Electronics-Lab.com Blog

It is designed around Spartan 6 chip from Xilinx and it has on board JTAG programmer based on FT2232D from FTDI.

Features:

• Spartan 6 LX9
• SDRAM of 32 MByte
• SPI Flash of 8 MBit
• 36 I/O
• USB to UART link
• USB JTAG on board
• 8 LEDS connected to the FPGA
• 4 DIP switches connected to the FPGA

miniSpartan6, another Spartan 6 Kit - [Link]

Lira – A Barebones, Low-Cost, Arduino Compatible Atmega328 Breakout Board – [via]

What I came up with is the Lira. It is, as you will see, little more than a breakout board for the ATmega328, but it provides all the bare necessities like voltage regulation, basic power conditioning and an FTDI programming interface. It’s the smallest, simplest, cheapest design I could come up with that still uses through-hole components for ease of construction.

Certainly, your Boarduino has more features, better power conditioning and all of that. But then the Lira is significantly smaller at 2.15×0.85″ (vs. 3.0×0.8″, per the Boarduino page). So perhaps it will find an audience among those in search of the smallest, most bare-bones microcontroller they can build themselves.

Lira: A Barebones, Low-Cost, Arduino Compatible Atmega328 Breakout Board - [Link]

Company FTDI released drivers form ARM processors compiled for Linux OS, enabling to Access FTDI USB devices thus expanding I/O ports in various applications with ARM processors.

Existing FTDI drivers for many processors architectures and various operating systems have extended with a new clone and further enlarged possibilities of an easy USB interface implementation with FTDI devices into various devices, including the popular Raspberry Pi. New D2xx drivers for Linux are compatible with all ARM processors supporting the V5 instruction set.

They are free to download at: http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/D2XX.htm.

ARM processors providing a high computing power while maintaining a small power consumption, are probably the most often choice for powerful data and multimedia application nowadays. That´s why, if you have an application with ARM processors, or you´re just developing it, you may appreciate also this possibility to add a USB interface into a target device simply.

FTDI USB devices understand even the Raspberry Pi - [Link]

FTDI released the FT311D USB host IC for easy communication with Android devices. It features 7 GPIOs, one I2C peripheral, one UART, one SPI, and 4 PWM peripherals.

The device acts as a USB host to an Android device, while the Android’s app directly controls the peripherals on the IC. The device is configurable trough 3 CFG pins. [via]

FT311D USB host IC provides easy communication with Android devices - [Link]

USB solutions specialist Future Technology Devices International Limited – FTDI, celebrates in these days the 20-th anniversary of its founding.

What can be a better guarantee of competency and quality than many years of experience?
And 20 years is already a decent era, which fully reflects to reliability and quality of USB solutions from FTDI. Those are well known, widely used components, enabling with a minimum effort to add a USB connectivity to a target device. They are available as ready-made modules, cables and chips themselves. For an affordable price they offer ready-to-use solutions with above-standard support, of royalty-free drivers, source codes and application notes.

At the same time, in these days, company FTDI has launched the largest series of products in its history – the X-Chip series. Further information you can find in our article about X-Chip series.

FTDI is on the market already for 20 years! - [Link]

X-chip USB series from FTDI brings even higher functionality on a chip, including battery charging detection. Speeds-up development, saves space and decreases power consumption.

USB solutions specialist Future Technology Devices International Limited – FTDI has supplemented its portfolio of USB to serial interface products with new X-Chip series. X-Chip series consisting of 13 chips (7 types in various package options) complements the existing FT-R and FT-H series. New series supports a broad selection of interface types, such as basic UART, full UART, FIFO and I2C, as well as FTDI’s proprietary FT1248 I/O (including enhanced SPI).

Through X-Chip, engineers are provided with a feature-rich USB 2.0 interface solution with a smaller size and a lower pin count. High level of integration, including integrated crystal and MTP (Multi-time programmable) memory for configuring and storing the device descriptors and an internal clock source, solves major board level concerns, such as better space utilization and reduced power consumption. Devices in the series are capable of data rates of up to 3.4 Mbits/s, while maintaining low power consumption, <8mA (typical) when fully active and <125 μA (typical) while in suspend mode

With recent amendments being made to the USB specification regarding more rapid charging of portable electronics devices, the X-Chip has built-in functionality to detect a charging port (battery charging detection – BCD, dedicated charging port – DCP) and cause a logic to switch from data transfer to charging mode. This feature means that detection does not have to be carried out by the system’s microcontroller, thereby allowing it to focus fully on its core activities. The end result is a simpler detection process and the capability to charge at a higher current level which shortens the time required for battery charging.

The devices in the X-Chip series are offered in compact SSOP, QFN and DFN packages. Each has an operational temperature range of -40 °C to +85 °C. X-chip series has an internal 3.3V converter and supports 1.8 to 3.3V I/O voltages. As all the necessary USB support and bridging intelligence has been integrated into these devices and pre-validated, the expense, time and engineering resource needed to bring Full Speed USB connectivity into system designs is markedly reduced. FTDI provides support and royalty-free downloads for a wide selection of OS: Windows, Android, Mac OS, and Linux.

Overview of all new types will provide you the attached table, X-chip brochure and X-chips overview. Available are 7 basic types – FT200XD, FT201X, FT220X, FT221X, FT230X, FT231X and FT240X. FT200XD is the smallest one, in a tiny 10-pin DFN package. All other types are available in SSOP and QFN packages. Detailed description will provide you FT200XD, FT201X, FT220X, FT221X, FT230X, FT231X and FT240X datasheets. An example of an easy to use I2C/USB slave converter illustrates the picture below. Further details about battery charging you can find in the AN_175 application note.

Together with these chips, FTDI has released a wide-selection of development modules. Also available are so-called breakout modules, providing the simplest method to connect to a USB host. You can choose from 4 types of breakout modules – UMFT200XD, UMFT201XB, UMFT220XB a UMFT230XB. Evaluation modules are larger than breakout modules, but provide access to all pins.

New X-chip series will connect you to USB even easier and faster! - [Link]

Johan von Konow writes:

A small FT232 USB to serial adapter built to fit directly in the USB port

Features:

• Integrated USB header
• Standard FTDI cable pinout
• Single sided PCB (easy to manufacture)
• Rx,Tx led’s
• Miniature size

Miniature USB to serial PCB - [Link]

www.adafruit.com writes:

A little over a year ago, I started playing around with the newly available AVR ATTiny4313. It’s a neat little chip, and you can have a lot of fun with it. However, I soon got tired of wiring up programming headers, power supplies and all the other stuff you need to get up and running. I also grew wary of all this support circuitry taking up significant breadboard real estate.

To eliminate all that hassle, I created the BB313. It’s got all the stuff you need (programming header, regulated 5V power, etc.) wrapped up in a nice little package, and it plugs in on the edge of the breadboard so you have lots of space for other stuff. I also added an 6-pin connector for an FTDI cable or adapter.

I originally designed it for myself, but I figured other people might like it too, so I’m releasing it open-source CC-BY-SA 3.0) so you can make your own.

All the details and source files are at the project page. If you find it useful, please let me know!

BB313: A Breadboarding Platform for the ATTiny2313/4313 - [Link]

FTDI just released a new series of their USB to serial device ICs. The X-series is an upgrade on the R part used in the Bus Pirate and formerly in Arduinos. It features better transfer rates, lower power consumption, needs fewer discrete components, and has high power USB charging capability. [via]

FTDI is delighted to announce the launch of its new X-Chip series. Made up of 13 devices, with an exception feature set, the X-Chip series offers full speed USB 2.0 bridging solutions to UART, SPI/FT1248, I2C and FIFO interfaces complementing the company’s existing R chip, and Hi-Speed solutions. “By specifying the X-Chip into their designs, engineers will reduce their overall bill of materials and optimise PCB real estate,” states Fred Dart, CEO and founder of FTDI. “With its comprehensive feature set, the benefits of lower power, smaller device footprint and NEW enhanced battery charger detection can all be realised, as well as the robust USB functionality that FTDI has always provided in its connectivity solutions”. In addition to the ICs, FTDI has released a wide-selection of development modules, enabling instant access to the different functions for each chip type, and thus allowing for easy device evaluation and prototyping development.

FTDI’s new X-Series of USB device chips - [Link]

FTDI Expands Vinculum-II Precompiled Firmware & Source Code Offering, enabling a substantial shortening of development time.

USB solutions specialist Future Technology Devices International Limited (FTDI) has introduced additional elements to its family of precompiled, bridging ROM files that support Vinculum-II (VNC2) USB host/device controller ICs. These files can be loaded directly into a VNC2 IC and utilised in order to perform basic data transfer operations between common interfaces. Interface options include SPI, UART, USB host and USB device, with data operations such as mass storage, human interface devices, and communication device class. This provides engineers with off-the-shelf software capabilities that can be immediately implemented – enabling shorter development time and resulting in faster time to market.

The new ROM files from FTDI are:

•  SPI master to UART – the bridging of a VNC2 UART to the VNC2 SPI master for controlling SPI slave devices. Data is transferrable in both directions.
• SPI slave to USB memory bridge – the bridging of a USB memory (Flash drive) device present on the VNC2 USB host port to a SPI interface.
• A SPI master to USB human interface device (HID) – the bridging of a USB HID class device (such as a keyboard or a mouse) present on the VNC2 USB host port to a SPI interface.
• A UART to communication device class (CDC) modem – the bridging of a CDC device present on the VNC2 USB host port to a UART interface, with data transferrable in both directions.
• A UART to FT232 host – the bridging of a FT232/FTxxx class device present on the VNC2 USB host port to a UART interface.
• A UART to USB HID Class Host – the bridging of a HID class device present on the VNC2 USB host port to a UART interface.
• A UART to USB Memory – the bridging of a USB memory device present on the VNC2 USB host port to a UART interface.

Each of the precompiled ROM files is accompanied by the source code, to allow users to modify and expand upon the reference software. Complete documentation and application notes are also included, which provide engineers the context of the implementation.

The new ROM files can be downloaded free of charge at: http://www.ftdichip.com/Firmware/Precompiled.htm

Simplify a development of USB devices by off-the-shelf files from FTDI - [Link]