Technologic Systems TS-5500 User manual

TS-5500 User’s Manual

Technologic Systems, Incorporated
16610 East Laser Drive, Suite 10
Fountain Hills, AZ 85268
480-837-5200
FAX [phone]
[email protected]
http://www.embeddedx86.com/
This revision of the manual is dated
October 22, 2003
All modifications from previous versions are listed in the appendix.
Copyright © 1998-2003 by Technologic Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Limited Warranty
Technologic Systems warrants this product to be free of defects in material and workmanship for a
period of one year from date of purchase. During this warranty period Technologic Systems will repair or
replace the defective unit in accordance with the following instructions:
•Contact Technologic Systems and obtain a Return Material Authorization (RMA) number and a copy
of the RMA form.
•Fill out the RMA form completely and include it and dated proof of purchase with the defective unit
being returned. Clearly print the RMA number on the outside of the package.
This limited warranty does not cover damages resulting from lighting or other power surges, misuse,
abuse, abnormal conditions of operation, or attempts to alter or modify the function of the product.
This warranty is limited to the repair or replacement of the defective unit. In no event shall
Technologic Systems be liable or responsible for any loss or damages, including but not limited
to any lost profits, incidental or consequential damages, loss of business, or anticipatory profits
arising from the use or inability to use this product.
Repairs made after the expiration of the warranty period are subject to a flat rate repair charge and the
cost of return shipping. Please contact Technologic Systems to arrange for any repair service.

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Table Of Contents
LIMITED WARRANTY.......................................................................................................................................................................................II
1INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................................................................5
2PC COMPATIBILITY..............................................................................................................................................................................5
2.1 Operating Systems..........................................................................................................................................................................5
3POWER...................................................................................................................................................................................................6
4MEMORY.................................................................................................................................................................................................6
4.1 SDRAM...............................................................................................................................................................................................6
4.2 Flash..................................................................................................................................................................................................6
4.3 Compact Flash cards and DiskOnChip modules.....................................................................................................................6
4.4 Using the SanDisk USB Compact Flash Card Reader.........................................................................................7
4.5 Non-Volatile SRAM....................................................................................................................................................................7
5SERIAL PORTS.....................................................................................................................................................................................7
5.1 Serial Port Configuration Registers.............................................................................................................................................8
5.2 Serial Port Hardware.......................................................................................................................................................................8
5.3RS-485 Support...............................................................................................................................................................................8
5.4 Automatic RS-485 TX Enable........................................................................................................................................................9
5.5 Configuring COM3...........................................................................................................................................................................9
5.6 Adding Serial Ports..........................................................................................................................................................................9
6DIGITAL I/O...........................................................................................................................................................................................10
6.1 DIO1 Header...................................................................................................................................................................................10
6.2 DIO2 Header...................................................................................................................................................................................10
6.3 Using LCD Port as Digital I/O......................................................................................................................................................11
7A/D CONVERTER................................................................................................................................................................................11
7.1 Single Sample Acquisition Procedure.......................................................................................................................................12
7.2 A/D Converter BIOS Call...............................................................................................................................................................12
8LCD INTERFACE................................................................................................................................................................................12
9MATRIX KEYPAD SUPPORT.............................................................................................................................................................13
10 THE 10/100 BASE-T ETHERNET PORT.........................................................................................................................................14
10.1 LINUX TCP/IP configuration.........................................................................................................................................................14
10.2 DOS TCP/IP configuration–Packet Driver and WATTCP......................................................................................................15
10.3 WATTCP.CFG configuration file..................................................................................................................................................15
10.4 DOS TCP/IP configuration –MS Client for DOS.......................................................................................................................15
11 PCMCIA BRIDGE.................................................................................................................................................................................16
11.1 Hardware.........................................................................................................................................................................................16
11.2 Software (Linux support only)......................................................................................................................................................16
11.3 Supported Devices........................................................................................................................................................................17
12 USB BRIDGE.......................................................................................................................................................................................17
12.1 Hardware.........................................................................................................................................................................................17
12.2 Software (Linux Support Only).....................................................................................................................................................17
12.3 Supported DevicesHere is a list of devices tested at Technologic Systems and known to work with
the TS-5500, many other USB devices will work with the TS-5500, see the kernel drivers and the
Linux-USB web sites for more information...........................................................................................................................18
13 REAL TIME CLOCK.............................................................................................................................................................................18
14 WATCHDOG TIMER............................................................................................................................................................................19
15 LED, JUMPERS AND RESET BUTTON..........................................................................................................................................20
16 PC/104 BUS EXPANSION .................................................................................................................................................................21
17 LOADING OR TRANSFERRING FILES...........................................................................................................................................22
17.1 Developing with the Technologic Systems TS-9500..............................................................................................................22
17.2 Transferring files with Compact Flash......................................................................................................................................22
17.3 Zmodem Downloads....................................................................................................................................................................22
18 DEBUGGING........................................................................................................................................................................................23

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18.1 Integrated BIOS Debugger...........................................................................................................................................................23
18.2 Using other debuggers ................................................................................................................................................................23
19 VIDEO, KEYBOARD, AND CONSOLE REDIRECTION.................................................................................................................24
20 SYSTEM BIOS SETUP SCREENS...................................................................................................................................................25
20.1 Main CMOS Configuration Screen..............................................................................................................................................25
20.2 Basic CMOS Configuration..........................................................................................................................................................26
20.3 Adding a TS-9400 or TS-9500 with Compact Flash...............................................................................................................26
20.4 Custom CMOS Configuration......................................................................................................................................................28
20.5 Shadow Configuration..................................................................................................................................................................29
21 FEEDBACK AND UPDATES TO THE MANUAL .............................................................................................................................29
APPENDIXA -BOARD DIAGRAM AND DIMENSIONS............................................................................................................................30
APPENDIX B -OPERATING CONDITIONS...............................................................................................................................................30
APPENDIX C-SYSTEM MEMORY MAP.....................................................................................................................................................31
APPENDIX D-SYSTEM I/O MAP.................................................................................................................................................................32
APPENDIX E -BIOS INTERRUPT FUNCTIONS......................................................................................................................................33
Int 15h / Function B000h-Technologic Systems BIOS information...............................................................................................33
Int 15h / Function B010h-LED Control................................................................................................................................................33
Int 15h / Function B042h–Alphanumeric LCD Support...................................................................................................................34
Int 15h / Function B040h–Matrix Keypad Support.............................................................................................................................34
Int 15h / Function A1h–Console I/O Redirection..............................................................................................................................34
Int 15h / Function B050h–A/D Converter Control..............................................................................................................................35
Int 15h / Function B020h-Jumper Pin Status ....................................................................................................................................35
APPENDIX F -USING A HIGHER RATE (10X) BAUD CLOCK...............................................................................................................36
APPENDIX G -FURTHER REFERENCES................................................................................................................................................37
APPENDIX H-MANUALREVISIONS.........................................................................................................................................................37

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1Introduction
The model TS-5500 is a compact, full-featured PC compatible Single Board Computer based on the
AMD Elan520 processor. At 133 MHz, it is approximately 10 times faster than our other 386EX based
products for only a small additional cost. PC compatibility allows for rapid development since you can
use standard PC development tools such as Turbo C or Power Basic or Linux based tools as well. If
you have done work in the PC world in the past, you will find you can now build applications for a very
small target that does not require a keyboard, video, floppy disks, or hard drives.
By adding the optional TS-9500 daughter board, you can compile and debug directly on the TS-5500
with standard VGA video and keyboard interfaces. Alternatively, you can typically write and debug code
on a host PC using standard development tools for the PC platform, then simply copy it to and run it on
the TS-5500 without modification. If additional peripherals are required, the PC/104 expansion bus
allows for many standard functions available off-the-shelf. It is alsovery simple to create a custom
PC/104 daughter board for those special features that differentiate your product. Technologic Systems
can provide technical support as well as a free quotation for any custom hardware, software, or BIOS
modifications you may require.
This manual is fairly short. This is because for the most part, the TS-5500 is a standard x86-based PC
compatible computer, and there are hundreds of books about writing software for the PC platform. The
primary purpose of this manual is documenting where the TS-5500 differs from a standard PC.
2PC Compatibility
PC compatibility requires much more than just an x86 processor. It requires PC compatible memory
and I/O mapsas well as a PC compatible BIOS. The General Software EMBEDDED BIOS offers a high
degree of compatibility with past and present BIOS standards allowing it to run off-the shelf operating
systemsand application software.
The EMBEDDED BIOS has been tested with all major versions of DOS, including MS-DOS, DR-DOS,
and Embedded DOS 6-XL; all major versions of OS/2, including MS-OS/2 and IBM OS/2; MS-Windows
3.1, Windows-95, Windows NT, and NetWare 386.
2.1 Operating Systems
Technologic Systems Embedded PCs are compatible with a wide variety of x86-based operating
systems. A partial list OSes currently used with our boards by customers includes:
•TNT Embedded Toolsuite, Phar Lap Software
•UCos II
•RTKernel, On Time Software
•RTEMS, On-Line Applications Research Corporation
•DOS with WATTCP, public domain TCP/IP source code for DOS
•Linux
The TS-5500 is shipped, free of charge, with Embedded DOS ROM by General Software.
The TS-5500 can be shipped upon request with Linux pre-installed for a nominal fee. The Linux file
system and kernel is also freely available on the web should you wish to install it yourself. Typically, the
Linux OS requires a 32MB or larger Compact Flash or an M-System’s DiskOnChip.

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3Power
The TS-5500 requires regulated 5VDC at 900 mA (typical). A quick releasescrew-down terminal block
for the 5V power and power GND connections is provided for easy connection to an external power
supply.
When power is first supplied to the TS-5500, the board mounted LED is immediately turned on under
hardware control. Once the processor begins execution, the LED is turned off. The LED then turns on
then off to provide a characteristic blink during execution of POST. If the LED does not turn on at all, the
most likely problem is the power supply. Check that the +5V and GND connections are not reversed. A
diode protects the board against damage in such a situation, but it will not run.
Please note that supply voltages over 6 VDC may damage the TS-5500.
Be sure to use a regulated 5 VDC power supply.
4Memory
4.1 SDRAM
The TS-5500 has a total of 32 Megabytes (MB) of high-speed SDRAM providing 640 Kilobytes (KB) of
base memory, 15 MB of extended memory, and 128 KB of shadow RAM for the BIOS. This is identical
to a standard PC memory map. The TS-5500 can be ordered with 16MB or 64MB of SDRAM, but it is
not field upgradeable.
The TS-5500 SDRAM chips are soldered directly to the board. By not using a SIMM socket, the TS-
5500 is much more reliable in high-vibration environments.
4.2 Flash
There is a total of 2 MB of Flash memory on the TS-5500 with 128 KB reserved for the BIOS. During
POST, this 128 KB area is copied from Flash into SDRAM at addresses E0000h through FFFFFh for
improved performance (a standard technique known as BIOS Shadowing). The remainder of the Flash
memory (1920 KB) is configured as two solid-state disk (SSD) drives appearing as drive A and drive B.
Drive A uses 896 KB of Flash memory while drive B uses the remaining 1024 KB of Flash memory.
Both drives are fully supported by the BIOS as INT 13h drives.
The physical Flash memory is accessed by the BIOS in protected mode at memory address 148M.
The Flashmemory is guaranteed capable of a minimum of 100,000 write/erase cycles. This means that
if you completely erase and rewrite the SSD drive 10 times a day you have over 27 years before any
problems would occur. Reading the SSD produces no wear at all.
Power failure during flash writes can cause corruption of flash drive FAT tables (A: or B:). Therefore
applications writing frequently should use DiskOnChip or Compact Flash card drives which are more
tolerant of power failure during write cycles.
Flash drive A is read-only when JP3 is not installed. Removing JP3 also makes the 128 kbyte BIOS
area of the Flash write protected as well. Write protecting the A: drive can be useful if there are critical
files in the final product that must be very secure.
4.3 Compact Flash cards and DiskOnChip modules
If 2MB of Flash is insufficient for your application, additional non-volatile storage can be added with a
Compact Flash card or an M-Systems DiskOnChip module. Either of these products can supply
additional storage that will behave much as a hard drive does in a typical PC with sizes ranging from
8MB to 512MB. These products are inherently more rugged than a hard drive since they are completely
solid-state with no moving parts.
The Compact Flash card has the added advantage of being removable media. A SanDisk USB
Compact Flash reader/writer (which is included in the TS-5500 Developer’s Kit) is recommended for the

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host PC for file transfers. This results in the ability to quickly move files from a host PC to the TS-5500
using a Compact Flash card as the removable media. Since the Compact Flash card appears as a
standard IDE drive on the TS-5500, it uses no additional RAM for drivers. While a USB Compact Flash
reader allows for hot swapping of the Compact Flash card on the host PC, the Compact Flash interface
on the TS-5500 is not hot swappable, the TS-5500 must be rebooted after removing or installing a
Compact Flash card.
The DiskOnChip module can be installed into the 32-pin socket near the center of the board.
DiskOnChip modules are available from Technologic Systems as well as other distributors. It is
compatible with DOS as shipped, and drivers for other operating systems (such as Linux) are available.
If a DiskOnChip is installed, it will simply appear as drive C. The DiskOnChip is accessed through an 8
KB range of memory at D0000h through D1FFFh. If you are installing a PC/104 daughter card that uses
memory mapped I/O, it must not conflict with this address range if the DiskOnChip is installed.
Additionally, in a DOS environment the DiskOnChip firmware uses approximately 30 KB of user RAM
(below 640 KB).
4.4 Using the SanDisk USB Compact Flash Card Reader
This device allows for a very fast and reliable method of moving files between the host PC and target
SBC (TS-5500). The Compact Flash (CF) card can then be hot swapped (inserted or removed without
rebooting the host PC). Sometimes it is necessary to unplug the USB cable and reinstall it after
swapping CF cards (at least Windows ME seems to prefer this).
Note: The TS-5500 always needs to be powered off before swapping CF cards.
4.5 Non-Volatile SRAM
The 32-pin socket can also optionally hold 32 KB of Non-volatile SRAM memory. This behaves exactly
like battery-backed SRAM. This or the DiskOnChip may be installed, but not both.
Non-volatile SRAM provides non-volatile memory with unlimited write cycles and no write time
degradation, unlike Flash memory. The SRAM uses an additional 32 KB range of D0000h through
D7FFFh. If the SRAM is installed, PC/104 daughter card that uses memory mapped I/O must not
conflict with this address range.
I/O location 75h, bit 0 can be read to determine whether the SRAM option is installed; a ‘1’ in bit 0
indicates that it is installed, a ‘0’ that it is not.
5Serial Ports
The three PC compatible asynchronous serial ports (COM1, COM2 and COM3) provide a means to
communicate with external serial devices such as printers, modems, etc. Each is independently
configured as a standard PC COM port that is compatible with the National Semiconductor NS16C450.
Alternatively, these ports can be changed to the 16C550 mode with 16 byte FIFOs in both the receive
and transmit UART channels. COM1 appears in the I/O space at 3F8h –3FFh and uses IRQ4. COM2
is located at 2F8h –2FFh and uses IRQ3. COM3 appears in the I/O space at 3E8h-3EFh and can be
jumper selected to use IRQ5, IRQ6, or IRQ7.
By changing an internal configuration register in the Elan520, the serial clock to the COM ports can be
switched to a 10 times rate (18.432 MHz). This feature allows baud rates higher than 115 Kbaud (such
as 230K baud or 576K baud), as well as non-standard lower baud rates (such as 24 Kbaud). See
Appendix G for further information.
The COM1 and COM2 ports may also be configured to use a DMA channel, which may be useful when
very high baud rates are being used.
See the AMD Elan520 User's Manual for further details.

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5.1 Serial Port Configuration Registers
Because both serial ports are 100% PC compatible, software written for the PC that accesses serial
ports directly or through standard BIOS calls will work without modification on the TS-5500. The details
of the COM port internal registers are available in most PC documentation books or the data sheet for
the National Semiconductor NS16C550 may be consulted.
5.2 Serial Port Hardware
Each RS-232 serial port has 4 lines buffered: the Rx and Tx data lines and the CTS / RTS handshake
pair. This is quite sufficient to interface with the vast majority of serial devices. If additional handshake
lines are required, it will be necessary to add a TS-SER daughter board. The TS-5500 serial signals are
routed to 10-pin header labeled COM1 and a standard 9-pin Sub-D male labeled COM2 and COM3. A
serial adapter cable can be plugged into the COM1 header to convert this into a standard DB9 male
connector. The pin-outs for the 10-pin header and DB9 male connector are listed above. The RTS
signal also drives the DTR pin on COM ports, DTR is always the same state as RTS.
5.3 RS-485 Support
An option is available to add support to COM3 for half
duplex or full duplex RS-485. RS-485 drivers allow
communications between multiple nodes up to 4000 feet
(1200 meters) via twisted pair cable. Half-duplex RS-485
requires one twisted pair plus a Ground connection, while
full duplex requires two twisted pair plus a Ground.
For half-duplex operation, a single twisted pair isused for
transmitting and receiving. Bit 6 at I/O location 75h must
be set to enable RTS mode or bit 7 can be set to enable
Automatic mode. In RTS mode, the serial port RTS signal
controls the RS-485 transmitter/receiver (See Automatic
mode below). When RTS is asserted true, the RS-485
transmitter is enabled and the receiver disabled. When
RTS is de-asserted the transmitter is tri-stated (disabled)
and the receiver is enabled. Since the transmitter and
receiver are never both enabled, the serial port UART
does not receive the data transmitted.
For full-duplex operation, two twisted pairs are used and
the transmitter can typically be left on all the time. Simply
use RTS mode, and set RTS true.
See Figure 2 above for connector pin-outs.
5GND
Rx - 94Rx +
[in] CTS 83TX data [out]
[out] RTS 72RX data [in]
Tx - 61Tx +
Figure 2 –COM2 and COM3 9-
pin Sub D
Pin-out [signal direction is in brackets]
PLEASE NOTE: COM3 has connections
for the RS-232 port and the RS-485 port
on the same 9 pin connector, only one of
the two functions will be used at a time.
5V Power 10 5GND
NC 94DTR (RTS) [out]
[in] CTS 83TX data [out]
[out] RTS 72RXdata [in]
NC 61NC
Figure 1–COM1 Serial Port Header and
DB9 Pin-out [signal direction is in brackets]
PLEASE NOTE: The serial port headers
use a non-standard numbering scheme.
This was done so the header pins would
have the same numbering as the corre-
sponding DB-9 pin; i.e. pin 8 (CTS) on the
header connects to pin 8 on the DB-9
RS-485 Quick start procedure:
1. The RS-485 option must be installed
2. Install FD jumper for full-duplex or HD
for half-duplex RS-485 operation
3. Attach the RS-485 cable to the 9-pin
Sub-D connector.
4. Set the COM3 UART serial parameters
(baud rate, data, parity, and stop bits,
interrupts, etc).
5. Run Auto485.exe utility
(configures bits 6 and 7 at I/O 75h)
(and initializes Timer2)
6. For Half-Duplex RTS mode: To
transmit data, assert RTS and write the
data to the UART. To receive
data, deassert RTS and read the data
from the UART
7. For Half-Duplex Automatic mode: just
read or write data to the UART

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Note:the correct jumper (FD or HD) must be installed. See the Table 2 for details.
Fail-safe bias resistors are used to bias the TX+, TX-and RX+,
RX-lines to the correct state when these lines are not being
actively driven. This is an important consideration, since in a
typical RS-485 installation, the drivers are frequently tri-stated. If
fail-safe bias resistors are not present, the 485 bus may be
floating and very small amounts of noise can cause spurious
characters at the receivers. 4.7KΩresistors are used to pull the
TX+ and RX+ signals to 5V and also to bias the TX-and RX-
signals to ground. Termination resistors may be required for reliable operation when running long
distances at high baud rates. Termination resistors should only be installed at each end of an RS-485
transmission line. In a multi-drop application where there are several drivers and/or receivers attached,
only the devices at each end of the transmission line pair should have termination resistors.
A read at I/O location 75h bit 1 will return a "1" when the RS-485 option is installed.
5.4 Automatic RS-485 TX Enable
TS-5500 boards support fully automatic TX enable control. This simplifies the design of half-duplex
systems since turning off the transmitter via the RTS signal is typically difficult to implement. The
COM3 UART transmit holding register and the transmit shift register both must be polled until empty
before deasserting RTS when using the RTS mode. The design gets more difficult when using the TX
FIFO or when using a multi-tasking OS such as Linux.
In Automatic mode, Timer2 and a Xilinx PLD keep track of the bits shifting out the COM3 UART. This
circuit automatically turns on/off the RS-485 transceiver at the correct times. This only requires the
TIMER2 to be initialized once based on baud rate and data format, and bit 7 at I/O location 75 must be
set. A utility called AUTO485.exe is included in the AUTOEXEC.bat that simplifies this task.
5.5 Configuring COM3
COM3 has a header labeled HD3 with 6 jumper positions. Three of these jumpers select which interrupt
COM3 uses (IRQ5, IRQ6 or IRQ7). Only one of the interrupt jumpers should be installed. . Note:
IRQ7 is used by many PCMCIA cards. The other three jumper positions select RS-232, RS-485 (Half-
Duplex), or RS-422 (Full-Duplex) operation. Only one of these jumpers should be installed.
Linux strongly prefers the use of interrupts on all COM ports. If COM3 does not have a jumper installed
for interrupt selection, extremely slow throughput is a common symptom under Linux. IRQ5 is the most
commonly used IRQ for COM3. Regardless of IRQ selected, run the setserial command with the
following parameters to register the interrupt with the kernel:
setserial -v /dev/ttyS2 auto_irq autoconfig
5.6 Adding Serial Ports
If your project requires more than three serial ports, additional ports may be added via the PC/104
expansion bus. Technologic Systems offers three different daughter boards (TS-SER1, TS-SER2, and
TS-SER4) that add 1,2,or 4 extra COM ports respectively. Typically these would be configured as
COM4 or be assigned other higher COM I/O locations. Because DOS only directly supports four serial
ports, any additional ports beyond four will require software drivers if using DOS.
The TS-5500 PC/104 bus has IRQ 5, 6, 7, 12 or 15 available for additional serial ports.
Note:IRQ7 is used by many PCMCIA cards and COM3 will typically use IRQ5 or IRQ6.
Jumper Receiver Source
FD Full-Duplex RS-485
HD Half-Duplex RS-485
232 RS-232
Table
1
–
COM3 Receiver Source