SimpliciTI™ is a low-power RF protocol aimed at simple, small RF networks. This open-source software was designed for easy implementation and deployment out-of-the-box on several TI RF platforms such as the MSP430 family of low-power MCUs and the CC1XXX/CC25XX/CC430 transceivers and SoCs. Access point and range extenders are not required but provide extra functionality such […]
Category Archives: documentation
New TI MSP430G2xxx chips on the way
video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player TI has released the datasheets on their new MSP430G2xxx chips. The MSP430G2x32 and MSP430G2x02 series of microcontrollers are ultra-low-power mixed signal microcontrollers with built-in 16-bit timers, and up to 16 I/O touch sense enabled pins and built-in communication capability using the universal serial communication interface. The MSP430G2x32 series have a […]
Logic signal interfacing
If you’re looking for a quick and dirty means of interfacing high and low voltage logic devices, consider the Texas Instruments CD40109. This CMOS device functions with supply and signal voltages of up to 20 volts, and can either shift voltages up or down depending on the ratio of Vcc (low supply) to Vdd (high […]
Encryption on a PIC18
Robust encryption is often difficult to achieve on a microcontroller given the limited processing power and memory. The Microchip PIC18 series are capable of some forms of limited data encryption. Four encryption algorithms including AES, XTEA, SKIPJACK® and a simple encryption algorithm using a pseudo-random binary sequence generator are described in this application note.
How to write a flash bootloader for the PIC16 and PIC18
Here’s an application note with comprehensive information on how to write your own bootloader for the Microchip PIC16 and PIC18 families. Microchip also has provided a link to the code development software. Good reading for both the beginner and experienced coder.
Peer to peer control network uses TV spectrum white space
New patent application #20100309806 describes a peer to peer radio system designed to utilize the “white space” between TV channels. The system receives data from RF and geolocation sensors and processes them along with information from the FCC’s white space database to assign operating frequencies on a dynamic basis.
Coolrunner-II usage in educational toys
Xilinx outlines how the Coolrunner-II CPLD can be applied in portable educational toy development. Don’t forget our quick start guide for the Coolrunner-II, it explains the bare minimum circuit you need to get started with this chip.
Christmas music on the Picaxe
If you need a quick source of canned Christmas music in a project, don’t forget the Picaxe line of microcontrollers from Revolution Education. All Picaxe “M” chips have three Christmas tunes preprogrammed and playable using the PLAY command: Jingle Bells, Silent Night, and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer!
Altera introduces Max V CPLD
Altera has introduced their Max V family of CPLDs. Features include operation from a single 1.8 volt external supply for device core, internal oscillator, user flash memory block of up to 8 Kbits for non-volatile storage with up to 1000 read/write cycles, and multiVolt I/O interface supporting 3.3, 2.5, 1.8, 1.5 and 1.2-Volt logic levels. […]
Roadmap to reversing the Xbox 360
Bunnie Huang (Bunnie’s Blog) reverse engineered the Xbox 360 and had been called as an expert witness in a case (USA v Crippen) charging violations of the criminal provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The case was dismissed after the first witness testified, so in order to publicly summarize the technical facts on […]
System and method for intrabody communications
Here’s a thought provoking patent abstract, a “System and Method for Intra-body Communication,” US patent application number 20100305437 Among other concepts it refers to using the unique audio frequencies produced by teeth clicks as a means of communicating through the musculoskeletal system with a wireless wristwatch device!
Site updates
Over the last few weeks we moved most project-related stuff to the new documentation wiki. This week it became official: we pointed all the project links at the top of the blog to the new wiki pages. Here’s some highlights: Projects currently in development Project list Updated Bus Pirate manual Get involved: help wanted
piratePICprog wiki page
The new Bus Pirate PIC programmer has a wiki page with instructions and examples. The application is nearly complete, there’s just some tweaking required to get the memory settings right for each PIC family. If you’re interested in contributing, there’s a development section on the wiki with links to the source code and compiler.
USB Infrared Toy manual updated
The documentation wiki for the USB Infrared Toy has been updated. There’s new upgrade instructions, mode overview pages, and easy access to the schematic and partlist. We could still use some help documenting the connection procedure for Linux and Mac. A picture of the IR Toy connecting to Windows for the first time would also […]
Demo: Sure-electronics DE-DP014
To demonstrate some of the new commands from the new firmware 5.2, we interfaced the DE-DP014 from Sure-electronics. This is a single, SPI-like controllable 1.8″ single 5×7 dotmatrix. It has an on-board PIC controller which stores a special ASCII font. The package consist of two units, a simple demo board and two 10-pin cables. Sure […]
Updated Bus Pirate documentation
There’s a freshly updated Bus Pirate menu command and syntax guide on the documentation wiki. This guide consolidates a ton of notes and caveats that were previously spread around tons of smaller posts. It is updated to the firmware v5.2 release candidate. The main Bus Pirate wiki page has also been updated. A lot of […]