics space, with its use in leading smartphones and tablet

Do you continue to have an active role in product development and if so, how?

I have always been keen to have a heavy involvement in the cultivation of new ideas and concepts that would fuel the company’s

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FEATURED INTERVIEW

model. We work with a number of different foundry partners, in Asia and beyond (depending on the process technology being utilized), which gives us greater flexibility and means we are never at risk of sourcing problems arising. We employ a number of different process technologies so that we can use the one that is best optimized for the specific feature set of each of our products.

INTERVIEW

What direction do you see FTDI heading in the next few years?

In addition to the aforementioned opportunities opening up through Android, there are other new initiatives that are now making the value of USB even greater - for example, using it as the primary power delivery method for portable electronics equipment.

What have been some of the key influences that helped you get to where you are today?

Working in the US had a major influence on me. I don’t think that I would have considered setting up my own company if it hadn’t been for this. It changed my outlook completely and gave me greater self-confidence. The attitude within the US semiconductor industry is very different from what you find in Europe. There is not the same fear of failure, rather, people are much

more willing to have a go at setting up their own business and making the most of their ideas.

What challenges do you foresee in our industry?

It looks like the economic turmoil that world currently finds itself in is unlikely to be dispelled any time soon. This will put challenges onto all industry sectors, but it will also offer opportunities to companies that are innovative enough to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack. The need for connectivity is now a staple of modern society - though data rates will increase, there are many other factors that need to be considered too, such as cost-effectiveness, power conservation, time to market, backward compatibility with existing technology, etc. This is why USB has such a vital role in enabling greater connectivity.

What is on your bookshelf?

I have a lot of engineering books in my library, but I enjoy biographies as well. I am currently reading about the life of Robert Noyce, who had an enormous impact on the semiconductor industry as we know it. I am also reading about the Nobel Prize winning physicist Paul Dirac.

What are you currently working on?

As briefly discussed earlier, there is a great deal of interest now in making USB the primary method for delivering power to portable electronics equipment, and legislation is already being put into place in some parts of the world to make this happen. Our engineers

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have been working on providing an IC solution for this which will be easy to implement, highly cost effective and will have no impact on engineering resources.

Is there anything that you have not accomplished yet that you hope to tackle in the near future?

Well, we are looking to double the size of FTDI within the next four years. Some of this will be fueled by organic growth of the markets we are addressing as well as penetration into new markets where USB can add benefit, but there will also be strategic changes that will help this too – it is a bit early for me to talk about specifics at this stage, however.

Do you have any advice you would like to give to the EE Community?

I am glad to be in an industry in which you really have to think. There are a lot of other sectors where just keeping to the status quo is acceptable, but the semiconductor business thrives on innovation and that has always appealed to me. You need to use your brain. My advice to anybody would be: don’t be afraid to move outside the confines of conventional thought, as this is where the real game-changing ideas are going to be found. Have courage in your convictions - look to set up your own company through which you can bring your ideas into reality. ■

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FEATURED INTERVIEW

progression within the industry.

From the chipset for i386 and i486 CPUs that I mentioned earlier, which I personally designed using IC simulation/verification tools that we had developed in-house, right up to our latest product releases, it has been very important for me to continue to live by this philosophy.

With this in mind, for the majority of the time I am now located at our Singapore development center. This allows me to oversee all the new project work that our engineering teams are undertaking and continue to have a high degree of influence - something that many CEOs of technologybased companies struggle to do as operations expand.

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UBM ELECTRONICS

2012

WI NNER

F E AT U R E D P R O D U C T S International Rectifier a world leader in power management technology, introduced the automotive-qualified AUIR3240S battery power switch for the combustion-engine shut-off and restart function (Stop-Start system) that can help reduce fuel consumption in automotive vehicles by up to 15 percent. The AUIR3240S is a highly integrated boost converter designed specifically for the Stop-Start system that halts the engine when a vehicle is stopped in traffic. This system requires a “board net stabilizer” using a power switch that disconnects the starter and main battery from the auxiliary electrical systems during engine start. The AUIR3240S is capable of driving several MOSFETs in parallel to achieve very low onstate resistance (Rds(on)) with current consumption below 50µA. The new device provides 15 V on the output with a wide input voltage (4-36 V). The AUIR3240S also features diagnostic on the output current and a thermal sensor interface for very robust designs.For more information, please click here.

High-Performance Inertial Modules STMicroelectronics, a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications and the world’s top supplier of MEMS sensors for consumer and portable applications*, has introduced a new member of the iNemo sensing family, a 9-Degree Of Freedom, fully integrated sensor module, to enable advanced movement and location-sensitive apps, location-based services (LBS) and indoor navigation on portable devices in smaller form factors. Combining motion and position detection is opening exciting new opportunities, for smartphones and tablets as well as for portable products, such as personal navigation devices. Market research firm IHS iSuppli expects that four billion motion sensors will ship in mobile phones and media tablets in 2015. ST’s new iNemo family of inertial sensors introduces new high-performance modules with 9-DOF (Degree of Freedom) inertial sensing by combining a 3-axis accelerometer, 3-axis gyroscope and 3-axis magnetic sensor in a single package. For more information, please click here.

Demo Board - Touch, USB and Wireless SMicrochip Technology Inc., a leading provider of microcontroller, analog and Flash-IP solutions, announced the availability of its Remote Control Demo Board, which integrates graphics, touch sensing, USB, and wireless communications (ZigBee® RF4CE). The board demonstrates a remote control populated with a PIC24FJ256DA210 MCU, 3.5” graphical TFT LCD display with resistive touch screen, capacitive touch keys with plastic overlay, MRF24J40 2.4 GHz transceiver and ZENA™ wireless adapter. Many consumer products now feature colorful graphical displays and touch capability. And, RF-based remote controls are becoming more prevalent, as they provide bi-directional communication and work through walls (no line-of-sight communication is required). Microchip’s remote-control demo is in the form factor of a wireless remote control, but it can also be used as a reference design to build any type of application that requires a graphical display, touch sensing, USB and/or wireless capability. The demo is supported by free source code that customers can use to customize for various graphical screens or touch-button scenarios. For more information, please click here.

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FEATURED PRODUCTS

Boost Converter for Stop-Start Application

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Hardware

Commoditization

in the Handset Market

Meenu Sarin Director

A

tablet market report from Goldman Sachs states, “The OS platform wars could drive greater hardware commoditization over time. We believe that over time the more open platform vendors may have to impose standard hardware and user interface specs on handset and tablet OEMs to ensure that software developers have a uniform installed base. This move to standardization would narrow the ability for hardware manufacturers to differentiate their technology over time and could result in hardware commoditization like that found in the traditional PC market.”

How the hardware market has changed over the years! There was a time when hardware engineers looked snootily at their software

colleagues. Hardware held the key to the differentiating factor across the semiconductor landscape.

The tides have been shifting.

With the gaining importance of software in the Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), hardware’s role as a differentiating factor is indeed diminishing. And with that, so are the profit margins for the chip industry incumbents. This is especially evident in the feature phone handset market. So, how are the chipset players reacting to survive, if not thrive, in this evolving market?

Qualcomm gives us an example.

Early this year, in a plan to enable its shift away from today’s fragmented set of native mobile environments, the company announced that it will

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release over the next nine months a set of applications programming interfaces (APIs) geared to give Web-based applications deeper links into hardware. Qualcomm already supports Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone and WebOS mobile OS, among others.

A move to Web-based applications would help it reduce the variety of platforms for which it needs to write software supporting its chips.

Qualcomm also has Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW), an application development platform created originally for CDMA mobile phones featuring third-party applications. The main advantage of BREW is that the application developers can easily port their applications among all BREW devices by providing a

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TECHNICAL ARTICLE

MediaTek has a similar strategy.

After an almost meteoric rise in the handset biz, thanks to the Shanzhai market, it saw its market share getting eroded by rivals followings its own strategy. To combat and in charting its way up the valuechain, it also has created the MAUI Runtime Environment application development platform (MRE), which can download and run small applications for things like social networking, games and music— thus adding smartphone-like functionality to the feature’s phones.

Over the recent period, it has partnered with the likes of Yahoo, Facebook and Opera software as well as several mobile value added service players to prep up its feature phones against the smartphones.

Web vs. native apps: As the mobile usage increases, both will grow with it and become valuable factors of product road maps. However, the question the product strategists need to ponder is, “What does my target audience need?” While the debate of Web vs. native apps is not new, it does throw some interesting options in this backdrop of looming hardware commoditization. One option is, the chipset vendors start conforming to the standard specifications set by the open platform vendors. The hardware is strongly connected to the OS platform and with a proliferation of various mobile OS in the market, it is not an easy task supporting them all or even hedging on a few. Not enticing.

But what if a chipset vendor were to make inroads into Web apps and

get a deep link between Web apps and its native hardware through some popular browsers? It can potentially get some interesting revenues by tapping the right Web apps based on their target market.

And remember that Web apps is an open platform—no waiting, no approval. Its success is hinged on its adoption by the user community.

Having said that, the speed comparison (of compiled vs. interpreted code/Web vs. native) will be there as well as cases, especially until the near future, where native wins over Web, but companies are working on those too (Qualcomm has been working for two years to optimize software so that browsers run as fast as possible on its chips). What has happened to desktop applications can also happen to native mobile apps.

Hmm…This may be one escape route from the commoditization problem.

About the Author Ms. Meenu Sarin is a microelectronics professional with a career spanning over 22 years and traversing across all aspects of the Semi-custom Business including Library Design & management, Program Management, Technical Marketing & Business Development, Consulting, Market and Technology trends research and analysis - and across geographies like Europe, India, Singapore, Greater China and Australia. After working with STMicroelectronics for around 14 years, she registered her company, VLSI Consultancy, in Singapore from where she consults, offering techno-commercial services to

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the semiconductor industry. This includes Training (corporate and public), Market & Technology intelligence (research & analysis) and Business Development Support (Technical Marketing, Social Media Marketing). She is also a founding member and an Executive Board Member of the Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association.

From 1997-2002, Meenu was a Technical Marketing Manager in STMicroelectronics (STM)/Singapore with focus on Telecom segment. In this role, she was responsible for Business Development and Program Management for STM’s semicustom ASIC projects in Asia Pacific.

Meenu also worked as a Program Manager in charge of managing various semi-custom projects with customers in the Asia-Pacific Region. Before her move to STM Singapore, Meenu worked at STM India from 1991 to 1997. As a Design Manager for Library Design Group, she was responsible for growing and managing a 30-member strong team involved in design and development of semi-custom digital libraries in various technologies across different platforms as per the market requirements and to support designers in STM’s worldwide locations. Prior to this, Meenu had been a Design Engineer for digital library design and development at STM Italy for several years after she received her engineering degree (Computer Engineering) from Delhi Institute of Technology, India in 1988. ■

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TECHNICAL ARTICLE

standardized set of APIs. It runs native code.

Get the Datasheet and Order Samples http://www.intersil.com

3A, Rad Hard, Positive, Ultra Low Dropout Regulator ISL75051SRH

Features

The ISL75051SRH is a radiation hardened low-voltage, high-current, single-output LDO specified for up to 3.0A of continuous output current. These devices operate over an input voltage range of 2.2V to 6.0V and are capable of providing output voltages of 0.8V to 5.0V adjustable based on resistor divider setting. Dropout voltages as low as 65mV can be realized using the device.

• DLA SMD#5962-11212

The OCP pin allows the short circuit output current limit threshold to be programmed by means of a resistor from the OCP pin to GND. The OCP setting range is from 0.5A minimum to 8.5A maximum. The resistor sets the constant current threshold for the output under fault conditions. The thermal shutdown disables the output if the device temperature exceeds the specified value. It subsequently enters an ON/OFF cycle until the fault is removed. The ENABLE feature allows the part to be placed into a low current shutdown mode that typically draws about 1µA. When enabled, the device operates with a typical low ground current of 11mA, which provides for operation with low quiescent power consumption.

The device is optimized for fast transient response and single event effects. This reduces the magnitude of SET seen on the output. Additional protection diodes and filters are not needed.

The device is stable with tantalum capacitors as low as 47µF and provides excellent regulation all the way from no load to full load. Programmable soft-start allows the user to program the inrush current by means of the decoupling capacitor value used on the BYP pin.

Applications

• Output Current Up to 3.0A at TJ = 150°C • Output Accuracy ±1.5% over MIL Temp Range • Ultra Low Dropout: - 65mV Typ Dropout at 1.0A - 225mV Typ Dropout at 3.0A • Noise of 100µVRMS from 300Hz to 300kHz • SET Mitigation with No Added Filtering/Diodes • Input Supply Range: 2.2V to 6.0V • Fast Load Transient Response • Shutdown Current of 1µA Typ • Output Adjustable Using External Resistors • PSRR 66dB Typ @ 1kHz • Enable and PGood Feature • Programmable Soft-start/Inrush Current Limiting • Adjustable Overcurrent Limit from 0.5A to 8.5A • Over-temperature Shutdown • Stable with 47µF Min Tantalum Capacitor • 18 Ld Ceramic Flatpack Package • Radiation Environment - High Dose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 krad(Si) - SET/SEL/SEB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86 MeV•cm2/mg

• LDO Regulator for Space Application • DSP, FPGA and µP Core Power Supplies • Post-regulation of Switched Mode Power Supplies • Down-hole Drilling

0.30 ROCP

EN

BYP

OCP

ADJ

ISL75051SRH

VIN

220uF

0.1uF VOUT

VIN

VOUT

PG

GND

R1 0.1uF

0.1uF 2.67k

VIN

4.7n PG

R2 100pF

FIGURE 1. TYPICAL APPLICATION

November 4, 2011 FN7610.1

220uF

DROPOUT VOLTAGE (V)

EN

+150°C

0.25

+125°C

0.20 0.15

+25°C

0.10 0.05 0.00 0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

3.50

IOUT (A)

FIGURE 2. DROPOUT vs IOUT

Intersil (and design) is a registered trademark of Intersil Americas Inc. Copyright Intersil Americas Inc. 2011 All Rights Reserved. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

Robert Berger

Embedded Software Specialist

Arduino

for mere m0rtals - PART 3 Disclaimer

Listing 1: Download a Java Development Kit

The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by the author and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, positions or strategies of anybody else.

1 cd ~

Arduino on Ubuntu 11.04 Although the Arduino software runs as well on Windows as it does on OSX, I’ll show you how to set up the software development environment on Ubuntu GNU/Linux. Your workstation needs to be connected to the web and have sufficient access rights to be able to get the necessary software packages (beware of evil administrators and firewalls trying to keep you from experimenting with Arduino). Later on in this session, you’ll need an Arduino UNO [1] or something similar for the hands on part.

Java Development Kit Get it [2] Use your preferred way to download the Oracle JDK, or do something like this:

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2 wget http://download.oracle.com/otn-pub/java/jdk/7/ jdk -7-linux -i586.tar.gz Install it First we need to untar the tarball somewhere: Listing 2: Untar the Java Development Kit 1 cd /opt/ 2 sudo tar xzvf ~/jdk -7-linux -i586.tar.gz For convenience, we’ll place the JDK on the default search path (Note that I’m using bash as a shell. If you use something else you’ll either need to adapt this or switch to bash.).

Listing 3: Optional: Make bash your default shell just for the current user 1 chsh -s /bin/bash <username >

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TECHNICAL ARTICLE Listing 11: Install the cross toolchain

1 sudo dpkg -reconfigure dash (choose no)

Listing 5 (Optional): Install vim

2 The C library required for a small microcontroller like an 8-bit AVR has different requirements than the standard GNU libc, which is used for Linux. So here we pick the AVR Libc [4].

1 sudo apt-get install vim

Listing 12: Install the cross C library

Add JDK to default search path (you can use your favorite editor instead of vim).

1 sudo apt-get install avr-libc

2 sudo dpkg -reconfigure bash

Listing 6: Edit ~/.bashrc

1 sudo apt-get install gcc-avr

The Arduino Software

1 vim ~/.bashrc Listing 7: Add to the end of ~/.bashrc 1 #Java stuff 2 export JAVA_HOME=/opt/jdk1.7.0 3 export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH Listing 8: Run in your current shell ~/.bashrc 1 source ~/.bashrc

The Arduino software is provided to you “as is,” and we make no express or implied warranties whatsoever with respect to its functionality, operability, or use, including, without limitation, any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or infringement. We expressly disclaim any liability whatsoever for any direct, indirect, consequential, incidental or special damages, including, without limiation, lost revenues, lost profits, losses resulting from business interruption or loss of data, regardless of the form of action or legal theory under which the liability may be asserted, even if advised of the possibility or likelihood of such damages.

Listing 9: Check if everything worked so far 1 javac -version Listing 10: You should see something like: 1 javac 1.7.0 If you see the above, you have a working JDK on your machine.

Install required Ubuntu packages As we saw above, the Arduino UNO is based on an 8-bit AVR microcontroller. This means that we’ll need to crosscompile code on our x86 machines running Ubuntu into some binary code—which is executable by the AVR— and somehow download it to the Arduino UNO. In order to do so we need a cross toolchain and at least some C library.

Cross toolchain The cross toolchain is part of the GNU compiler collection [3]—free software that contains, among other things, a compiler, linker and an assembler.

Also, the Linux kernel is compiled with the GNU compiler collection.

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Figure 1: Arduino Software License [5]

Get it [5] The latest and greatest officially released software is version 1.0. You might try with something newer as it becomes available, but be careful to choose the right version for your host operating system.

Listing 13: Download the Arduino software 1 cd ~ 2 wget http://arduino.googlecode.com/files/arduino -1.0linux.tgz Extract it Listing 14: Untar the Arduino software

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Listing 4 (Optional): Make bash your default shell system-wide

TECHNICAL ARTICLE Edit

Sketch

Tools

TECHNICAL ARTICLE

sketch_dec01a | Arduino 1.0 File

Help

sketch_dec01a

Figure 3: Connect Arduino to PC [6]

2 cdc_acm 5-1:1.0: ttyACM0: USB ACM device 3 usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_acm 4 cdc_acm: v0.26:USB Abstract Control Model driver for USB modems and ISDN adapters 1

Arduino Uno on/dev/ttyACMO

Figure 2: You should see something like this

This means that, in my case, I have a board on /dev/ ttyACM0. We’ll need this information to configure the Arduino software.

1 tar xzvf arduino -1.0-linux.tgz

Listing 18: Configure Arduino software

Run it

1 Tools ->Board ->Arduino Uno

Listing 15: Run the Arduino software

2 Tools ->Serial Port ->/dev/ttyACM0

1 cd ~/arduino -1.0

The First Example

2 ./arduino

Listing 19: Try the first example

After this, you will be able to connect to the Arduino board.

1 File ->Examples ->2.Digital ->BlinkWithoutDelay

Configure the Arduino software for your board

(Figure 4)

Listing 16: Check where the board is connected 1 tail -f /var/log/kern.log Plug a USB cable from the Arduino board into a USB port on your PC now.

Listing 17: You should see something like: 1 usb 5-1: new full-speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 2

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2 File ->Upload

If everything went well so far, you should see the orange LED blinking at a one-second interval. Stay tuned for more hands-on stuff in the next part of this series! We’ll start by examining the ”BlinkWithoutDelay” example next time.

References [1] ”Buy Arduino UNO” http://search.digikey.com/us/en/ products/A000046/1050-1017-ND/2639005

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TECHNICAL ARTICLE Edit

Sketch

Tools

Help

[2] ”Java SE Downloads” http://www.oracle.com/ technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html [3] ”GNU Compiler Collection” http://gcc.gnu.org/

BlinkWithoutDelay /* Blink without Delay Turns on and off a light emitting diode (LED) connected to a digital pin, without using the delay () function. This means that other code can run at the same time without being interrupted by the LED code.

The circuit: * LED attached from pin 13 to ground * Note: on most Arduinos, there is already an LED on the board that’s attached to pin 13, so no hardware is needed for this example.

[4] ”AVR Libc Home Page” http://www.nongnu.org/avrlibc/ [5] ”Download the Arduino Software” http://www.arduino. cc/en/Main/software About the Author Robert Berger is a highly respected and experienced embedded real-time expert and CEO of Reliable Embedded Systems, a leading embedded training consultancy. Robert consults and trains people all over the globe on a mission to help them create better embedded software. He specializes in training and consulting for embedded systems, from small real-time systems to multi-core embedded Linux. ■

created 2005

by David A. Mellis modified 8 Feb 2010

by Paul Stoffregen This example code is in public domain. http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/BlinkWithoutDelay */

Done uploading.

Binary sketch size: 1002 bytes (of a 32256 byte maximum)

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Arduino Uno on/dev/ttyACMO

Figure 4: First example

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