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Information board controller on the basis of RDC R8610

CustomerInformation board controller on the basis of RDC R8610

Manufacturer of large and giant information and advertising LED boards

Objective

The objective is to develop soft-hardware platform for controlling high-resolution electronic board which is built from big quantity of universal LED cells. It is necessary to provide platform scalability by applying Embedded Linux OS, while the device cost must not exceed 60 USD when manufactured in a medium run.

Solution

Hardware

As the basis for hardware platform we choose an inexpensive RDC R8610 processor that has x86 core architecture, 32-bit RISC core and 133 MHz. This processor has a big set of built-in periphery (PCI rev2.1, 2 x Ethernet MAC, USB 2.0 Host, LPC, UARTs, GPIO, SDRAM-controller), and its performance allows executing processing tasks and displaying various graphics onto information board. The selected microprocessor does not require any cooling system.

ST FLASH M29DW128 (NOR organization type) stores bootstrap loader, operating system, application software and controller's settings. Samsung FLASH K9F5608 (NAND organization type) stores commercials and other multimedia information and has 1Gb memory. NAND Flash controller is realized on Altera CPLD MAX2 EPM240, and also a specialized interface is implemented on this crystal for displaying information on the board.

PCB board of information board controller on the basis of RDC R8610

Besides this the board has RTC DS12CR887 real time clock, PHY Ethernet DP83848 physical layer, SDRAM Samsung K4S281632F-TC(L) and TI TUSB6250PFC chip acting as a bridge for connecting storage devices with ATA/ATAPI interface for connecting to USB 2.0.

The board is made in "Euromechanics" form-factor in accordance with the PCI standard requirements. By external interfaces we provided protection of electric circuit by using galvanic isolation and filter circuits. Despite the circuit density and presence of PCI edge connector on the board, we performed the routing in four layers.

The controller provides the following functions:

  • Displays information on the information board via LPC interface;
  • Polls temperature, pressure, humidity, radiation sensors via GPIO;
  • Connects a usual USB-keyboard for direct board control;
  • Performs remote control over the device via Ethernet;
  • Connects wire- and wireless modems via RS232;
  • Connects ATA/ATAPI storage devices;
  • Connects graphics accelerator via PCI bridge.

Software

We developed board support package (BSP) on the basis of RedBoot bootstrap loader and Linux operating system. We modified RedBoot to support OS download from NOR FLASH M29DW128 and work with K4S281632F-TC(L) SDRAM memory. Our specialists considerably redesigned basic Linux distribution kit with the 2.6.8ac1 core from RDC and adapted it to new hardware platform. They added new modules to work with memory (MTD support), to assemble installation package of embedded software, to protect program code from copying.

Controller's embedded software can work with different information board resolutions and it supports several types of LED cells. Operator's interface is realized with application of modern Web-technologies. Web-server works under control of embedded Linux and it provides user interaction with internal controller's functions via graphical Web-interface.

Web-interface of information board controller on the basis of RDC R8610

The software performs the following main functions:

  • Controls screen via Web-interface and displays information on the information board;
  • Configures controller and sets screen parameters;
  • Splits access rights into user groups (operator, administrator, engineer);
  • Generates schedule of appearance of advertising and information announcements;
  • Performs more than 20 effects of displaying information on electronic board (shows creeping line, changes movement speed, displays various appearance effects, sets pauses, configures brightness);
  • Provides direct control when USB keyboard is connected to controller;
  • Displayed graphical information and supports standard TTF fonts;
  • Tests correctness of displayed information via built-in simulator of object display on real board.

Benefits and featuresLED panel operated by information board controller on the basis of RDC R8610

  • Application of Linux OS and use of ANSI C for programming provide portability of program code to other hardware platforms and absence of licensable solutions to pay royalties for;
  • Web-interface allows working with the board via internet browser from any PC (mobile device) without having to install additional software;
  • Program code is copy-protected;
  • CPLD can be programmed remotely in-circuit;

Technologies Redboot, JFFS2 , Embedded Linux, AJAX
Programming languages C, Ñ++, VHDL, ASM x86
Interfaces Ethernet BASE T10/100, USB HOST 2.0, LPC, RS232, PCI
Development tools IDE Eclipse, GNU Toolchain (gcc, gdb), Quartus, PCAD
Project management tools dotProject, MSProject, CVS
Efforts 180 man-days
Duration 6 months

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