Little Board™/486e Technical Manual
1–4
Ethernet LAN Interface
The Ethernet LAN interface uses Carrier Sense, Multiple Access/Collision Detect (CSMA/CD) for
node access and operates at a 10M-bits/second data rate. The Ethernet interface has the following
features:
! Contains the logic necessary to send and receive data packets
! Controls CSMA/CD network access technology
! Meets IEEE 802.3 (ANSI 8802-3) Ethernet standards
! Supports the Ethernet twisted-pair standard (10BaseT)
Because Ethernet is preferred in many applications due to it s hig h da ta rate and bro ad le vel o f
compatibility, Ampro supplies the Little Board/486e CPU with driv er s and ut ilit ies to en sure
compatibility with a wide range of popular operating systems and network operating systems. The
Ethernet interface is based on the SMC9000-series single-chip Ethernet controller. DOS software
drivers for ODI, NDIS, packet, and TCP/IP are supplied with the Little Board/486e Development
Kit. OS support includes QNX, UNIX, Windows®9x, Windows NT™, Windows CE and DOS.
The Ethernet interface provides boot PROM capability. When implemented, the embedded system
boots directly from the network, eliminating the need for a local floppy, hard drive, or SSD.
Byte-Wide Socket and Solid State Disk (SSD)
The byte-wide memory socket included with the Little Board/486e CPU allows you to install a
bootable “solid state disk” (SSD) for installation of embedded application software. The SSD
supports:
! EPROM
! FLASH EPROM
! Battery-backed SRAMs
Using Ampro’s SSD Support Software, any DO S-base d applic ation, includ in g the o per ating sys tem,
utilities, drivers, and application programs, can be ru n from SSD witho ut mo dific ation . SSD
operation is also supported by a number of real-time operating systems.
The board’s 32-pin byte-wide socket accepts 32-pin byte- wide me mory de vices . It accommo date s
128K bytes to 1M byte devices and suppor ts:
! CMOS SRAM
! SRAM non-volatile modules
! EPROM
! FLASH EPROM