RabbitCore RCM3000 Getting Started

1. Introduction & Overview

The Rabbit 3000^® is a modern 8-bit microprocessor that is the central element of a complete and fully supported embedded design system that includes development tools, software libraries, core modules, sample designs, a parts store, and readily available expert, human support.

This Development Kit has the essentials that you need to design your own microprocessor-based system, and includes a complete Dynamic C^® software development system. This Development Kit contains a powerful RabbitCore™ module (the RCM3010) and Prototyping Board that will allow you to evaluate the Rabbit 3000 and to prototype circuits that interface to a Rabbit 3000 microprocessor. You will also be able to write and test software for the RCM3000 series RabbitCore modules, including TCP/IP applications.

1.1 Rabbit 3000 Microprocessor

The Rabbit 3000 microprocessor shares its instruction set and conceptual design with the successful Rabbit 2000. The instruction set is based on the Z80/Z180, but has been adapted to be C-friendly and to allow a megabyte of code space. Rabbit processors are fast with compact code.

The Rabbit 3000 has an extensive array of on-chip peripherals including 6 serial ports, 56 parallel I/O pins, motion control interfaces, a time/date clock, glueless memory and I/O interfacing, a slave interface, and in-circuit programming. Low-EMI features including a clock spectrum spreader eliminate schedule-wrecking EMI problems.

Software development support is based on Z-World's Dynamic C, and includes extensive libraries for Internet connectivity.

Refer to the Rabbit 3000 Microprocessor User's Manual for complete information on the Rabbit 3000 microprocessor and complete specifications.

1.2 RCM3000 RabbitCore Modules

Throughout this manual, the term RCM3000 refers to the complete series of RCM3000 RabbitCore modules unless other production models are referred to specifically.

The RCM3000 RabbitCore modules are designed for use on a customer-supplied motherboard that supplies power and interfaces to real-world I/O devices. Their two 34-pin connection headers provide 52 parallel user I/O lines, shared with five serial ports, along with control lines. A sixth serial port and one additional I/O line are available on the programming header.

A fully enabled slave port permits glueless master-slave interface with another Rabbit-based system. The slave port may also be used with non-Rabbit systems, although additional logic may be required.

The RCM3000 is equipped with a 10/100-compatible Ethernet port with a 10Base-T interface, 256K–512K flash memory and 128K–512K static RAM.

There are two production models in the RCM3000 series. If the standard models do not serve your needs, other variations can be specified and ordered in production quantities. Contact your Z-World^® or Rabbit Semiconductor sales representative for details.

Table 1 below highlights the differences between the two models in the RCM3000 family.

Table 1. RCM3000 Versions

Feature	RCM3000	RCM3010
Microprocessor	Rabbit 3000 running at 29.4 MHz
Flash Memory	512K	256K
Static RAM	512K	128K
Serial Ports	6 shared high-speed, CMOS-compatible ports: 6 are configurable as asynchronous serial ports; 4 are configurable as clocked serial ports (SPI); 2 are configurable as SDLC/HDLC serial ports; 1 asynchronous clocked serial port is dedicated for programming

NOTE	The RCM3010 is the RabbitCore module supplied with the Development Kit.

In addition, there is an RCM3100 series of RabbitCore modules that omits the RCM3000 series' Ethernet connectivity, but offer a much smaller footprint, which is about one-half that of the RCM3000 series.

The RabbitCore modules can be programed locally, remotely, or via a network using appropriate interface hardware.

1.2.1 Physical & Electrical Specifications

Table 2 lists the basic specifications for the RCM3000.

Table 2. RCM3000 Specifications 

Specification	Data
Power Supply	3.15 – 3.45 V DC (145 mA at 29.5 MHz clock speed)
Size	1.85" x 2.65"" x 0.86" (47 mm × 67 mm × 22 mm)
Environmental	–40°C to 70°C, 5–95% humidity, noncondensing

NOTE	For complete product specifications, see Appendix A in the RabbitCore RCM3000 User's Manual.

The RCM3000 modules have two 34-pin headers to which cables can be connected, or which can be plugged into matching sockets on a production device. The pinouts for these connectors are shown in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1. RCM3000 Connector Pinout

1.3 Development Software

The RCM3000 module uses the Dynamic C development environment for rapid creation and debugging of runtime applications. Dynamic C provides a complete development environment with integrated editor, compiler and source-level debugger. It interfaces directly with the target system, eliminating the need for complex and unreliable in-circuit emulators.

Dynamic C must be installed on a Windows workstation with at least one free serial USB or COM port for communication with the target system.

NOTE

An RS-232/USB converter is required if you intend to use a USB port on your computer. Z-World and Rabbit Semiconductor offer a suitable converter—more information is available at www.rabbitsemiconductor.com, or you may telephone your Z-World/Rabbit Semiconductor sales representative or authorized distributor.

See Chapter 3., "Software Installation & Overview." for complete information on installing Dynamic C.

NOTE	The RCM3000 module requires Dynamic C v7.25 or later for development. A compatible version is included on the Development Kit CD-ROM.

1.4 How to Use This Manual

This Getting Started manual is intended to give users a quick but solid start with the RCM3000 module. It does not contain detailed information on the module hardware capabilities, the Dynamic C development environment, or the TCP/IP software support for the integrated Ethernet port. Most users will want more detailed information on some or all of these topics in order to put the RCM3000 module to effective use.

1.4.1 Additional Product Information

Detailed information about the RCM3000 will be found in the RabbitCore RCM3000 User's Manual, provided on the accompanying CD-ROM in both HTML and Adobe PDF format.

Some advanced users may choose to skip the rest of this introductory manual and proceed directly with the detailed hardware and software information in the User's Manual.

NOTE	We recommend that anyone not thoroughly familiar with Z-World controllers at least read through the rest of this manual to gain the necessary familiarity to make use of the more advanced information.

1.4.2 Additional Reference Information

In addition to the product-specific information contained in the RabbitCore RCM3000 User's Manual, several higher level reference manuals are provided in HTML and PDF form on the accompanying CD-ROM. Advanced users will find these references valuable in developing systems based on the RCM3000 module:

• Dynamic C User's Manual

• Dynamic C Function Reference Manual

• An Introduction to TCP/IP

• Dynamic C TCP/IP User's Manual

• Rabbit 3000 Microprocessor User's Manual

1.4.3 Using Online Documentation

We provide the bulk of our user and reference documentation in two electronic formats, HTML and Adobe PDF. We do this for several reasons.

We believe that providing all users with our complete library of product and reference manuals is a useful convenience. However, printed manuals are expensive to print, stock and ship. Rather than include and charge for manuals that every user may not want, or provide only product-specific manuals, we choose to provide our complete documentation and reference library in electronic form with every development kit and with our Dynamic C development environment.

NOTE	The most current version of Adobe Acrobat Reader can always be downloaded from Adobe's web site at http://www.adobe.com. We recommend that you use version 4.0 or later.

Providing this documentation in electronic form saves an enormous amount of paper by not printing copies of manuals that users don't need.

Finding Online Documents

The online documentation is installed along with Dynamic C, and an icon for the documentation menu is placed on the workstation's desktop. Double-click this icon to reach the menu. If the icon is missing, create a new desktop icon that points to default.htm in the docs folder, found in the Dynamic C installation folder.

The latest versions of all documents are always available for free, unregistered download from our web sites as well.

Printing Electronic Manuals

We recognize that many users prefer printed manuals for some uses. Users can easily print all or parts of those manuals provided in electronic form. The following guidelines may be helpful:

• Print from the Adobe PDF versions of the files, not the HTML versions.

• If your printer supports duplex printing, print pages double-sided.

• If you do not have a suitable printer or do not want to print the manual yourself, most retail copy shops (e.g. Kinkos, AlphaGraphics, etc.) will print the manual from the PDF file and bind it for a reasonable charge—about what we would have to charge for a printed and bound manual.