DSP-PC architectural advice needed.

Hello,

I have an idea for a design of a data aquisition system and i am
willing to verify the possibility to implement it.

Basically it's an ADC connected to the TS201 that sends the entire
information sampled to a PC through one of it's LVDS connectors. On
the PC there is a PCI Card that knows how to do LVDS for example the
PCI GP-ECL/SSD16. of the EDT group. Before checking all the cards
availbe i would like to ask:

1.Did someone do the LVDS  connection betwenn the TS201 and PC?
2.Do i need to do something special when connecteing the TS to the PC
board? (someone told   me that there are special cables for it and the
connection is not Trivial).

Thanks in adcance,
Marc.

"soos" <marcsok@yahoo.com> wrote in message 
news:1113842799.301948.54440@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> Hello,
>
> I have an idea for a design of a data aquisition system and i am
> willing to verify the possibility to implement it.
>
> Basically it's an ADC connected to the TS201 that sends the entire
> information sampled to a PC through one of it's LVDS connectors. On

The TS201 has no LVDS connectors as it's a BGA.  Do you mean the TS201 
EzKit?

> the PC there is a PCI Card that knows how to do LVDS for example the

LVDS is simply an electrical signalling standard (Low Voltage Differential 
Signalling) that defines voltage levels, so there is no real "knowing how to 
do LVDS".  The TS201 uses LVDS on its link ports, which have a very specific 
communications protocol they adhere to, so there is definitely a requirement 
to know how to run this protocol.  While you may find lots of PCI boards 
that can support LVDS, you're unlikely to find many that implement the TS201 
link protocol.  What you will find are lots of FPGA based boards where you 
could implement this protocol.  We have such boards, and we've implemented 
this protocol, but if its for a PC, we tend to use PCI as we have TS201s on 
PCI boards.  And if this is a school or hobby project with limited  budget, 
you probably don't want to pay for our boards, which tend to be high end 
(performance and cost).

> PCI GP-ECL/SSD16. of the EDT group. Before checking all the cards
> availbe i would like to ask:
>
> 1.Did someone do the LVDS  connection betwenn the TS201 and PC?

See note above.  It's more a matter of implementing TS201 link port protocol 
than just receiving LVDS signals.

> 2.Do i need to do something special when connecteing the TS to the PC
> board? (someone told   me that there are special cables for it and the
> connection is not Trivial).

Well, anything is going to need special cables.  I think the TS201 EzKit 
used standard RJ45s but only put 1 bit wide link ports on there.  With some 
care, you might get 250 Mbits/second over that.  But you will definitely 
have some custom cabling to do.

There are lots of ways to do what you want (acquire data on a PC)  but it 
all depends on why you're doing this.  A school or hobby project or  a work 
related thing?  If you want to learn FPGAs, you could probably get some 
cheap PCI based FPGA board, rig up a cable, and start hacking away.

------
Ron Huizen
BittWare 

Thanks for the informative reply, Ron

With the new information it seems that if my main goal is to transfer
data into a pc (putting the TS aside for a moment) then in this
perspective
The LVDS is a rather exotic option which requires special handling
compared to USB2.0 and TCP/IP.

Can I get your opinion about this conclusion?

Thanks in advance,
Marc.

"soos" <marcsok@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1114079555.335373.322570@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> The LVDS is a rather exotic option which requires special handling
> compared to USB2.0 and TCP/IP.

Hi!

Since Ron seem to be away ATM, I'll offer this explanation:

Like mentioned, LVDS is simply an electrical signalling standard.
USB defines both an electrical interface and a binary communication
protocol, and TCP/IP defines a communications protocol usually
using Ethernet as the electrical interface.

So yes, it will probably be easier for you to use USB or TCP/IP.
There are some very easy to use chips out there, that are designed
to integrate USB and/or  TCP/IP into your design without you
having to know the details of the protocols. Amongst these are
specially adapted microcontrollers (or modules) with "everything"
built in, including the electrical interface and the software
protocol stack.

Talking to (through) these chips can be as simple as just reading
and writing your data from/to a serial or paralell port, and the chip
will handle buffering, transmission and reception transparently.

DJ
--

"soos" <marcsok@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1114079555.335373.322570@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> With the new information it seems that if my main goal is to transfer
> data into a pc (putting the TS aside for a moment) then in this
> perspective
> The LVDS is a rather exotic option which requires special handling
> compared to USB2.0 and TCP/IP.

Actually, as far as total transistor count/lines of code goes, LVDS is utterly
trivial to use compared to USB or TCP/IP.  However, the fact that USB and
TCP/IP and the associated software come with your PC already tend to weight
the choice in their favor.  LVDS is quite popular for communication between
various embedded devices, however, that don't already have the hardware and/or
software to do USB or TCP/IP.