Page 1 of 2

USB interface

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2003 5:01 pm
by Phriendly
I've got the USB interface working. The simple test software is working. I'm now working on the user interface for loading information into the remote.

Joe.

Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2003 9:07 pm
by The Robman
Way to go Joe.

Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2003 3:02 pm
by timdoyen
Joe,

What did you use to interface with USB? A microcontroller? A dedicated USB chip? What do the parts cost?

Very interesting,
Tim

Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2003 12:53 am
by Phriendly
timdoyen wrote:Joe,

What did you use to interface with USB? A microcontroller? A dedicated USB chip? What do the parts cost?

Very interesting,
Tim
I used a dedicated USB chip. The cost is as follows:

Item1: $8.00 Qty 1 802300 USB 12 IO Chip DIP
Item2: $6.50 Qty 1 803504 USB CABLE PLUGA/BareEnd
Item3: $3.60 Qty 1 803507 USB Minimum Parts kit
SubTotal: $18.10
SalesTax: $0.00
ShipCost: $5.92
Total: $24.02

http://www.delcom-eng.com/products_USBIO.asp#DemoBrd

I built it on my own prototyping board so there was no extra cost there.

I have put together a information PDF file. But I don't know where to download it to. There is no file section here, and Rob is trying to get off Yahoo. So I guess I'll ask where to put it.

Joe.

Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2003 5:45 am
by Mark Pierson
Phriendly wrote:I have put together a information PDF file. But I don't know where to download it to.
Upload it to the Interface Designs folder over in the JP1 group Files section.

Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2003 2:51 pm
by The Robman
We're still keeping Yahoo around as a file section, until the software is ready to store files here.

Rob

Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2003 3:57 pm
by Phriendly
Rob,
Thanks, Jim let me know that also. I uploaded a zip file (JP1-USB-0.01.ZIP) to JP1>Files>interfaces. This file has all the information needed to build a USB interface. Schematic, files, parts list.

Enjoy.
Joe

Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2003 4:03 pm
by Mark Pierson
It looks pretty impressive... nice job!

Now all you need to do is work with Mark Pauker to put the communications routine into IR! Any chance you can create it as a DLL that IR can call?

Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2003 4:24 pm
by Phriendly
Thanks.

>>Any chance you can create it as a DLL that IR can call?<<
Possibly. The current version calls a DLL. I've not looking into calling a DLL within a DLL. But I'm enjoying looking into new things.

Another version of Delcom's support software doesn't require a DLL, but I'm still not able to get that compiled w/ my Borland C++ builder 3.0. Most of the software from Delcom is written for Visual C, but I use what I have. I've talked w/ tech support @ Delcom re: it. But I kept working on the runtime linked DLL version till I got something that worked.

Joe.

Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2003 4:34 pm
by Mark Pierson
Phriendly wrote:The current version calls a DLL. I've not looking into calling a DLL within a DLL
So the current DLL is doing all the communications work? If that's the case, then IR should be able to make the same calls itself.

I know Dan Arnold made the modifications to allow IR to call John Fine's decoder DLL, so either he or Mark Pauker ought to be able to make the necessary calls to this USB DLL.

Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2003 5:28 pm
by Phriendly
Oh Yeah. I thought of that sometime during this project, just forgot it<G>. My code is written in C++ and I can send it to whoever is going to integrate into IR. Of course I can answer any questions re: what I had to do to get it working.

Joe.

Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2003 2:39 pm
by Dabbith
Joe,
Would you be willing to post or send me the source for the sample program? If it's simple enough, I'll see if I can add it to IR, if it's more complex, creating a dll may be the way to go. There aren't any problems with calling a DLL from a DLL, it behaves just like calling a DLL from a normal program.

This should be nice as it would eliminate all of the voltage incompatibilities we run into so often here.

Also, how long did it take you to get your parts from Delcom?

Thanks,

Dan Arnold

Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2003 4:49 pm
by Mark Pierson
Dabbith wrote:Also, how long did it take you to get your parts from Delcom?
I ordered a set of components Sunday. They were shipped yesterday and I received them today (Delcom is in New York and I'm in Connecticut). Can't do much better than that! :D

Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2003 6:09 pm
by Mark Pierson
All the documentation for the Delcom USB chip is available online at:
http://www.delcom-eng.com/products_USBIO.asp#DemoBrd

It seems to me like it could be incorporated directly in IR or as an external DLL.

Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2003 6:18 pm
by Phriendly
Mark,
I'm needing to update the test software to check for an eeprom > 2k. Does the remote you use have an eeprom > 2k?.

I don't see a problem w/ the USB handling a bigger eeprom. I just need to check my comcept of how to detect the different eeproms so the software can then change how it access the I2C eeprom differences.

If your remote uses the >2k eeprom then the test program won't work w/ it. I can modidy the test program, hmmmmmm. I think I'll modify the test program so the user can select wether the eeprom is > 2k or <2k. That way I can still be working on the autodetect eeprom and those who are building the hardware will have something to use.

Joe.