by:
Peter Fox
Project Manager
Contents...
o Overview of the design and discussion of key specification points
o Walk through of the block diagram and the motherboard etc
o New case design and structure etc
o Preparation for Wakefield - An update of where we are.
o Questions and hopefully answers!!
Overview
"It's beige and runs on electricity"
Dilbert 1996
Processing Power
o Processor 233Mhz StrongARM running at 64MHz I/O on
expansion card
o Performance approx 450k Dhrystones
o Proc. Expansion Hardware support for upto 4 x 233Mhz
StrongARMs on single processor card
o FPA support Not available
IOMD2
o New bus architecture to improve performance and reliability at
high speed. - No more stretched Mclk etc.
o Will interface to SDRAM, EDO VRAM
o Can support multiple bus masters - multiple interrupts and bus
selects
o Contains SRAM area for message passing between bus masters
o Upto 8 I/O DMA channels and 3 fixed DMA channels
Memory
o SDRAM 2 x 168 pin SDRAM DIMMs
Expansion possible upto 512MB
1 x 32MB SDRAM DIMM as standard.
o ROM 4MB - board layout allocated for up to 8MB.
o VRAM 4MB EDO VRAM fitted to board
o CMOS RAM 256 bytes of battery backed CMOS RAM
Video
o VIDC20 New 0.6u Technology - 100% performance inc.
o VRAM EDO VRAM running between 40-50Mhz
o Resolution 1024x768 non-interlaced in 32bpp and
1280x1024 16bpp
Final bandwidth permitting support for upto
1600x1200 in 16bpp
Drives
o Floppy drive Single 2MB unformatted as per RISC PC
o Hard disc 1x 6.4GB IDE HD with expansion for a further 3.
Running with PIO mode 4 - peak TX of 16.6Meg.
o CD ROM/DVD 32x slot CD ROM fitted as standard.
DVD ROM upgrade possible if using MPEG
video card and IDE interface. DVD currently on
hold
Expansion ports
o Parallel port Enhanced bi-directional multimode parallel port
as per RISC PC
o Serial ports 2 standard PC-AT style ports. One a reduced
functionality port. Each supporting an improved
baud rate
o IrDA support second serial port will double as IrDA interface.
o Keyboard modern designed keyboard with PS/2 interface.
o Mouse Stylish 3 button mouse with PS/2 interface.
Sound System
o Sound system 16 bit digital CD quality provided by
Soundblaster compatible CODEC and VIDC20
sound systems. The Soundblaster sound and
Acorn sound are mixed with CD/DVD output
o Line input Stereo 3.5mm jack socket on rear
o Microphone input Mono 3.5mm jack socket on front of case
o Internal speaker Mono
o Headphone output Fitted on front, inserting headphone switches off
speakers. Doubles as line output
Others
o Joystick 15 way D-type standard PC game port for dual
joystick support
o MIDI support MIDI input and output at rate of 31.25K baud on
game port. MPU-401 compatible UARTs
o ID Currently under investigation - looking at
I2C devices etc.
o RTC As per RISC PC within CMOS RAM IC
Expansion Cards
o PCI interface 4 slots compliant with PCI 2.1 spec (33Mhz
32Bit PCI)
o Podule Backplane connector similar to RISC PC's
allowing 3 slots
o Network support 10 and 100 Base-T Ethernet support using a
PCI card slot if req.
Case Design
o Case type NLX Mini Tower case, volume of
450x450x190mm (approx.).
o PSU 230W NLX standard PSU
o Drive bays 3 x 5.25”, 1 x 3.5” visible bays, and 2 x 3.5”
hidden bays (1 x EIDE drive, CD and 3.5” floppy
fitted as standard)
o Free Drive Bays 2 x 5.25” visible expansion bays and 1 x 3.5”
hidden as standard
Progress to date
o A functional machine using an FPGA solution for the IOMD2 device.
Speed limited to 16Mhz due to FPGA, with Video running at 32Mhz.
o Currently running to desktop with limited modules and PS/2
keyboard.
o remainder of the project not relying on the HW progressing well.
o Wakefield show will be more functional and slightly faster.