ActiveWire USB
Hardware Reference

Ver. 0.9 Draft
May 14th, 1999

 

 


Index

  1. Introduction
  2. Hardware Overview
  3. Header Pins
    1. Top view
    2. Sort by I/O
  4. Jumper Pins
  5. ActiveBus
  6. Frequently Asked Questions
  7. Specification
  8. Revision History





  1. Introduction

    Thank you purchasing ActiveWire USB board.

    This referece contains deep inside information of  ActiveWire USB hardware.

    Please refer to the ActiveWire USB Software Reference for information about ActiveWire software.



    Caution!
    It is strongly suggested to use extreme precaution of electrostatic discharge when handling the board.

    1. Touch conductive grounded surface, such as exposed chassis with power code plugged in to the grounded AC outlet, to dischage your body before touching the board.

    2. Handle at the edge of the board.  Do not touch directly to the pins of components on the board.

    3. Keep the board in an ESD safe bag when not in use.



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  2. Hardware Overview

    1. Header AB.P1
    2. Header AB.P2
          These headers are interface to the external circuit of the board.
          Signals on headers include 16bits parallel I/O, Vcc(+5v), GND, and several other signals.
          See following section, 4. Header Pins, for more detail.

          Headers are designed to be used in two ways.
      1. Simple 16bits programmable Input/Output pins
            When the board is used alone with standard firmware and driver, 16 bits of I/O can be used to interface with external circuit.   Each I/O is programmable to input(default) or output.

      2. Addressable 8bits Data Input/Output Bus (ActiveBus)
            When the board is used with ActiveWire Add-on boards, the board should have a protocol implemented to communicate with multiple boards connected to the same headers.
            ActiveBus is designed as a simple 8bits Data/Address multiplexed bus architecture.  See following section, 5. ActiveBus, for more detail.

       

    3. Jumper PWR.J1
    4. Jumper CA.J1
          These jumpers are designed for optional use.
          Improper use of these jumpers may cause the board to malfunction.
          It is very important to leave these jumpers Closed for the normal operation of the board.

          See following section, 5. Jumper Pins, for more detail.

    5. USB B Connector
          An USB A-to-B cable must be used to connect to a Host PC.

    6. USB Microcontoroller
          Core of the ActiveWire USB board.
          It includes Intel 8051 microcontroller, 8KB RAM, and USB peripheral interface.

    7. Electrically erasable and prgrammable read only memroy (EEPROM)
          EEPROM is used to store ActiveWire USB Vendor ID and Product ID.

          Caution!
           Improper use of EEPROM may cause the board to malfunction.
           If information written at factory is altered, the operating system will fail to recognized the board, causing problem in running driver software.
           It is very important not to alter the EEPROM for the normal operation of the board.

    8. Programmable Logic Device (PLD)
           PLD is used to generate signals for ActiveBus.

     

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  3. Header Pins

    Following describes signal available at header pins.


    1. Vcc
          +5v power supplied from USB, or optional external power supply.
          When connecting external supply, it must be regulated 5v DC.

    2. +3.3v
          +3.3v supply for the USB microcontroller on board.
          It is available only for a reference.   It is not intended to supply current to any external devices.  
          It is recommended to supply from Vcc (+5v) through a voltage regulator if external circuit requires 3.3v supply.

    3. GND
          Ground return to the board.

    4. I/O[0..15]
          Programmable I/O pins of the microcontroller.

    5. #Reset
          Active Low Reset Out from the board to external circuit.
          Logical Vcc level normally, becomes GND level when the microcontroller has been reset.
          The microcontroller can be reset by host software through USB.
          Please not that this is NOT Input to the board.

    6. Clock
          6MHz ActiveBus clock out.
          Used to implemented ActiveBus protocol.

    7. Clock24
          24MHz microcontroller clock out.
          This is available for reference.

    8. SDA/SCL
          I2C serial bus.
          Please note that the EEPROM, that contains crutial information for USB protocol (i.e. USB Vendor ID and Product ID), is also connected to these pins.
          Improper use of these pins may cause the board to malfunction.

     


    Following tables show pin layout of each headers.

     

    1. Top view
          
      ActiveBus I/O Header pin#
      Vcc(+5v) Vcc(+5v) AB.P1 1
      #16Bit I/O8 AB.P1 3
      #Busy I/O10 AB.P1 5
      GND GND AB.P1 7
      #Write - AB.P1 9
      AD0 I/O0 AB.P1 11
      AD1 I/O1 AB.P1 13
      AD3 I/O3 AB.P1 15
      AD5 I/O5 AB.P1 17
      AD6 I/O6 AB.P1 19
      pin# Header I/O ActiveBus
      2 AB.P1 #Reset #Reset
      4 AB.P1 I/O9 #32Bit
      6 AB.P1 Clock Clock
      8 AB.P1 - #Read
      10 AB.P1 I/O13 #Addr
      12 AB.P1 Vcc(+5v) Vcc(+5v)
      14 AB.P1 I/O2 AD2
      16 AB.P1 I/O4 AD4
      18 AB.P1 GND GND
      20 AB.P1 I/O7 AD7
           
      ActiveBus I/O Header pin#
      Vcc(+5v) Vcc(+5v) AB.P2 1
      - SDA AB.P2 3
      - I/O11 AB.P2 5
      GND GND AB.P2 7
      - - AB.P2 9
      - - AB.P2 11
      - - AB.P2 13
      - I/O14 AB.P2 15
      - Clock24 AB.P2 17
      - - AB.P2 19
      pin# Header I/O ActiveBus
      2 AB.P2 - -
      4 AB.P2 SCL -
      6 AB.P2 I/O12 -
      8 AB.P2 - -
      10 AB.P2 - -
      12 AB.P2 Vcc(+5v) Vcc(+5v)
      14 AB.P2 - -
      16 AB.P2 I/O15 -
      18 AB.P2 GND GND
      20 AB.P2 - -


      The symbol   '-'  denotes that it is not used and reserved for future use.


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    2. Sort by I/O
          
      I/O ActiveBus Header pin#
      Vcc(+5v) Vcc(+5v) AB.P1 1
      Vcc(+5v) Vcc(+5v) AB.P1 12
      Vcc(+5v) Vcc(+5v) AB.P2 1
      Vcc(+5v) Vcc(+5v) AB.P2 12
              
      I/O0 AD0 AB.P1 11
      I/O1 AD1 AB.P1 13
      I/O2 AD2 AB.P1 14
      I/O3 AD3 AB.P1 15
      I/O4 AD4 AB.P1 16
      I/O5 AD5 AB.P1 17
      I/O6 AD6 AB.P1 19
      I/O7 AD7 AB.P1 20
      I/O8 #16Bit AB.P1 3
      I/O9 #32Bit AB.P1 4
      I/O10 #Busy AB.P1 5
      I/O11 - AB.P2 5
      I/O12 - AB.P2 6
      I/O13 #Addr AB.P1 10
      I/O14 - AB.P2 15
      I/O15 - AB.P2 16
              
      GND GND AB.P1 7
      GND GND AB.P1 18
      GND GND AB.P2 7
      GND GND AB.P2 18
              
      #Reset #Reset AB.P1 2
      SDA - AB.P2 3
      SCL - AB.P2 4
      Clock(6MHz) Clock(6MHz) AB.P1 6
      Clock24(24MHz) - AB.P2 17
      - #Write AB.P1 9
      - #Read AB.P1 8
              
      - - AB.P2 8
      - - AB.P2 9
      - - AB.P2 10
      - - AB.P2 11
      - - AB.P2 13
      - - AB.P2 14
      - - AB.P2 19
      - - AB.P2 20


    The symbol   '-'  denotes that it is not used and reserved for future use.

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  4. Jumper Pins

    There are 2 jumper pins on the board.
    Both are critical for the board functionality.
    Improper use of these pins may cause the board to malfunction.
    Unless absolutly necessary, leave these jumpers Closed.

     

    1. Jumper PWR.J1
          This jumper is located in between USB Bus Power (+5v) and Vcc (+5v) of the board.
          Removing the shunt isolates USB Bus Power and the Vcc, causing power supply of the board.
          This may be useful when external 5v DC power supply is connected to one of header pins.

    2. Jumper CA.J1
          This jumper is located in between Serial Data In/Out of on-board EEPROM and Serial Data Out/In of the USB microcontroller.
          Removing the shunt isolates the EEPROM and the microcontroller, resulting the microcontroller to use silicon chip hardwired default Vendor ID and Product ID.
          This may be useful in some special occasion that it is necessary to bring the board in a known USB Vendor ID and Product ID, such as when accidentally erased the factory programmed EEPROM.
          Refer to the Software Reference for more detail.

     

     

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  5. ActiveBus

    Detail of ActiveBus will be published in a separate document.

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  6. Frequently Asked Questions




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  7. Specification

    1. Dimensions
      • Size 3.3"x1.9"
      • Max height 0.5"
      • Weight  0.9 oz. (25g)
      • Mounting dimension 3.0"x1.6"
      • Mounting hole diameter 0.14" (for #4, #6 or M3 screws)


    2. Speed
      • 12 Mbps peak speed
      • Fully compatible with USB specification ver.1.0


    3. I/O pins
      • 3.3v CMOS logic, 5v TTL level tolerant
      • 1.6mA sink or source


    4. Power
      • DC 5v 100mA peak supplied from USB
      • DC 5v 300mA Max. supply from USB avaiable to external circuit
      • Optional DC 5v external supply to header pin. (remove jumper PWR.J1 when using external power)


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  8. Revision History

     

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