ActiveWire USB
Hardware Reference

Version 1.1
28-Jan-03

 

 

Index

1.     Introduction

2.     Hardware Overview

3.     Header Pins

1.     Top view

2.     Sort by I/O

4.     Jumper Pins

5.     ActiveBus

6.     Frequently Asked Questions

7.     Specification

8.     Revision History



1.     Introduction

Thank you purchasing the ActiveWire USB board. This reference contains information about the ActiveWire USB hardware. Please refer to the ActiveWire USB Software Reference for information about the ActiveWire software.

Caution!
It is strongly suggested to use precaution when handling the board to prevent electrostatic discharge from damaging any components. Please use the following steps:

1.     Touch a conductive grounded surface before touching the board. This will discharge your body. Your body can easily build up 25,000 volts of charge without you knowing it.

2.     Finding a good ground can be tricky. Focus on devices which have a three prong power cord plugged into a three prong grounded AC outlet. Many times they have some exposed metal surface. This is usually a ground. You have to check with a volt meter to be sure. As with any plugged into the AC power outlet, if you are unsure, do not touch it!!!

3.     Handle the board at the edges. Do not directly touch any of the pins or any of the components on the board

4.     Keep the board in an ESD safe bag when not in use.

 

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  1. Hardware Overview
    1. Header AB.P1
    2. Header AB.P2
         These headers allowing interfacing of external circuits to the board.
          Signals on the headers include 16bits parallel I/O, Vcc(+5v), GND, and several other signals.
          See the following section, 4. Header Pins, for more detail.

          The headers are designed to be used in two ways.

1.     Simple 16bits programmable Input/Output pins
    When the board is used alone with standard firmware and driver, 16 bits of I/O can be used to interface with external circuitry.   Each I/O is programmable to input (by default) or output. You can change the I/O direction at any time.

2.     Addressable 8bits Data Input/Output Bus (ActiveBus)
    When the board is used with ActiveWire Add-on boards, the board should have a protocol implemented to communicate with multiple boards connected to the same headers.
    ActiveBus is a simple 8bits Data/Address multiplexed bus architecture.  See following section, 5. ActiveBus, for more detail.

    1. Jumper PWR.J1
    2. Jumper CA.J1
          These jumpers allow for alternate board usage.
          Improper use of these jumpers may cause the board to malfunction.
          It is very important to leave these jumpers Closed for the normal operation of the board.

          See following section, 5. Jumper Pins, for more detail.
    3. USB B Connector
          A USB A-to-B cable must be used to connect to a Host PC or USB hub.
    4. USB Microcontoroller
          Core of the ActiveWire USB board.
          It includes an Intel 8051 clone microcontroller, 8KB RAM, and USB (SIE) peripheral interface.
    5. Electrically erasable and prgrammable read only memroy (EEPROM)
          The EEPROM is used to store ActiveWire USB Vendor ID and Product ID.

          Caution!
           Improper use of EEPROM may cause the board to malfunction.
           If information written at factory is altered, the operating system will fail to recognize the board. Thus causing problems in running driver or application software.
           It is very important not to alter the EEPROM for the normal operation of the board.
    6. Programmable Logic Device (PLD)
           The PLD generates and active low Reset signal (/Reset) and generates a 6 Mhz clock. These signals are mainly for ActiveBus.

 

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  1. Header Pins

    Following describes signal available at header pins.

    1. Vcc
          +5v power supplied from USB, or optional external power supply.
          When connecting external supply, it must be regulated 5v DC.
    2. +3.3v
          +3.3v supply for the USB microcontroller on board. This signal was on the original ActiveWire USB board. It is no longer supplied. If you would like this feature to be added, please let us know!
       
          The original document said: It is available only for a reference.   It is not intended to supply current to any external devices. If your device requires 3.3v, you should use your own 3.3v regulator tied to Vcc (+5v
    3. GND
          Ground return for the board.
    4. I/O[0..15]
          Programmable I/O pins of the microcontroller.
    5. #Reset
          Active Low Reset Out from the board to external circuit.
          Logical Vcc level normally, becomes GND level when the microcontroller has been reset.
          The microcontroller can be reset by host software through USB.
          NOTE: This is NOT Input to the board.
    6. Clock
          6MHz ActiveBus clock out.
          Used mainly by the ActiveBus protocol. You can use for your circuitry as well.
    7. Clock24
          24MHz microcontroller clock out.
          This is available for reference.
    8. SDA/SCL
          I2C serial bus.
          Please note that the EEPROM, that contains crucial information for USB protocol (i.e. USB Vendor ID and Product ID), is also connected to these pins.
          Improper use of these pins may cause the board to malfunction.

Following tables show pin layout of each headers.

  1. Top view

    

 

 

ActiveBus

I/O

Header

pin#

Vcc(+5v)

Vcc(+5v)

AB.P1

1

#16Bit

I/O8

AB.P1

3

#Busy

I/O10

AB.P1

5

GND

GND

AB.P1

7

#Write

-

AB.P1

9

AD0

I/O0

AB.P1

11

AD1

I/O1

AB.P1

13

AD3

I/O3

AB.P1

15

AD5

I/O5

AB.P1

17

AD6

I/O6

AB.P1

19

 

pin#

Header

I/O

ActiveBus

2

AB.P1

#Reset

#Reset

4

AB.P1

I/O9

#32Bit

6

AB.P1

Clock

Clock

8

AB.P1

-

#Read

10

AB.P1

I/O13

#Addr

12

AB.P1

Vcc(+5v)

Vcc(+5v)

14

AB.P1

I/O2

AD2

16

AB.P1

I/O4

AD4

18

AB.P1

GND

GND

20

AB.P1

I/O7

AD7

     

 

 

ActiveBus

I/O

Header

pin#

Vcc(+5v)

Vcc(+5v)

AB.P2

1

-

SDA

AB.P2

3

-

I/O11

AB.P2

5

GND

GND

AB.P2

7

-

-

AB.P2

9

-

-

AB.P2

11

-

-

AB.P2

13

-

I/O14

AB.P2

15

-

Clock24

AB.P2

17

-

-

AB.P2

19

 

pin#

Header

I/O

ActiveBus

2

AB.P2

-

-

4

AB.P2

SCL

-

6

AB.P2

I/O12

-

8

AB.P2

-

-

10

AB.P2

-

-

12

AB.P2

Vcc(+5v)

Vcc(+5v)

14

AB.P2

-

-

16

AB.P2

I/O15

-

18

AB.P2

GND

GND

20

AB.P2

-

-


The symbol   '-'  denotes that it is not used and is reserved for future use.


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  1. Sort by I/O

    

 

I/O

ActiveBus

Header

pin#

Vcc(+5v)

Vcc(+5v)

AB.P1

1

Vcc(+5v)

Vcc(+5v)

AB.P1

12

Vcc(+5v)

Vcc(+5v)

AB.P2

1

Vcc(+5v)

Vcc(+5v)

AB.P2

12

  

 

 

 

I/O0

AD0

AB.P1

11

I/O1

AD1

AB.P1

13

I/O2

AD2

AB.P1

14

I/O3

AD3

AB.P1

15

I/O4

AD4

AB.P1

16

I/O5

AD5

AB.P1

17

I/O6

AD6

AB.P1

19

I/O7

AD7

AB.P1

20

I/O8

#16Bit

AB.P1

3

I/O9

#32Bit

AB.P1

4

I/O10

#Busy

AB.P1

5

I/O11

-

AB.P2

5

I/O12

-

AB.P2

6

I/O13

#Addr

AB.P1

10

I/O14

-

AB.P2

15

I/O15

-

AB.P2

16

  

 

 

 

GND

GND

AB.P1

7

GND

GND

AB.P1

18

GND

GND

AB.P2

7

GND

GND

AB.P2

18

  

 

 

 

#Reset

#Reset

AB.P1

2

SDA

-

AB.P2

3

SCL

-

AB.P2

4

Clock(6MHz)

Clock(6MHz)

AB.P1

6

Clock24(24MHz)

-

AB.P2

17

-

#Write

AB.P1

9

-

#Read

AB.P1

8

  

 

 

 

-

-

AB.P2

8

-

-

AB.P2

9

-

-

AB.P2

10

-

-

AB.P2

11

-

-

AB.P2

13

-

-

AB.P2

14

-

-

AB.P2

19

-

-

AB.P2

20


The symbol   '-'  denotes that it is not used and reserved for future use.

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  1. Jumper Pins

    There are 2 jumper pins on the board.
    Both are critical for the board functionality.
    Improper use of these pins may cause the board to malfunction.
    Unless absolutly necessary, leave these jumpers Closed.

    1. Jumper PWR.J1
          This jumper is located in between USB Bus Power (+5v) and Vcc (+5v) of the board.
          Removing the shunt isolates USB Bus Power and the Vcc, causing power supply of the board.
          This may be useful when external 5v DC power supply is connected to one of header pins.
    2. Jumper CA.J1
          This jumper is located in between Serial Data In/Out of on-board EEPROM and Serial Data Out/In of the USB microcontroller.
          Removing the shunt isolates the EEPROM and the microcontroller, resulting the microcontroller to use silicon chip hardwired default Vendor ID and Product ID.
          This may be useful in some special occasion that it is necessary to bring the board in a known USB Vendor ID and Product ID, such as when accidentally erased the factory programmed EEPROM.
          Refer to the Software Reference for more detail.

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  1. ActiveBus

    Detail of ActiveBus will be published in a separate document.

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  1. Frequently Asked Questions

Please see our web-site.

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  1. Specification
    1. Dimensions
      • Size 3.3"x1.9"
      • Max height 0.5"
      • Weight  0.9 oz. (25g)
      • Mounting dimension 3.0"x1.6"
      • Mounting hole diameter 0.14" (for #4, #6 or M3 screws)

    1. Speed
      • 12 Mbps peak speed
      • Fully compatible with USB specification ver.1.0

    2. I/O pins
      • 3.3v CMOS logic, 5v TTL level tolerant
      • 1.6mA sink or source

    3. Power
      • DC 5v 100mA peak supplied from USB
      • DC 5v 300mA Max. supply from USB avaiable to external circuit
      • Optional DC 5v external supply to header pin. (remove jumper PWR.J1 when using external power)

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  1. Revision History

    0.9        14-May-99         Original draft.
    1.0        23-Oct-00           Cleanup. Promoted to release doc.
    1.1        28-Jan-03           More cleanup. Clarified 3.3 volt not being on the header pins.

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 PLEASE, if you have any questions, answers, problems or feedback, send an email to feedback@activewireinc.com. We like to hear from you. Also, let us know how you are using our board.