I will start with I am very new to the hardware design side of things. I have purchased the dev kit for the 9210 with embedded Linux. I keep reading reference to FIM’s on the 9210 that will allow me to add a USB and or an SD/SDIO hardware interface to my production model. I get that specific drivers need loaded based on what I want the FIM to do. My questions is how do I connect a standard SD or USB hardware header to my 9210. I am working on a rough PCB design now but I can’t find a reference to the FIM for my dev board or in the documentation. Am I missing something? Is my Digital I/O block on my Dev Board my FIM interface? Any info would be greatly appreciated.
The FIM application kit is expected to be available in the August 2009 timeframe, and will include the actual board for which the schematics were provided in the previous post.
Please also note that full USB device low-speed support is currently in the process of being finalized, and not yet available.
So just so I understand this. I can do SD right now and USB shortly. And the diagram provided shows me the pinouts for this. So really for a production device I don’t need the new FIM dev kit. I can simply hardwire a physical interface to the 9210 as part of my PCB design correct?
That’s correct. The FIM application kit will serve as a “hands-on” reference design and standard verification platform for customers during development.
The actual implementation of FIM interfaces in production units is an integral part of your own product design.
Man I am new to this. But between what has been published in the spec sheet and what I am hearing here I am still a bit confused.
Here is what I understand. The FIM is a processor on board my digi ME 9210 not on a dev board or other outboard equipment. All I have to do to interact with the FIM is have a PCB design that incorporates the proper connectivity to the FIM via the 20 pin connector and build the functionality into the Kernel and the applications.
Currently SD is fully functional via SDIO. As far as USB goes there are drivers in my dev package. Does USB via the FIM not work or is it just not currently supported?
I appreciate your help so far. I am just trying to wrap my mind around what is marketing vs. what I can actually do with the 9210. My dev cycle is very short and I can ship day one minus USB but I just need to have a firm grasp on what is possible.
The FIM Application Kit is nothing but an add-on kit providing a carrier board with external circuitry/components showing how to implement certain interfaces using the FIMs on the NS9210/NS9215. It’s essentially a reference design. You may be fine looking a the schematics only, but you also will be able to buy one of the boards the schematics document, if that is something you would want for development.
The FIMs themselves of course are on-chip, and to support a particular interface a) FIM firmware, b) host OS API integration, and c) some external hardware (typically passive components only) are required.
1-bit and 4-bit SDIO through the FIM is supported in Linux and NET+OS today, from a software perspective.
USB device low-speed is not yet supported in Linux and NET+OS, from a software perspective.
However, the FIM application kit schematics document the USB device implementation already (the hardware part), and you could integrate that into your design today. When the software support is there, you will be able to utilize it.
Thanks for your response. All of this info has been very helpful. Now I need to move forward with my design. The 9210 is a very interesting device and I look forward to getting it implemented.