ChipWeb Wireless: an IEEE 802.11b wireless development kit for the PICmicro®

ER21 wireless development board

Introduction

The world's first IEEE 802.11b wireless development kit for the PICmicro!

Iosoft Ltd. brings standard wireless networking to microcontrollers, in a ground-breaking addition to their TCP/IP connectivity package. The ChipWeb Wireless development kit gives a low-cost entry into radio networking, yet has full compatibility with IEEE 802.11b (WiFi) networks.

The kit has both hardware and software components for rapid standards-based wireless development.

Hardware

ER22 wireless development board

The Iosoft ER2x series of development boards provide a ready-made hardware platform for experimenting with wireless, Ethernet and serial connectivity.

• PIC18F452 microcontroller with in-circuit programming
• PCMCIA (PC-card) interface
• IEEE 802.11b wireless PCMCIA card included
• RTL8019AS Ethernet controller (ER21 and ER22)
• 32 Kbyte storage for Web pages
• Requires a single 9 volt supply
• Sample application pre-loaded into the microcontroller
• Comprehensive hardware manual

• Hardware latch to reduce PICmicro I/O pin usage
• 11 unused I/O lines on 12-way connector
• Power and i2c bus on 5-way connector
• Compatible with Microchip ICD 2 debugger
• 4-layer board with full power & ground planes

• Switchmode power supply for greater efficiency
• WLAN card powered at 3.3V
• Separate linear PSU for the microcontroller
• Microcontroller can power down the 802.11b WLAN card
• Software compatible with the ER22 WLAN interface (no Ethernet)

ER25 wireless development board

Software

A source-code package is available.

• Full 'C' source code - no hidden libraries
• 802.11b ad-hoc and infrastructure networks
• Supports 64-bit and 128-bit WEP encryption
• Web server for wireless configuration
• Compatible with popular low-cost compiler (not supplied)
• Integrated with the Iosoft ChipWeb TCP/IP stack
• IP, UDP, TCP, HTTP and DHCP capability
• Comprehensive software manual

Documentation

A PDF version of the ER21 hardware manual is available; click here to download it (approx 300 kB). This version does not include the circuit diagram, which is only supplied with the board.

The software documentation PDF is included in the source-code zipfile.

There is a FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) list with useful hints & tips on Iosoft wireless products; click here to view it.

Pricing

The ER21 or ER25 development boards are priced at GBP 165 (approx 260 US dollars or 240 Euro), and the ER22 is GBP 180.

The source-code package must be purchased separately, either online from the Iosoft e-commerce site (GBP 45) or on CD-ROM from our hardware distributor. Click here for version information.

Hardware Availability

The ER21/ER22/ER25 hardware is usually available ex-stock from our manufacturing partner Crownhill Associates www.crownhill.co.uk Tel. +44(0)1353 749990, Fax +44(0)1353 749991, credit-card orders accepted. It is not available direct from Iosoft Ltd.

Licensing

If the development kit is used for personal experimentation, no additional license is required. Incorporation in a commercial product must be covered by a commercial license; a single payment allows an organisation to incorporate unlimited copies of the object code in their products. Source code may not be redistributed. Existing ChipWeb TCP/IP licensees may upgrade to add wireless capability; see the license page for more information.